collaborations
Elton John and Brandi Carlile’s new collaborative album Who Believes in Angels?seems to have a good shot at a Grammy nomination for album of the year. Carlile was nominated in the category with both of her last two solo studio albums – By the Way, I Forgive You (at the 2019 ceremony) and In These Silent Days (2023). John was nominated three times in his 1970s heyday, with Elton John (1971), Caribou (1975) and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1976).
Who Believes in Angels? was produced by Andrew Watt, who won a Grammy for producer of the year, non-classical in 2021 and was nominated for album of the year the following year for his work on the deluxe edition of Justin Bieber’s Justice.
What’s more, Ben Winston, one of the executive producers of the annual Grammy telecast, also served as an executive producer of An Evening With Elton John and Brandi Carlile, which aired on CBS on Sunday April 6. Does that give the album an edge in the Grammy voting process? No. But it shows that it’s front-and-center in terms of Grammy consciousness.
It may seem early to be thinking in terms of Grammy nominations, but it’s actually not all that early. We’re more than seven months into the Grammy eligibility year, which runs from Aug. 31, 2024 to Aug. 30, 2025.
If Who Believes in Angels? receives an album of the year nod, John will have a 55-year span of nominations in that category, which would put him in second place on the list of artists with the longest span of nods in that category. Tony Bennett has the longest span – 59 years from I Left My Heart in San Francisco (a nominee at the 1963 ceremony) to Love for Sale, his collab with Lady Gaga (a nominee at the 2022 ceremony). Ray Charles would fall to third place. His nods span 43 years, from Genius + Soul = Jazz (1962) to Genius Loves Company (2005).
Who Believes in Angels? is vying to become the 12th collaborative album to receive a Grammy nod for album of the year. It would be the third pairing where one artist was a generation older than the other. John is 35 years older than Carlile. There was a 60-year age gap between Bennett and Gaga; a 23-year age gap between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.
You may have noticed that John’s double-album opus Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, widely regarded as his most classic work, was not listed among his nominees for album of the year. You may be wondering: How can that be? The album was released on Oct. 5, 1973, just 10 days before the end of the eligibility year, a bit late for it to register its full impact. John was nominated the following year with Caribou, a solid album, but not in the same league with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. While Goodbye Yellow Brick Road should have been nominated, it probably wouldn’t have won. Stevie Wonder, then at his creative and commercial peak (and on a history-making Grammy roll), won that year for Innervisions.
Here’s a complete list of the 11 collaborations that have received album of the year nods, working backwards. Will Who Believes in Angels? join them? Place your bets. All chart references are to the Billboard 200; the years shown are the years of the Grammy ceremony.
2022: Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, Love for Sale
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for LN
Is a second Taylor Swift and Ice Spice collaboration facts or cap? We’ll just have to wait and see.
While walking the red carpet at the 2024 BET Awards on Sunday, the 24-year-old rapper played coy while fielding a question about her new album Y2K! — which drops later this month — possibly featuring a duet with the “Anti-Hero” singer.
“I think she did me the favor,” Ice began when Entertainment Tonight asked whether Swift would be “returning the favor” following the Bronx native’s contribution to the 14-time Grammy winner’s “Karma” remix last year.
“I don’t know,” she continued with a smile. “Let’s see, let’s see, let’s see.”
Though she ultimately kept tight-lipped about Swift’s potential involvement, the “Munch” musician did reveal that there’s more than one all-star collaboration on her debut LP. “There’s a couple,” she confirmed.
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The interview comes almost exactly a year after “Karma” ascended to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, thanks to the “Munch” musician’s feature on the Midnights (Til Dawn Edition) version of the track. The pair both starred in a music video for the remix and performed it a few times together on Swift’s Eras Tour.
“I am blown away by her,” the pop star said of Ice in a Spotify audio snippet around the time of the song’s release. “In my opinion, she’s the one to watch. Watching her work ethic and how thoughtfully she approaches her career, she’s like my new favorite artist and I’m so honored that she’s on the song.”
Later on Sunday night, Ice took the BET stage to dance, twerk and set fire to her gas station set while performing two tracks: “Phat Butt” and “Think U the Sh-t (Fart).” She didn’t take home any hardware, although she was nominated for best collaboration and video of the year — both for her Barbie soundtrack contribution “Barbie World” with Nicki Minaj and Aqua — as well as best female hip-hop artist.
Ice is now gearing up to embark on a world tour that kicks off July 4. As for whether either of her A-list former duet partners — Swift or Minaj — might join her on stage at some point, the “Deli” artist isn’t ruling anything out.
“They’re busy ladies right on sold-out tours,” she added on the red carpet. “They’re always welcomed.”
Y2K! will be released via 10K Projects and Capitol Records on July 26.
The MC has also teamed up with Beyoncé, Sia and Nicki Minaj.
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By reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week with We Still Don’t Trust You, Future and Metro Boomin have become the first collaborators in the chart’s nearly 68-year history to reach No. 1 with two joint projects. The rappers first topped the chart as collaborators three weeks ago with the initial We Don’t Trust You.
The term “collaborators” refers artists who don’t normally work together. We’re not counting collaborations by musicians who adopted a group name of their own (looking at you, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), a sure sign that they’re moving beyond a collab into group territory.
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Two previous collaborations just missed landing two No. 1 albums. Diana Ross & the Supremes with The Temptations reached No. 1 on Feb. 8, 1969 with TCB, the soundtrack to their NBC-TV special. A studio album pairing the top vocal groups, Diana Ross & The Supremes Join The Temptations, had reached No. 2 four weeks earlier. It spawned their smash single “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me.”
R. Kelly & Jay-Z reached No. 1 on Nov. 13, 2004 with Unfinished Business. An earlier collab, The Best of Both Worlds, had peaked at No. 2 on April 6, 2002.
Two other collaborations didn’t come quite that close to landing two No. 1 albums, but they landed one No. 1 and made the top 10 with a second project. 21 Savage and Metro Boomin topped the Billboard 200 on Oct. 17, 2020 with Savage Mode II. They had reached No. 4 on Nov. 18, 2017 with Without Warning, which featured a third collaborator, Offset.
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga reached No. 1 on Oct. 11, 2014 with Cheek to Cheek. A sequel, Love for Sale, consisting entirely of songs by Cole Porter, reached No. 8 on Oct. 16, 2022. Both sets won Grammys for best traditional pop vocal album.
Future and Metro Boomin may have company as collaborators with multiple No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. As ¥$, Ye and Ty Dolla $ign topped the chart on Feb. 24 and March 2 with Vultures 1. A sequel, Vultures 2, is scheduled for release May 3, with a third volume, Vultures 3, due later in the year.
One final note: Though the year is still young, this is the first calendar year in which three collaborative albums have topped the Billboard 200. Already, 2024 tops 2004, when the aforementioned R. Kelly & Jay-Z collab Unfinished Business and a Jay-Z/Linkin Park collab, MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups Presents: Collision Course both led the tally.
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