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grammy awards

12/20/2024

As the old saying goes, “it’s not where you start. It’s where you finish.”

12/20/2024

Prince, The Clash and Frankie Valli are among the artists who were selected to receive lifetime achievement awards from the Recording Academy in 2025. The awards will be presented at the Special Merit Awards Ceremony on Feb. 1 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.

The event, always one of the most memorable and musical of Grammy Week, will also honor the recipients of trustees awards (which go to non-performers) and a Technical Grammy Award recipient.

The other lifetime achievement award recipients are Frankie Beverly, Dr. Bobby Jones, Taj Mahal and Roxanne Shante. The trustees award recipients are Erroll Garner, Glyn Johns and Tania León. Dr. Leo Beranek is the Technical Grammy Award honoree.

Several of the awards will be presented posthumously. R&B singer Beverly just died three months ago; Prince and Dr. Beranek both died in 2016; Joe Strummer of The Clash died in 2002; and Garner, the composer of the pop standard “Misty,” died in 1977.

Several of this year’s recipients have already received major honors. Prince was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, received a lifetime achievement award at the BET Awards in 2010, and was honored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame in July (he had been voted in while he was alive, but scheduling the presentation proved difficult).

Valli was voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of the Four Seasons) in 1990, followed by The Clash in 2003 and producer Glyn Johns in 2012. Maze featuring Frankie Beverly received a lifetime achievement award at the BET Awards in 2012. León received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2022.

“It’s an amazing privilege to honor this eclectic group of music icons during the year’s biggest week in music,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy said in a statement. “Each of this year’s Special Merit Award recipients has left an indelible mark on music, from paving the way for others to innovation that forever has changed the trajectory of the musical landscape. We can’t wait to celebrate this group and their achievements in February.” 

Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented to performers who have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.

Trustees Awards are presented to individuals who have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording.

Technical Grammy Awards are presented to individuals, companies, organizations or institutions who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field.

Here’s a complete list of  the 2025 Special Merit Award recipients.

Frankie Beverly (Lifetime Achievement Award)

The Recording Academy has withdrawn 2025 Grammy nominations for J-Kwon (Jerrell C. Jones), Joe Kent and Mark Williams, the writers of J-Kwon’s 2004 hit “Tipsy,” which is interpolated in Shaboozey’s megahit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
The genre-bridging smash received Grammy nods for song of the year and best country song on Nov. 8. If it wins either or both awards when the 67th annual Grammy Awards are presented on Feb. 2, the writers of the original “Tipsy” will receive certificates, not Grammy trophies.

The decision was made on Dec. 12, and was announced in the Academy’s Grammy Award Update Center, which carries this legend: “Each year, the Recording Academy makes adjustments to the nominations list as-necessary after the list is first published. Common changes are often the result of updated credits and may include spelling corrections, title modifications, and the addition of nominees who were not included in the original submission, among other revisions.”

Trending on Billboard

Grammy rules state that “songs that contain samples or interpolations are eligible” for song of the year. But they also make a distinction between songwriters of the new song (who are eligible for Grammys) and “publisher & songwriter(s) of sampled or interpolated material, if applicable),” who are eligible only for certificates.

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” includes the lines, “One, here comes the two to the three to the four” and “everybody at the bar gettin’ tipsy,” which are borrowed from “Tipsy.” J-Kwon joined Shaboozey to perform the smash on the BET Awards on June 30. “BET, make some noise for Mr. Tipsy himself, all the way from St. Louis, J-Kwon,” Shaboozey said in introducing the rapper.

In a Q&A posted on April 26, the week the song entered the Hot 100 at No. 36, J-Kwon told Billboard’s Michael Saponara that he was very well compensated for the lift. “I got a crazy percentage… Let’s say it like this, we did that together, and I’m proud of him.”

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” logged 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, which put it in a tie with Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus) for the longest run at No. 1 in the chart’s 66-year history. “Old Town Road” also contains borrowed elements. It features a sample of Nine Inch Nails’ “34 Ghosts IV,” which was co-written by that band’s Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. “Old Town Road” wasn’t nominated for Grammys in songwriting categories, but it was entered for song of the year. The listing did not show Reznor and Ross as co-writers, which is consistent with Grammy rules. (“Old Town Road” went on to two Grammys — best pop duo/group performance and best music video — and was nominated for record of the year.)

If the Grammy decision is a disappointment for J-Kwon and his collaborators on “Tipsy,” they may want to head for the nearest open bar to drown their troubles. They may even be able to get a good song out of it.

Megan Moroney is just 27, but she already knows all about the ups and downs of awards shows. On Nov. 8, she learned that she had been passed over for a Grammy nomination for best new artist. Just 12 days later, she won the CMA Award for new artist of the year.
Moroney’s situation isn’t unique. Since 1981, when the Country Music Association introduced its horizon award (renamed new artist of the year in 2008), most of their winners haven’t received Grammy nods for best new artist. Even such giants as Randy Travis, Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts and Morgan Wallen were passed over for Grammy best new artist nods.

The situation has improved markedly in recent years, as the graphic below shows. But the Recording Academy still has work to do to make sure that country artists are getting a fair shake in the marquee categories.

Here is every CMA winner for the horizon award and new artist of the year, divided into four categories – those who also won the Grammy for best new artist; those who were nominated for the Grammy for best new artist but didn’t win (and who won in that category!); those who were not eligible for a new artist Grammy nomination that year (because of prior Grammy nods or wins); and those who were eligible for the Grammy, but were simply not nominated. The year shown is the year of the CMA ceremony where the artist won.

We cap this discussion by showing the four CMA winners for the horizon award/new artist of the year who have yet to win a Grammy in any category. (Moroney has lots of time to move off this last list.)

One lesson from this list is that we need a variety of awards shows – all-genre shows like the Grammys and genre-specific shows like the CMA Awards and their country brethren. What one show misses, hopefully, the other catches.

Won CMA Award; Won Best New Artist Grammy

1997:   LeAnn Rimes 2006:   Carrie Underwood2010:   Zac Brown Band        

Won CMA Award; Nominated for Best New Artist Grammy, But Lost

1984:   The Judds (lost to Cyndi Lauper)1998:   Dixie Chicks (lost to Lauryn Hill)2000:   Brad Paisley (lost to Shelby Lynne)2004:   Gretchen Wilson (lost to Maroon 5)  2007:   Taylor Swift (lost to Amy Winehouse)2008:   Lady A (lost to Adele)2011:   The Band Perry (lost to Bon Iver)     2012:   Hunter Hayes (lost to fun.)2013:   Kacey Musgraves (lost to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis)2016:   Maren Morris (lost to Chance the Rapper)    2018:   Luke Combs (lost to Dua Lipa)         2021:   Jimmie Allen   (lost to Olivia Rodrigo)2023:   Jelly Roll (lost to Victoria Monét)     

Won CMA Award; Not Eligible for Best New Artist Grammy That Year

1983:  John Anderson (had been nominated for an early solo hit at the 1982 ceremony)     2009:   Darius Rucker (had won two Grammys with Hootie & the Blowfish)         1995:  Alison Krauss (had won three Grammys – one solo and one each with The Union Station and The Cox Family)2015:  Chris Stapleton (had received three previous Grammy nods with his group, The SteelDrivers)

Won CMA Award; Not Nominated for Best New Artist Grammy

1981:  Terri Gibbs      1982:  Ricky Skaggs  1985:  Sawyer Brown1986:  Randy Travis   1987:  Holly Dunn     1988:  Ricky Van Shelton      1989:  Clint Black      1990:  Garth Brooks  1991:  Travis Tritt       1992:  Suzy Bogguss 1993:  Mark Chesnutt1994:  John Michael Montgomery     1996:  Bryan White    1999:  Jo Dee Messina           2001:  Keith Urban    2002:  Rascal Flatts    2003:  Joe Nichols     2005:  Dierks Bentley2014:  Brett Eldredge 2017:  Jon Pardi         2019:  Ashley McBryde         2020:  Morgan Wallen2022:  Lainey Wilson 2024:  Megan Moroney

Won CMA Award; Has Yet to Be Nominated for a Grammy in Any Category

1993:  Mark Chesnutt2014:  Brett Eldredge 2017:  Jon Pardi         2024:  Megan Moroney

11/12/2024

They’re no doubt grateful for the nominations they received, but also probably surprised and maybe even stung by the ones that eluded them.

11/12/2024

Alissia got some very good news on Friday, when she became only the ninth woman (or team of women) to receive a Grammy nomination for producer of the year, non-classical.

Alissia’s only previous Grammy nod was for production and songwriting work on the deluxe edition of Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous, which was nominated for album of the year two years ago. (Her full name, Alissia Benveniste, appeared on her songwriting credit for “Love Without the Heartbreak,” which she co-wrote with Blige, Anderson .Paak and Rogėt Chahayed.)

Her credits during the current eligibility year included tracks by Rae Khalil, BJ the Chicago Kid, Jamila Wood and Lion Babe.

The Recording Academy introduced the producer of the year, non-classical category at the 1975 Grammy ceremony. Thom Bell, one of the architects of the Philly Soul sound, was the inaugural winner. In all this time, no woman has ever won in the category, either on her own or as part of a collaboration.

It’s a very different story in the producer of the year, classical category. Three women have won multiple times in that category, which was introduced five years after producer of the year, non-classical. Judith Sherman has won seven times, which puts her in a tie with David Frost, Steven Epstein and Robert Woods for the most wins by anyone in the category’s history. Joanna Nickrenz has won twice (once alongside Marc Aubort). Elaine Martone has also won twice.

Alissia is competing this year with D’Mile (Dernst Emile II), who is nominated in the category for the third year in a row; Daniel Nigro, nominated in the category for the second year in a row; and fellow first-time nominees Ian Fitchuk and Mustard (Dijon Isaiah McFarlane).

Who will win when the 67th annual Grammy Awards are presented on Feb. 2 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles? Hard to say, but it won’t be Jack Antonoff, who won the last three years in a row, but wasn’t nominated this year.

Here are all the women who have been nominated for producer of the year, non-classical. The years shown are the years of the Grammy ceremonies.

Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman (1985)

The Recording Academy has let its members know, via email, of some changes, one of which will likely be unwelcome news to many: It will no longer provide complimentary tickets to its official Grammy afterparty to all current year nominees. This year’s Grammy Celebration, the afterparty’s official name, will be hosted by the Grammy Museum […]

At the 2024 Grammy ceremony on Feb. 4, host Trevor Noah was nominated for best comedy album for the second time for I Wish You Would, but lost to Dave Chappelle’s What’s in a Name?. The Recording Academy hasn’t announced who will be hosting the 2025 Grammys on Feb. 2, but these two comedians are likely to both be nominated again for best comedy album – Chappelle for The Dreamer and Noah for Where Was I.
Chappelle has been nominated five times in this category – and has never lost in this category. (He did lose in 2022 when one of his albums, 8:46, in which he discussed the 2020 police murder of George Floyd, was judged to be not primarily comedic and was moved to best spoken word album.)

Trending on Billboard

If Chappelle wins again, he’ll stand just behind Bill Cosby for the most wins in this category. Cosby won seven times from 1965 and 1987. Chappelle is currently tied with George Carlin and Richard Pryor as runner-up in the category.

Jim Gaffigan has been nominated seven times in this category, but has yet to win. He will likely be nominated again this year for The Prisoner. Gaffigan is the only comedian (and the only non-Grammy winner) who was announced last week as one of the presenters of the Grammy nominations on the livestream on Friday (Nov. 8). Does that mean the academy knows for a fact that he’s going to be nominated and booked him for the livestream so they’d have a happy reaction shot? I don’t think the academy knows that far in advance who is going to be nominated, but his booking on the livestream certainly isn’t a bad sign about his chances for another nod this year.

Adam Sandler, a three-time nominee in this category, is entered for Love You. Sandler and Chappelle are both past recipients of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Tig Notaro, a two-time nominee in this category, is entered with Hello Again. David Cross, also a two-time nominee, is entered for Worst Daddy in the World.

Joe Rogan is a contender with Burn the Boats. The Joe Rogan Experience is considered one of the most influential podcasts, though his politics do not align with that of most Grammy voters (as evidenced by the fact that only Democratic presidents and first ladies tend to be nominated for best audio book recording.)  Burn the Boats is Rogan’s latest Netflix special.

Conan O’Brien, who won his fifth Primetime Emmy in September for Conan O’Brien Must Go, is entered with Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Quinquennial Celebration, a collaboration with Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley.

Taylor Tomlinson, the host of After Midnight, which follows The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on CBS, is entered with Have It All.

Nikki Glaser, who is set to host the 2025 Golden Globes telecast on Jan. 5, is entered with Someday You’ll Die. Jo Koy, who hosted that show earlier this year, is entered with Live From Brooklyn. Ricky Gervais, who hosted the Globes five times between 2010 and 2020, is entered with Armageddon.

Several other potential nominees have also hosted awards shows. Marlon Wayans, who co-hosted the MTV VMAs in 2000 with his brother, Shawn Wayans, is entered with Good Grief. Kevin James, who hosted the People’s Choice Awards in 2001-02, is entered with Irregardless. Jack Whitehall, who hosted the Brit Awards four years running, from 2018-21, is entered with Settle Down.

Other notable contenders on the entry list of 94 albums include Shane Gillis’ Beautiful Dogs, Demetri Martin’s Demetri Deconstructed and Matt Rife’s Lucid – A Crowd Work Special.

Our Fearless Forecast

Dave Chappelle, The Dreamer

Jim Gaffigan, The Prisoner

Trevor Noah, Where Was I

Tig Notaro, Hello Again

Adam Sander, Love You

Just a few weeks after finally being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cher could receive a Grammy nomination for best traditional pop vocal album for her first holiday album, Christmas. The nominations will be announced on Friday Nov. 8.
The worlds of rock and roll and traditional pop were once far apart, but those worlds been coming together in recent years as genre lines blur across the board. Six artists who are in the Rock Hall have won Grammys in this category – Joni Mitchell (for Both Sides Now), Rod Stewart (Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III), Paul McCartney (Kisses on the Bottom), Willie Nelson (Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin and My Way, a tribute to Frank Sinatra), Elvis Costello (Look Now, with the Imposters) and James Taylor (American Standard).

Should Cher’s album win when the Grammy Awards are announced on Feb. 2, it would be the first holiday album ever to win in this category, though many have been nominated.

Trending on Billboard

Cher has won just one Grammy over the course of her six-decade career – best dance recording for her 1999 megahit, “Believe.” Her nominations stretch back to 1965, when Sonny & Cher were nominated for best new artist.

Cher is vying for a nomination in the traditional pop category with Stephanie J. Block, who portrayed the icon in The Cher Show on Broadway in 2019, winning a Tony Award for best actress in a musical. Block is represented with her own Christmas album, Merry Christmas, Darling. (The title track is a cover version of the ballad made famous by the Carpenters in 1970.)

Several other Christmas albums are vying for nominations, including Brandy’s Christmas With Brandy, Johnny Mathis’ Christmas Time Is Here, Seth MacFarlane & Liz Gillies’ We Wish You the Merriest, Gregory Porter’s Christmas Wish and Jim Brickman’s Brickman Sings Christmas. Brandy has received 12 Grammy nominations over the years, winning for “The Boy Is Mine,” her Billboard Hot 100-topping collab with Monica. This would be her first nomination in this category.

Mathis is a four-time nominee in this category. He was nominated in 1991, the year the category was introduced. But Mathis’ history with the Grammys goes back much further than that. He received his first nomination in 1960, the third year of the Grammys, for his exquisite recording of “Misty.” Shockingly, Mathis, 89, has yet to win a Grammy in competition. He received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2003.

MacFarlane is a three-time nominee in this category. This is his second collab with Gillies.

Stewart is vying for a nomination with Swing Fever, a collab with Jools Holland. Stewart is a five-time nominee in this category, winning once.

Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends: A Celebration (Live at the Sondheim Theatre) is a strong contender. Last year, two of the nominees in this category were salutes to the legendary Broadway composer, who died in 2021 at age 91. Liz Callaway was nominated for To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim. A Various Artists collection, Sondheim Unplugged (The New York City Sessions), Vol. 3, was also nominated last year. “Old Friends,” which is part of the title of the new collection, is a highlight of Sondheim’s 1981 show Merrily We Roll Along, which won a Tony for best revival of a musical in June.

Another celebration of legendary Broadway composers is on the entry list — My Favorite Things: The Rodgers & Hammerstein 80th Anniversary Concert (Live from Theatre Royal Drury Lane/ 2023.

Broadway legend Patti LuPone is entered with A Life in Notes. LuPone has won Tonys for her performances in Evita, Gypsy and Company. Ben Platt, who won a Tony, Daytime Emmy and Grammy for Dear Evan Hansen and related projects, is entered with Honeymind. Nine-time Grammy winner Dave Cobb was one of the album’s producers.

Raye & the Heritage Orchestra are entered with My 21st Century Symphony (Live at Royal Albert Hall). Raye has a good chance to receive a best new artist nomination next week. She took home six Brit Awards in March.

Two albums by past Grammy winners for best new artist are vying for nominations — Norah Jones’ Visions and Paula Cole’s Lo. Jones has received two nods in this category.

Janis Siegel and Yaron Gershovsky are entered with The Colors of My Life. Siegel is a nine-time Grammy winner for her work with Manhattan Transfer. Straight No Chaser has two albums on the entry list – 90s Proof and Stocking Stuffer.

Other notable albums on the entry list of 78 albums include Crowded House’s Gravity Stairs, Toby Gad’s Piano Diaries – The Hits, Gaither Vocal Band’s Let Me Be There, Il Divo’s XX: 20th Anniversary Album, Joe Jackson’s Mr. Joe Jackson Presents Max Champion in ‘What a Racket!,’ Ingrid Michaelson’s For the Dreamers, Steven Pasquale with John Pizzarelli’s Some Other Time and The Sound of Rusic by the cast of Rupaul’s Drag Race.

Our Fearless Forecast

Brandy, Christmas With Brandy

Cher, Christmas

Ben Platt, Honeymind

Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends: A Celebration (Live at the Sondheim Theatre)

Rod Stewart & Jools Holland, Swing Fever

Being a Grammy voter may sound glamorous, but it’s a lot of work if you do it right, or even close to right. That’s because, in the first round of voting, the Recording Academy presents voting members with really long lists of titles and asks them to select the five they think are most worthy of a nomination.
How long is “really long”? This year, voters had to wade through alphabetical lists of 780 entries for record of the year, 707 for album of the year, 978 for song of the year and 323 for best new artist. And that’s just the Big Four categories!

Can you imagine how much time and mental effort it would take to contentiously pick your five favorite anythings from a list of 978 contenders? If that task were less overwhelming, it seems likely that the quality of voting would go up – and that the percentage of voting members who completed it would go up. If the voters were presented with a list of, say, 100 contenders, it would turn a daunting task into a manageable, and maybe even pleasurable, one. (That number could go up a bit, to 125, 150 or 200, but of course the higher it goes up, the less benefit would be realized.)   

Trending on Billboard

My idea is to have a group of knowledgeable, plugged-in and fair-minded people cull the massive entry lists and bring them down to a more reasonable length. Big hits would probably remain on the list, as would non-hits that people on the panel spoke up for.

You might say, “Didn’t the Recording Academy just get rid of Nomination Review Committees a few years ago — now you’re talking about bringing them back?” Good recall on the review committees, including the primary one, which determined the final nominees in the Big Four categories every year from the ceremony held in 1996 through the one held in 2021. Most Grammy-watchers (including me) were happy to see that committee disbanded, but there’s an important distinction to be made: The academy had the review committee at the tail-end of the process, after voting members had voted and just before the nominations were announced.

Here’s how it worked back then: The committee members selected their five favorites from the top 20 or 25 vote-getters from rank-and-file voters. They essentially second-guessed the voters, which always struck me as elitist, as if their taste and judgment was superior to that of the voters. I’m suggesting putting the committee at the front-end of the process. They wouldn’t be second-guessing anybody, but simply performing a reality check by eliminating the records, albums, songs and artists that have little to no chance of being nominated, but which clog up the list.

And why do I say you shouldn’t hold your breath for this actually happening? Many voting members like to see their entries on the list. If they didn’t see them anymore, they might not see any point in renewing their membership. Member dues are $150 per year. If, say, 2,000 of the current 13,000 voting members walked away because they missed seeing their names on the entry list, that’s $300,000 in lost revenue each year for the Recording Academy. But do the Grammys really want people voting who are that shallow and motivated only by narrow self-interest?

It’s not just the Big Four categories that have large numbers of entries. A total of 33 categories on this year’s Grammy ballot had 200 or more entries. Of those 33, 14 had 300 or more entries. In addition to the Big Four, the categories with 300+ entries are best music video (637), best global music performance (456), best engineered album, non-classical (456), best arrangement, instruments and vocals (444), best jazz performance (420), best instrumental composition (395), best American roots song (373), best alternative music performance (331), best pop solo performance (314) and best American roots performance (310). These categories could also stand a trim, either by this committee or by committees closer to these genres and fields of endeavor.

A small point, but just so there’s no confusion, voters are tasked with picking their five favorites in the Big Four categories, even though there are eight eventual nominees in those categories. That slight numerical difference doesn’t matter, but presenting the voting members with a reasonable task does.