Grammys
Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s old-school R&B smash “Luther,” now is in its fifth week atop the Billboard Hot 100, sounds like a natural to receive Grammy nods for record and song of the year when the nominations for the 2026 awards are announced later this year. The song, a nod to R&B legend Luther Vandross, contains a sample of Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 rendition of “If This World Were Mine,” which was originally recorded in 1967 by another legendary pair, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Its multi-format success in 2025 shows that old-school R&B songwriting values can still be embraced in today’s hip-hop-dominated R&B culture.
But while “Luther” may find favor next year with Grammy voters, Vandross had to wait nine years from his first Grammy nominations in 1982 until he finally won. His Grammy track record stood at 0-9 until he finally scored a W with “Here and Now,” which was voted best R&B vocal performance, male in 1991.
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Vandross was nominated for best new artist at the 1982 ceremony, but lost to Scottish pop singer Sheena Easton (who got off to a faster start, with a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, “Morning Train (Nine to Five),” and another top five hit with the Oscar-nominated James Bond theme “For Your Eyes Only”). More surprisingly, Vandross was nominated for best R&B vocal performance six times before he finally won in that category. That’s striking because Vandross is regarded as one of the premier R&B male vocalists of his time, and of all time.
Vandross, who suffered a severe stroke in 2003 and died in 2005 at age 54, won four Grammys during his lifetime. He won four more in the year following his death, including song of the year for “Dance With My Father,” which he co-wrote with Richard Marx.
Vandross isn’t the only R&B veteran who had to wait a good long while to finally win a Grammy. Gaye, who both wrote and recorded the original version of “If This World Were Mine,” had to wait even longer (15 years from the time of his first nomination) to win his first Grammys in 1983. His Grammy track record stood at 0-8 before he finally won best R&B vocal performance, male for his smash “Sexual Healing” and best R&B instrumental performance for an instrumental version that appeared on the B-side of that smash. Tragically, he was killed by his father less than 14 months after his belated double-Grammy triumph.
Vandross and Gaye have nothing on Lionel Richie, whose Grammy track record was a dismal 0-18 before he finally won best pop vocal performance, male, for “Truly,” also in 1983. Richie went on to win album of the year (for Can’t Slow Down) and song of the year (for “We Are the World,” a co-write with Michael Jackson), so we tend to think of him as Grammy royalty, but he had to wait a long while to be admitted to the club.
Lamar’s “Squabble Up” is also a strong candidate for Grammy nods in marquee categories. If either “Luther” or “Squabble Up” wins record or song of the year, coming on the heels of his wins in both categories on Feb. 2 with “Not Like Us,” Lamar would make Grammy history. He would become the fourth artist to win back-to-back Grammys for record of the year (following Roberta Flack, U2 and Billie Eilish), and only the second songwriter to win back-to-back Grammys for song of the year (following Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, who won for co-writing H.E.R.’s “I Can’t Breathe” in 2021 and Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” the following year).
The nominations for the 68th annual Grammy Awards are expected in November. The ceremony is expected in February 2026.
Chappell Roan is receiving some love from Lady Gaga — and the feeling is mutual.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Gaga — who released her seventh album, Mayhem, on Friday (March 7) — was asked about Roan’s powerful acceptance speech at the 2025 Grammy Awards, where she advocated for record labels to support up-and-coming artists by providing them with livable wages and healthcare.
“I think Chappell Roan is speaking the truth, and she is courageous to do so,” Gaga said. “I look at what she’s been doing and saying and think, ‘Man, I should have stood up for myself more when I was younger.’ I think women speaking their mind is a powerful thing, and I was really happy she did that.”
On Saturday (March 8), the “Pink Pony Club” singer took to social media to thank Gaga for the shout-out and returned the compliment with a message of her own.
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“Thank you @ladygaga I love you + your album so much
Beyoncé had yet another groundbreaking night at the 2025 Grammy Awards earlier this month, where the superstar was at last awarded her first win in the album of the year category, thanks to Cowboy Carter. Bey’s shocked reaction has since become a hilarious meme, and her mother Tina Knowles was just as surprised by the […]
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Source: Jeff Kravitz / Getty / Kanye West
Kanye West and his Twitter fingers aren’t done typing. The rapper took to his favorite soapbox at the moment, X, formerly Twitter, to complain about the Grammys not giving him and his wife, Bianca Censori, tickets.
West had all the smoke for the Recording Academy for not blessing him and his naked wife, Bianca Censori, with tickets to music’s biggest night despite him earning a nomination for his song “Carnival” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, but eventually losing to Kendrick Lamar who took home the Grammy for his iconic Drake diss, “Not Like Us.”
“How could the Grammies [sic] nominate me Then not give me tickets And then people mad when I go off,” Ye wrote on X.
“I had to fight for 5 hours and call everyone I knew to get tickets to the Grammies [sic] They eventually gave me tickets but only for the red carpet. At that point I hadn’t started the rampage.”
The Grammys Confirm Not Giving West Tickets
According to a Grammys producer, the rapper (47) and his mannequin (30) were not given tickets to attend the Feb 2 award show held inside the Crytpo.com arena.
“They didn’t have a nomination on the [telecast] and Kanye wasn’t presenting,” Raj Kapoor told People. “He was not performing either, which is mostly what those seats are.”
The “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” crafter didn’t need to make it inside to cause a scene. He used his time on the red carpet to continue parading around his naked wife. Censori dropped her fur coat to reveal she wore a sheer dress with nothing underneath it.
Rumors hit the web that the couple was kicked out of the event due to Censori’s lack of clothing, but that was not the case. A source told Page Six that they left on their own accord.
Kanye West Has Been Dominating The Headlines
West has been dominating the headlines with his antisemitic rants on X, his bizarre Super Bowl ad that led potential shoppers to a Nazi shirt, and rumors of his wife divorcing him.
A rep for the rapper shot down claims of West and Censori splitting.
“Announcements about their private life will come from them directly, not unsourced rumor in the tabloid press,” spokesman Milo Yiannopoulos said.
We honestly wouldn’t mind if West, who claims he is now autistic, would go away and get some damn help.
Brat Summer has extended deep into awards season. Charli XCX’s Brat is competing for a Brit Award for British album of the year on Saturday (March 1), just weeks after it competed in the Grammy race for album of the year. Brat is the first album to be nominated for the top album honor on […]
The rap feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has broken out beyond the hip-hop world so that now even the mainstream media is all over it and keeping score, thanks to Lamar winning record and song of the year at the Grammys for his Drake diss track “Not Like Us” and his performance a week later at the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
While it’s unclear how this is all going to play out, music industry label executives know that rap feuds, in general, are good for business — as long as they don’t go too far.
As it is, Lamar’s high-profile performance is landing him the most ink, which in turn is driving plenty of business his way. It’s only five weeks into the year as tracked by Luminate, and already his recorded music catalog is closing in on 1 billion on-demand streams in the U.S., which it will probably reach next week; while his global streams are heading toward 2 billion. As of the week ending Feb. 6, those counts stand at 862.8 million (U.S.) and 1.69 billion (globally), according to Luminate. Overall, Lamar’s catalog has accumulated nearly 664,000 album consumption units in the U.S. in 2025 so far.
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That’s nearly three times larger than during the same period in 2024 when Lamar posted 233,000 album consumption units and almost 301 million on-demand streams in the U.S. and global streams of 650 million. Of course, besides his high-profile TV appearances this year, Lamar’s streaming and sales activity is still enjoying an added boost from riding in the afterglow of his recently released GNX album on Nov. 22.
But is all this attention also helping Drake? It’s unclear. Drake is slightly trailing Lamar in terms of U.S. album consumption units and streaming in 2025 so far. Album consumption units came in at 620,000 units, or 7.1% short of the Compton rapper; while his total of nearly 834 million on-demand streams is 3.5% below Lamar’s U.S. total and his global total of 1.529 billion is 10.3% short of his musical rival’s.
Besides that, Drake’s 2025 performance is also down from how his catalog performed in the first five weeks of 2024, when he accumulated 930,000 album consumption units; and, within that, 1.281 billion streams in the U.S. Those 2024 numbers are 50% and 53.6% greater, respectively, than his U.S. activity in 2025 during the same period; while his 2024 global on-demand stream total was 2.246 billion, or nearly 47% greater than this year.
Drake, of course, does not have the added momentum of having released a new album at the end of 2024. (He is releasing his PartyNextDoor collaborative EP, Some Sexy Songs 4 U, this Friday.) Not only that, his current year’s numbers are competing against his prior year’s numbers which did have that benefit thanks to the afterglow of his eighth studio album, For All the Dogs, which was released on Oct. 6, 2023.
Still, the above numbers do not reflect the impact that Lamar’s Super Bowl performance is having on the activity of his and Drake’s catalogs. Those numbers, for the week ending Feb. 13, won’t be available from Luminate until Monday (Feb. 17).
This is all short-term, of course. Looking at the two artists’ career numbers, Drake swamps Lamar, even though the “Just Like Us rapper” has pretty impressive counts in his own right. Over the past 10 years, Drake has gone toe-to-toe with only Taylor Swift in claiming the title of the biggest artist in the U.S., if not the world, at least as far as recorded music activity goes.
Drake and Lamar’s first commercial releases came out within about a year of each other. Drake’s debut album, Thank Me Later, hit the streets in June 2010, while Lamar’s Section 8.0 album came out in July 2011. Since then, Drake has issued eight albums and Lamar six, and each has also released mixtapes, EPs, collaborations and/or compilations and soundtracks.
By the end of 2024, Drake’s catalog has accumulated nearly 80.7 million album consumption units in the U.S., versus Lamar’s 29.1 million album consumption units, according to Luminate. In fact, the combined activity of just three of Drake’s studio albums alone is higher than Lamar’s total, as each of those albums — Take Care, Scorpion and Views — have garnered slightly over 10 million album consumption units a piece. Meanwhile, Lamar’s best album showings come from his major-label debut good kid, m.A.A.d city, with 9.3 million album consumption units, and DAMN, at nearly 9 million units.
(These career numbers exclude collaborations where most of the collaborators are each considered a primary artist but do include songs where artists are “featured” on a Drake or Lamar song because Luminate credits those songs’ activity to just the primary artist. Album consumption units count each album sale as one album consumption unit; while track equivalent albums, whereby 10 tracks sold equal one album consumption unit; and stream equivalent albums, whereby 1,250 paid subscriber streams equal one album consumption unit, or 3,750 ad-supported streams equal one album consumption unit. Also, Luminate only tracks album consumption units in North America; globally, it only tracks streams and downloads, not album consumption units.)
Within the album consumption unit numbers, Drake’s streaming total in the U.S. is 84 billion and 127 billion globally, as of the Luminate year ended Jan. 2, 2025. Meanwhile, Lamar’s U.S. career streaming total is nearly 29 billion and more than 47 billion globally.
Those numbers are extremely impressive given that 2015 was the first year in which streaming’s impact was widely felt. While huge rock stars, not counting pop artists, are lucky to break the 1 billion on-demand streams milestone in the U.S. each year — and none of them yet appear to have broken the 2 billion mark in the U.S. in a single year — these days, R&B and hip-hop artists regularly hit the multi-billion on-demand stream mark each year — usually led by Drake.
Over the past five years — from 2020 to 2024 — Drake’s U.S. streams have totaled 46 billion, for an annual average of 9.2 billion streams, while globally he’s averaged 15.9 billion streams per year. In contrast, Lamar’s U.S. stream count during that same period averages 3.29 billion, while his annual global count averages nearly 6.4 billion streams. Any way you cut it — by album consumption units or by stream count — Drake’s activity over the course of his career, or even just within the 2020 to 2024 period, is more than twice that of Lamar’s.
So even though Lamar is the top dog this year when measured against Drake’s activity, it remains to be seen if this rap feud changes the dynamics of whose swagger — Drake’s, the reigning champ, or Lamar’s — can be backed up long-term. Only time will tell.
Taylor Swift made sure to show her appreciation to employees at a party after the 2025 Grammys. In a newly surfaced clip from the night of the Feb. 2 awards, the pop star — dressed in a sparkly silver party dress and combat boots — heads toward the exit of a building with her group. […]
The 2025 Grammy Awards held Feb. 2 shine bright on both the Billboard 200 albums and Billboard Hot 100 songs charts (dated Feb. 15), as a starry lineup of winners and performers racked up big gains. Let’s take a look at some notable movers and shakers on both lists.
On the Billboard 200
Kendrick Lamar’s GNX gains 9% in equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the tracking week ending Feb. 6 (65,000), according to Luminate, though the album is pushed down a spot to No. 4. While Lamar did not perform on the Grammy Awards, he did win five trophies — the most of any artist this year — with two of those presented on-air during the CBS television broadcast: record of the year and song of the year, both for “Not Like Us.” Lamar also took home the awards for best rap performance, best rap song and best music video – all for “Not Like Us.” (“Not Like Us” is not included on any of Lamar’s albums, but GNX is his most recent album release.)
Lamar has four more albums on the Billboard 200 — and all post gains. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City climbs 31-27 (21,000; up 11%), DAMN. rises 36-29 (20,000; up 9%), To Pimp a Butterfly rises 196-167 (9,000; up 9%) and Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers reenters at No. 185 (8,500; up 13%).
Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft gains 47% (jumping 10-5), following her performance of the album’s “Birds of a Feather” on the show. The album was also nominated for multiple awards, though did not win. Eilish also logs gains on the Billboard 200 with When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (95-83; up 10%), Happier Than Ever (135-115; up 17%) and Dont Smile at Me (reentering at No. 160; up 14%).
Best new artist winner Chappell Roan sees her The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess bound 14-6 with a 56% gain in units earned. Roan performed the album’s “Pink Pony Club” on the show.
Two-time winner Sabrina Carpenter is pushed down 6-7 with Short n’ Sweet, despite a gain of 20%. Carpenter won best pop vocal album (for Short n’ Sweet), which was presented on air, and best pop solo vocal performance (for the album’s “Espresso”). Carpenter also performed a medley of “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” on the broadcast. An earlier Carpenter album, Emails I Can’t Send, also logs a gain on the chart, increasing by 8% and climbing 131-125.
Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department bumps 11-9 with an 8% increase, even though the album didn’t win any of the six awards it and its songs were nominated for. Still, Swift was an attendee at the event, was frequently seen by the CBS cameras, and presented the best country album award to Beyoncé for Cowboy Carter.
Speaking of Cowboy Carter, the album of the year winner gallops back onto the chart, reentering at No. 19 with 25,000 units earned — up 254%.
Doechii, who performed on the show and won the on-air-presented best rap album award for Alligator Bites Never Heal, sees that album vault 62-14 for its best week yet, gaining 107% to 31,000 units earned.
Best new artist nominee and show performer Benson Boone gets a big boost, as his Fireworks & Rollerblades album rises 49-23 with 24,000 units earned — up 44%. On the show, he performed an acrobatic rendition of the album’s “Beautiful Things.” Fellow best new artist nominees, and performers, Teddy Swims and Shaboozey also see gains — the former for I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1), which rises 25-24 with an 8% increase, and the latter for Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, which rises 50-38 with a 13% gain.
All eight of the best new artist nominees had their own dedicated solo performance on the CBS broadcast: Boone, Carpenter, Doechii, Khruangbin, Raye, Roan, Shaboozey and Swims. (While Raye and Khruangbin aren’t on the Billboard 200, they also see gains with their most recent albums. Raye’s My 21st Century Blues is up 65% to 5,500 units; and Khruangbin’s A La Sala is up 36% to nearly 2,000 units.)
Performer and three-time winner Charli XCX sees her Brat album bump 52-26 with 22,000 units earned — up 38%. Brat won best dance/electronic album and best recording package, while the set’s “Von Dutch” won best dance pop recording. While none of Charli’s awards were presented during the CBS broadcast, she performed a medley of the album’s “Von Dutch” and “Guess” on the show.
Kendrick Lamar & More Leap on the Hot 100
As previously reported, the Hot 100’s top 10 reflects Grammy action, led by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile,” which won for best pop duo/group performance during the CBS broadcast. The pair also performed on the show, but didn’t sing “Die With a Smile,” instead, they did a cover of The Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” in tribute to Los Angeles following the January wildfires in the area.
Songs in the top 10 by Eilish, Shaboozey, The Weeknd and Playboi Carti, and Benson Boone also bask in a post-Grammy glow.
Just outside the Hot 100’s top 10, Lamar’s “Not Like Us” vaults 29-15 with a 55% blast to 19.2 million official U.S. streams. The Drake-eviscerating track, which topped the chart for two weeks last May and July, swept all five of its Grammy nominations.
Roan surges with two songs in the Hot 100’s top 25: “Pink Pony Club” (45-18, a new high, surpassing its prior No. 26 peak) and “Good Luck, Babe!” (30-23, after reaching No. 6). The songs soared by 98% to 13.4 million streams and 26% to 13.2 million streams, respectively, after she performed “Pink Pony Club” and won the Grammy for best new artist, accepting the award with her buzzy speech calling for improvements in artists’ healthcare.
Plus, Doechii’s “Denial Is a River” hits the Hot 100’s top 40, jumping 55-27, up 66% to 13.8 million streams. It’s a new best rank for the rapper, who previously hit a No. 29 high in October 2013 with “What It Is (Block Boy)” featuring Kodak Black.
Sabrina Carpenter, who took home her first Grammy awards last weekend, has given fans a glimpse at her celebratory night — on film. Featured in her photographs are industry peers Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, Chappell Roan and Beyoncé, among others.
The Short n’ Sweet singer seemingly went to a Grammys after party also attended by Swift, Antonoff, Margaret Qualley and Amber Mark. She shared a snapshot of herself getting cozy with the group on a couch, and another in which Swift, wearing the jacket that she caught from Janelle Monáe during Sunday’s (Feb. 3) ceremony, embraces her with a big hug.
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Carpenter posted her pictures on Instagram on Friday (Feb. 7), captioning the collection “film from Sunday,” with a smiley face.
In the slideshow of 15 pictures is a shot of Carpenter with Roan, both with wide, ecstatic grins. Another special moment captured on film is the “Espresso” star getting a hug from album of the year winner Beyoncé.
Carpenter’s photos also document her glamorous Grammy Awards look: that backless, baby blue gown.
She left the 2025 Grammy Awards as a winner in the best pop vocal album and best pop solo performance categories.
Post-Grammys, Carpenter announced a deluxe edition of breakthrough album Short n’ Sweet, with Dolly Parton on a remix of “Please Please Please.” The deluxe release also features bonus tracks “15 Minutes,” “Couldn’t Make It Any Harder,” “Busy Woman” and “Bad Reviews.” It’ll be out on Feb. 14.
The original Short n’ Sweet debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in August. Three singles from the album charted on the Hot 100, led by “Please Please Please,” which reached No. 1.
This might have been the year that both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones won Grammy Awards, but older demographics who watched the show are wondering why rock music had such a low profile during the televised ceremony.
Sure, rock music had a token presence during the telecast: The show began with an uplifting performance from Dawes covering Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.,” backed by an all-star band consisting of Brad Paisley, John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Brittany Howard and St. Vincent as a tribute to the people of Los Angeles who are still trying to recover from the devastating wildfires in January. Also, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith presented the best pop vocal album Grammy to Sabrina Carpenter for Short n’ Sweet, while the alternative band Khruangbin played a very abbreviated segment of their shoe-gazing song “May Ninth”; and Coldplay’s Chris Martin played a ballad during the In Memoriam section.
But the awards for best rock album, best metal performance and best alternative music album, among others, were relegated to the non-televised afternoon Grammy Award presentation.
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Why weren’t there any artists from that genre rocking out during the telecast? After all, rock music still dominates the live show marketplace. And while there are many ways that various genres can be measured against one another, Luminate’s audio consumption album units genre report shows rock music is still the second biggest genre at 22.3%, Billboard calculates, when unassigned albums are deducted from the total. That’s almost two and a half times as large as Latin, which has an 8.3% market share; and slightly more than twice as large as country, which has a 10.4% market share.
In album units, rock is 50% larger than pop music, which has a 14.8% market share, but pop was featured prominently during the show. As was R&B/hip-hop, which is still the biggest genre at a 27.8% market share.
But even though rock may have a big presence collectively, it also has some missing ingredients that probably make it difficult to include it in the televised Grammy Awards these days.
Age is a factor — not only the demographics of the Grammy show viewers, which undoubtedly plays a role in what artists and music are featured on the TV broadcast, but the age of the rock music that makes up those market share numbers. Luminate tracks releases in two age brackets: current, which counts all sales and streaming activity in the first 18 months after a song or album is released; and catalog, which counts everything older than 18 months.
That is one of rock’s biggest issues: By the catalog category — again using audio consumption units minus activity from titles unassigned to a genre — its 25.5% of the market is comfortably No. 2 in the industry, still behind R&B/hip-hop. But by current releases, rock slips all the way to fourth, at 11.9%, behind R&B/hip-hop (27.2%), pop (18.7%) and country (14.8%) and barely ahead of Latin (10.6%).
And the Grammy Awards are all about current music; in fact, current music is literally written into the eligibility criteria of which music releases can be considered for its awards. For the 2025 Grammys, the Recording Academy only considered recordings released from Sept. 16, 2023, to Aug. 20, 2024. Mathematically speaking, all the releases that meet that criteria to be eligible for a Grammy Award, and thus to be included in the show, would be current releases.
But there could be another, more significant factor as to why rock music wasn’t front and center during the televised portion: The sales and streams for the nominees in the rock categories paled in comparison to those of other genres. Big sales and streaming activity clearly indicate widespread popularity and TV shows are all about drawing big viewing audiences. And the nominees in the rock categories turned in the weakest collective performance when it came to sales and streaming activity among the genres highlighted on the show.
Of the albums nominated for album of the year, only Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft could be remotely considered rock — and alternative at that, or more accurately dark pop. The other albums, not so much: Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of A Midwest Princess and Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet got pop covered; Charli XCX’s Brat represents electro-pop; and Andre 3000’s New Blue Sun and Jacob Collier’s Djesse Vol. 4 are R&B and jazz, with smatterings of funk thrown in. In fact, Beyoncé’s country album, Cowboy Carter, has been cited for bringing other genres into the mix.
Collectively, the eight albums nominated for album of the year averaged 2.043 million album consumption units in 2024, even with the Andre 3000 album only hitting 44,000 units and the Collier album lower, at 33,000 units.
Sales and streaming activity was also a likely distinguishing factor in determining if the big awards of the Latin, pop, country and R&B genres were featured on the televised show. Let’s take best pop vocal album, with the Grammy nod going to Carpenter’s Sweet album, which garnered 2.504 million U.S. album consumption units. Collectively, the five nominees in that category averaged 3.01 million album consumption units, with Swift’s Tortured Poets leading the way with 6.962 million.
In best rap album, Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal won the Grammy, despite having the second-lowest sales/activity of the nominees at 133,000 album consumption units. Collectively, the five nominated albums averaged 712,000 units, led by Future & Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You at 2.046 million units and Eminem’s The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace) at 1.01 million album consumption units.
In best country album, the Grammy nominees collectively averaged 856,000 album consumption units, with a pair of artists new to the genre leading the way in Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion, with 1.598 million units, and winner Cowboy Carter, with 1.42 million album consumption units.
Shakira, who performed and was acknowledged for her historic role in bringing Latin music to the masses, won best Latin pop album with her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran album, which had 306,000 album consumption units. Collectively, her activity combined with the other four nominees for best Latin pop album averaged 171,000 album consumption units.
Even dance/electronic music, which ranks sixth with 3.8% in U.S. market share as calculated by Billboard based on Luminate data, made the cut for the televised portion of the show. While its overall market share is meager compared to rock, its collective current album consumption units were bolstered by Charli XCXs Brat album, which garnered 1.159 million album consumption units. In total, the five nominees in the category earned a collective average of 273,000 units.
Rock, in comparison, is a different story. The Rolling Stones won the best rock album award with 91,000 album consumption units for its Hackney Diamonds, while Green Day, which was the category leader, had 158,000 units. Collectively, the rock category nominees averaged just 81,000 units, by far the smallest of the bigger genres.
There may be plenty of reasons why rock was relegated to the back burner at this year’s Grammy Awards — the Stones and the Beatles, after all, are not the hottest names with kids these days. But the numbers certainly tell at least part of that story.