Grammys
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Mark Ronson has five nominations heading into Sunday’s Grammy Awards, all stemming from his work on the soundtrack and score for the Barbie film, including a Big Four nod for song of the year for co-writing Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night.” The wildest Grammy category he’s competing in has to be best song written for visual media, where four of the five nominees are all from Barbie.
It speaks to just how Greta Gerwig’s film dominated pop culture this past year. And on the new Grammy preview episode of the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, we inform Ronson that it’s actually the first time a single project has landed four songs in that category since its inception in 1988.
“I think my mom Googled that the day nominations came out. She was very proud,” Ronson tells the Pop Shop with a laugh (listen to his full interview below). “I didn’t know that, and the other thing is that the Grammy category is for film and TV, you know? And there’s so many great songs from TV shows, like I think of all the Only Murders in the Building songs and everything else — there was some real moments for songs. So yeah, it’s crazy that Barbie took up so many.”
The lone non-Barbie song in the category is Rihanna’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ballad “Lift Me Up.” “Rihanna can do anything she wants, so we can’t take anything for granted,” Ronson notes of their formidable competition on Sunday night.
Below, find highlights from our chat with Ronson, who’s also up for best original song at the Oscars on March 10 for “I’m Just Ken” with co-writer Andrew Wyatt — a prize Ronson won alongside Lady Gaga in 2019 for “Shallow” from A Star Is Born — and is already a seven-time Grammy winner, starting with his 2008 wins for producing Amy Winehouse’s landmark album Back to Black.
On being recognized at the Oscars again:
“Obviously in our field of music, we’d have to say the Grammys is the highest honor. What’s so crazy is that there’s this award [the Oscar] that’s sort of the most prestigious award in the world that gives out one award for music, so it’s so crazy. I don’t believe that it means that your song is better than somebody else’s song or any of that stuff, but of course it is amazing. We worked so hard on this film and for a long time and also on the score and everything because we loved it, not because we were like, ‘OK, we better get an Oscar nomination!’ But it is nice to be recognized for the work, for sure.”
On the Oscar rules allowing just two songs from a single film in the song category, so “I’m Just Ken” and Billie Eilish and Finneas’ “What Was I Made For” made the cut, but Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” and others were left out:
“I don’t know how they even pick what the two are, but it is [bittersweet] because Dua’s song is still the biggest song from the soundtrack and Dua was really the first artist of anywhere near her stature that committed to the film. So it was almost like once we knew that we had a Dua song that was going to be in this big thing, it really set the bar for what the whole soundtrack could be. Dua … being like, ‘I’m down with this’ and writing this incredible song was what got us all excited, like, ‘Wow, this really could be something where this feels like this superstar level of musicians and singers and pop stars on it.’ So Dua definitely deserves all the credit for that, and you know it would have been lovely to have her as well. So it’s, you know, it is a shame.”
How Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World” accomplished the goal of including both Nicki and Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” on the soundtrack:
“We knew that with Nicki and her fans being called the Barbz and everything, as soon as I had been brought in for the soundtrack, I was like, ‘There’s no way in hell that we can have this soundtrack without a Nicki song on it.’ And then the fact that Ice [Spice] just became, like, her meteoric rise the entire time that we were even just working on the soundtrack from when we first got her involved, so yeah, it’s everywhere. … The two thoughts are like, ‘There’s no world in which we can’t have Nicki and that we can’t have some version of Aqua,’ you know? So we were always thinking, is it a cover? Is it an interesting flip? And then the Nicki and Ice [song] just came through with Riot[USA]’s beat and just handled the whole thing for us.”
On making the Christmas version of “I’m Just Ken” and whether he might make more music with Ryan Gosling:
“We definitely had a lot of fun, especially making the Christmas version that we did, because we had made that record and then I, the first one, I recorded a vocal with him. And then I probably hadn’t spoken to him for about a year till the movie was wrapping up. And I was like, ‘Hey, we finished the version actually, Slash is playing on it, I just want to make sure you’re happy with it before we mix it’. And he really loved it. And then we started to talk over the past couple of months, and we’re just talking about different kinds of music and things that he loved and [British singer/songwriter] Scott Walker and this stuff, and I was like, ‘Well, we should do a version of “Ken” that just does something a little different, like a different arrangement.’ Because, you know, there was a lot of talk like the ’80s power ballad and this, and I mean, it has all those things, but I think some of my pride as a songwriter, I wanted to prove that it wasn’t just that. So Ryan … he’s got amazing taste and great ideas, and he’s an extremely funny and talented musician and singer. So we made this version and then we started to hang, and definitely, I would love to make more music. You know, I think it would be great. And we’ve talked about it a little bit.”
On his first time at the Grammys:
“I was a seat filler [as a teenager] because I wanted to write about it. I wrote and reviewed concerts for my high school paper. My mom would only let me go to shows … if I could convince her it was something to do with school, so I got this job writing for the paper who definitely didn’t need a music reviewer. [Laughs] But I convinced them, and it was this paper called City News that was for high school kids, a bunch of different schools. So I got into the Grammys by being a seat filler. And I remember you’re sitting all over the place. At one point I was in front of Vanilla Ice. The other moment I was sitting next to that singer Alannah Myles who won that year for ‘Black Velvet.’ And then I went with my friend Rhymefest, a rapper who co-wrote [Kanye West’s] ‘Jesus Walks.’ I went with him as his plus-one in like 2003 or whenever that was, and then next time I went was for Amy.”
On his whirlwind first Grammys as a nominee in 2008 — and his Zoolander moment in the crowd:
“I remember it really well. I took my mom and I remember when they read my name for producer of the year, it was such a blur that it was like a movie. My friend Rich, my best friend, was nudging me and going, ‘They said your name! Go!’ I went up, and it was just so surreal. … Me and my mom were behind Tony Bennett at the main ceremony, and I think I was actually a little bit hungover because I was enjoying myself that weekend, my first time at the rodeo. And they came up to me before they announced record of the year, the cameras, they want to make sure, like, ‘Are you Mark Ronson?’ Just in case you win, they’ve got the camera on you. And so when they said, you know, ‘And the Grammy for record of the year goes to… “Rehab” for Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse!’ And so I got up to walk towards the stage, because I figured like, ‘So that’s why the guy’s filming me.’ And as I start to walk up the first few steps, this giant screen starts to get lowered and it’s Amy live from Camden to accept the award. And I suddenly realized like, ‘Oh my God, I’m gonna look like such an idiot just standing there next to this screen.’ So I try to like subtly as possible reverse-step down the stairs in front of everybody in the Staples Center, and I kind of fell backwards and I just sat like at the feet of Amber Rose and Kanye for like 10 minutes while Amy spoke, and I just said, ‘Sorry, guys, I’ll be out of your hair in a minute.’ But it was, like, a very Zoolander moment.”
On writing a book about DJing at hip-hop clubs in the ’90s and how it’s inspiring his follow-up album to 2019’s Late Night Feelings:
“I’ve been writing a book about DJing, specifically about DJing in hip-hop clubs in the ’90s in New York City. And it’s a little bit about that time. It’s a mini-memoir, but it’s also about the art of DJing. And maybe some of that art is a little bit bygone now, because you don’t walk into places and see turntables and mixers everywhere. So it’s a bit about all those things, and just about a really great time, because it was this moment where Jay-Z and Biggie and Puff started to come out in downtown New York. And that suddenly changed the whole thing of where people wanted to be and where people wanted to hang out. And because I was their DJ, I had a front-row seat to it all in some ways. So I’m writing that book, and then I’m sure that the book will influence this record a little bit. I’m sure it’ll a little bit remind me of that era. But yeah, that’s where I’m at with it.”
Also on the podcast, we’ve got chart news on how Green Day scores its 12th top 10 charting album on the Billboard 200 with Saviors, nearly 30 years to the week after the band made their Billboard chart debut in 1994. Plus, how Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” makes a beautiful start on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and how Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez and Sophie Ellis-Bextor all debut on the Pop Airplay chart with their latest hits. And since it’s our special Grammy Awards preview episode, we’re also reviewing the nominees in the six general field categories and highlighting who our very own awards editor, Paul Grein, along with his crack team of advisers on staff at Billboard, thinks will win in each of the categories.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
After producing for Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Travis Scott and more for over a decade, Hit-Boy has solidified his stance as one of the best rap producers in the game.
The three-time Grammy winner is up for producer of the year, non-classical this year, and it’s the second time he’s been nominated in the category. “I didn’t have no label budget. Everything is funded by me, music by me, engineered by me, studio time by me, like literally coming out of my pocket. I feel like I already won for real,” he told Billboard News‘ Tetris Kelly. “I don’t have no big powerful manager like the rest of the producers. I’m thuggin’ this sh– by myself with a couple of my homies.”
But Hit-Boy isn’t always solo in the studio. In the last three years, Hit-Boy has executive produced six albums for Nas, with three King’s Disease and three Magic albums. Nas won his first-ever Grammy in 2021 in the best rap album category with the first King’s Disease installation.
“Nas empowers me to be the best producer I can and allows me to grow through my production process. When he comes [to] lay two, three verses and a hook, and [he’s] like, ‘Yo, do what you do.’ I’m doing breakdowns, I’m adding additional keys, I’m doing things to just keep the production interesting. And when he comes back to the studio, he like, ‘Yo! I didn’t expect this. My mind is blown. What made you think to put this sound and it matches what I’m saying?’” he says. “We got mutual, super respect. He allows me to be me and grow through this, and I allow him to be him. He’s one of the greatest, period. I just try to keep my ear open, my eyes open. That’s how you got 80 songs in three years — you got to leave ego out the room.”
The 36-year-old producer hitmaker (real name Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr.) recently worked with another superstar, Jennifer Lopez, on her first single of the year, “Can’t Get Enough.” The song, which Latto recently hopped on for the remix, arrives ahead of J.Lo’s ninth studio album This Is Me… Now, due Feb. 16 via Nuyorican Productions and BMG. And it’s not the first time Hit-Boy has ever worked with her: His first official beat placement was on Lopez’s “Forever” from her 2007 album Brave.
But the most special collaborator he’s ever worked with is his father Big Hit, who recently finished serving nine years of a 12 year-sentence after being found guilty and convicted of a hit-and-run in L.A. resulting in great bodily injury in 2014. After being released from prison, Big Hit went straight to the studio and started getting back to work. The father-son duo released Surf or Down, Vol. 2 just in time for Father’s Day last year. Then Hit-Boy executive produced his father’s highly anticipated debut album The Truth Is In My Eyes, which was released on December 16, 2023, exclusively on Big Hit’s Bandcamp. Two weeks later, at the top of this year, Hit-Boy, Big Hit and The Game joined forces on the 9-track project Paisley Dreams.
“It’s a dream come true…. Sitting and just laying in the bunker in the cell, surrounded by all the concrete and all the noise, all the bullsh–, trying to block it out, I just told myself, ‘One day, I’mma be in the mansion. I’ll focus on the vision.’ And I stayed focused,” said Big Hit. And that focus doesn’t go unnoticed by his own son. “[I’m] getting to know different parts of myself through him and seeing his work ethic. Since I was a teenager, people be like, ‘All you do is work. You locked in all the time.’ I got that hustle in my blood, you know what I mean? Seeing him record 300 songs in seven months, I’m trying to keep up with him now!” Hit-Boy added.
Watch Hit-Boy’s full Billboard News interview above.
Hit-Boy reacts to his Grammy nomination, talks about self-releasing music, what sets him apart from other producers, and working with artists such as Nas and Jennifer Lopez. His father, Big Hit, joins in on the conversation and talks about navigating the music industry after spending 12 years in prison, what his life was like while serving his sentence and what their relationship is like now that he is out.Big Hit:Guess I’m to blame, busting that superstar DNA. Big Hit came. Hit-Boy came. Hit-Boy came, C III came. The best is yet to come.
Hit-Boy:Yo, yo. It’s Hit-Boy.
Big Hit:It’s Big Hit.
Hit-Boy & Big Hit: You’re watching Billboard News.
Tetris Kelly:Hey, it’s Tetris with Billboard News, and I have the honor of being with a man that has so many hits, it’s his name. Hit-Boy, man. What’s up? How’s it going?
Hit-Boy:I’m good, man.Tetris Kelly:Let’s talk about this Grammy nomination. Your 11th nomination — producer of the year non-classical. Does it hit any different on your 11th time?
Hit-Boy:Oh, man. It’s crazy because I didn’t expect to … I mean I don’t have no expectations when it comes to, like, awards and stuff like that. But just even being in the nominations, it just hit me this year just because this whole year, I’ve been kind of focusing on things that I can control, which was my own projects, working with my dad, put out a project with Musiq Soulchild, so everything that you know was under me being nominated was mostly stuff that, you know, I really put my heart and soul into, so it did hit different.
Tetris Kelly:And then, I mean, you’ve worked on so many projects this year like you said. How do you feel you stack up when you’re like looking at “I’m going up against Jack Antonoff, you know, my homie from Georgia, Metro Boomin,” like, what do you feel sets you apart as a producer?Watch the full video above!
After years of stagnancy, women are gaining ground on the charts and at the Grammys.
A report on gender equality in the music industry by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative — which was supported by Spotify and is the latest in an annual series released by the groups — assessed 12 years and 1,200 songs from the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Charts, looking at artists, songwriters and producers.
The study, Inclusion in the Recording Studio? Gender & Race/Ethnicity of Artists, Songwriters & Producers across 1,100 Popular Songs from 2012 to 2022, is out Tuesday (Jan. 30.)
The study’s key takeaway is that women’s participation in music creation, which has historically lagged, has improved across several metrics.
On the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Charts, the percentage of women artists reached 35%, a 12-year high. The study attributes this change to the fact that 40.6% of spots on these charts in 2023 were occupied by individual women artists, an increase over 2022 when the number was 34.8%. Improvements were less significant for women-led bands or duos.
The number of women songwriters also increased, from 14.1% in 2022 to 19.5% in 2023. The study notes that this change was due “almost exclusively to the number of women of color credited as songwriters in 2023.” The reports cites 55 women of color receiving a songwriting credit in 2023, a jump from 33 women of color 2022 and 14 in 2012.
Fifty-six percent of songs in 2023 included at least one woman songwriter — an increase from 2022 and the highest percentage in 12 years.
“The changes for songwriters are doubtlessly due to the work of numerous groups working to support women in music,” Dr. Smith says in a statement. “Whether She Is The Music, Spotify Equal, Moving the Needle, Women’s Audio Mission, Be the Change, Keychange, Girls Make Beats, or others, there has been a groundswell of support for women across the last several years. This advocacy and activism is propelling change in the industry. While there is work to be done, these groups are well-positioned to keep fighting for change.”
In the producing realm, fourteen, or 6.5%, of the producers credited in 2023 were women. This surpassed the previous record of 4.9% in 2019. Nearly half, or six, of the women producers in 2023 were women of color. But, over the nine years the study has assessed gender equality in production, 94% of the evaluated songs did not include a single woman producer. Across nine years, there have been 29.8 men to every one woman working as a producer.
The race/ethnicity of artists is also a focus of the report. In 2023, 61% of the artists on the Hot 100 Year-End Charts were from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group, while 39% were white. This was a 12-year high and an increase from 2022, when the number was 50.6%, but not significantly greater than the percentage of underrepresented artists in 2020, when the number was 59%.
The study also assessed the six major Grammy categories: record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, best new artist, producer of the year and songwriter of the year.
The study found that nearly a quarter (24%) of nominations across these six categories went to women in 2024 — a jump from 15.5% in 2023. This overall change was reflected in four categories: record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, and best new artist. This year, nominees in these categories include Taylor Swift, Victoria Monét, SZA, Miley Cryus, boygenius, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo. In each of these categories, the percentage of women nominees increased significantly from 2023 to 2024 and from the first year the awards were evaluated in 2013.
For the fifth year in a row, no women were nominated for producer of the year.
“Awards like the Grammys show us how women’s contributions to the industry are received,” Dr. Smith says. “The increases in nominations this year are a positive step in recognizing the creative work that women did last year in competitive fields. The Recording Academy has clearly taken inclusion seriously and worked to increase the diversity of its membership, particularly its voting members.”
But, she continues, “There is still too little recognition for women producers and songwriters in those categories, and there are too few women of color nominated for their work. For music industry honors to truly reflect the creative workforce and the audience they serve, there must be a place for women and particularly women of color in these awards.”
Other key findings:
• In 2023, 164 artists appeared on the Hot 100 Billboard Year-End Chart. Of these, 64.6% were men, 34.8% were women, and 0.6% were gender non-binary.
• Across the 12-year sample, women artists were the most likely to work in pop (34.7%) and least likely in alternative (14.4%) and hip-hop (14.9%).
• Across 12 years, Drake had the most credits as a solo artist, appearing 52 times, double that of Justin Bieber, who appears on 25 songs. Nicki Minaj was the woman with the highest number of credits, appearing 25 times, while Ariana Grande followed with 23 songs and Rihanna with 22.
• The percentage of underrepresented women on the charts in 2023 was 65%, with this number the same as 2022 and and almost doubling since 2012, when it was 33.3%. “Put differently,” the study says, “women of color continue to dominate the charts.”
• In terms of genre, across 12 years, women were most likely to write pop (20.1%) and dance/electronic (19.6%) songs, and least likely to write hip-hop and rap (7.5%) and country (9.9%) songs. Even in pop music, where women songwriters most often appear, they were outnumbered by male songwriter by a ratio of 4 to 1.
SZA, who is the nominations leader for the 2024 Grammy Awards, is set to perform on the telecast, CBS announced on Monday (Jan. 29). This will be SZA’s second performance on the Grammy telecast. She first performed six years ago, when she was a best new artist nominee. She sang “Broken Clocks,” a song from her debut studio album, Ctrl.
The 66th annual Grammy Awards are set for Sunday, Feb. 4, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The nominations leader generally performs on the telecast, but not always. Beyoncé, who led the nominations last year, opted not to perform. She also declined to perform three years ago, when she led the nominations. Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar also did not perform when they were the nominations leaders in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Most famously, Michael Jackson did not perform in 1984 when he became the first artist to sweep eight awards in one night.
SZA received nine nods, including each of the Big Three awards – album, record and song of the year. Her album SOS is seen as being in a tight race with Taylor Swift’s Midnights and Boygenius’ The Record for album of the year. Neither Swift nor Boygenius has yet been confirmed to perform on the show.
SZA is the 10th performer to be announced for this year’s telecast. These performers range in age from three in their 20s (Olivia Rodrigo, 20; Billie Eilish, 22; and Dua Lipa, 28) to three who are 60-plus – the four members of U2, who are in their early 60s; Billy Joel, 74; and Mitchell, 80). Also booked for the show are four performers in their 30s: Burna Boy and Travis Scott, both 32; Luke Combs, 33; and SZA, 34.
U2 will perform from Sphere in Las Vegas, home of the band’s acclaimed U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere show.
Additional performers for the Grammy telecast will be announced. The big question is whether Swift, who was last year’s hottest music star by a wide margin, will perform.
The other album of the year nominees, not already named, are Janelle Monáe’s The Age of Pleasure, Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation, Rodrigo’s Guts and Jon Batiste’s World Music Radio.
Trevor Noah will host the Grammys for the fourth consecutive year. He, too, is a Grammy nominee. He is up for best comedy album for I Wish You Would. He’s the first Grammy host to be nominated for a Grammy that same year since Queen Latifah in 2005. Noah won a Primetime Emmy on Jan. 15 for outstanding talk series for The Daily Show With Trevor Noah.
The 66th annual Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday, Feb. 4, from 8 to 11:30 p.m. live ET/5 to 8:30 p.m. live PT on CBS, and will stream live and on-demand on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs).
The telecast will be produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy for the fourth consecutive year. Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins are executive producers.
Joni Mitchell will make her Grammy performance debut at the 2024 Grammy Awards, set for Sunday (Feb. 4) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. It’s surprising that Mitchell has never performed on Music’s Biggest Night because she has been a Grammy fixture for decades. She won her first of nine competitive Grammys in 1970. In addition, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2002.
The legendary singer-songwriter is nominated for best folk album for Joni Mitchell at Newport [Live]. She won her first Grammy 54 years ago in a folk category (best folk performance) for Clouds.
Mitchell is the ninth performer to be announced for this year’s telecast. These performers range in age from three in their 20s (Olivia Rodrigo, 20; Billie Eilish, 22; and Dua Lipa, 28) to three who are 60+ – the four members of U2, who are in their early 60s; Billy Joel, 74; and Mitchell, 80). Also booked for the show are Burna Boy and Travis Scott, both 32, and Luke Combs, 33.
Mitchell is the fourth of these performers who is a past album of the year winner, following Joel, U2 and Eilish. But you may be surprised to learn what album Mitchell won for. It wasn’t her 1971 classic Blue (which, surprisingly, wasn’t nominated in any categories), or her 1974 creative and commercial hit Court and Spark (which was nominated for album of the year). It was Herbie Hancock’s jazz tribute to her, River: The Joni Letters. She won as a featured artist on that album.
U2 will perform from Sphere in Las Vegas, home of the band’s acclaimed U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere. The segment will also feature a special awards presentation.
Additional performers for the Grammy telecast will be announced in coming days.
Trevor Noah will host the Grammys for the fourth consecutive year. He too is a Grammy nominee. Noah is up for best comedy album for I Wish You Would. He’s the first Grammy host to be nominated for a Grammy that same year since Queen Latifah in 2005. He won a Primetime Emmy on Jan. 15 for outstanding talk series for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
The 66th annual Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday (Feb. 4) from 8:00-11:30 p.m. live ET/5:00-8:30 p.m. live PT on CBS and will stream live and on-demand on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs).
The telecast will be produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy for the fourth consecutive year. Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins are executive producers.
U2 will perform from Sphere in Las Vegas on the 2024 Grammy Awards, set to take place Sunday Feb. 4 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The segment will also feature a special awards presentation.
The news broke today on U2’s social media channel, complementing the record-setting run of U2’s acclaimed “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere.”
This is the first broadcast performance from Sphere, a first-of-its kind venue that has garnered worldwide headlines. The Grammys were held in Las Vegas two years ago, at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Billboard’s Katie Atkinson reviewed U2’s opening night show at Sphere on Sept. 29. Her main takeaway: “U2 was exactly the right band to welcome the mind-blowing space.”
Expanding on that thought, Atkinson wrote: “You might think that all the technological bells and whistles could overshadow the performance, but U2’s music and message always remained the focal point throughout the two-hour set. … In the end, Sphere never overshadows U2; Sphere magnifies U2, pairing a band that has attempted to innovate with each new tour over their 40-plus-year career with a venue that seemingly has no limits of innovation.”
U2 have amassed 22 Grammys over the course of their career, including two awards in each of the top three categories – album, record and song of the year.
Previously announced Grammy Awards performers include Burna Boy, Luke Combs, Billie Eilish, Billy Joel, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo and Travis Scott. Three of the first eight performers announced for the show are past album of the year winners – U2, Joel and Eilish.
Additional performers for the Grammy telecast will be announced.
Trevor Noah will host the Grammys for the fourth consecutive year. He too is a Grammy nominee. He is up for best comedy album for I Wish You Would. He’s the first Grammy host to be nominated for a Grammy that same year since Queen Latifah in 2005. Noah won a Primetime Emmy last week for outstanding talk series for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
The 66th annual Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday, Feb. 4 from 8:00-11:30 p.m. live ET/5:00-8:30 p.m. live PT on CBS and will stream live and on-demand on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs).
The telecast will be produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy for the fourth consecutive year. Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins are executive producers.
Independent publishing company Primary Wave is teaming up with Billboard to celebrate Billboard No. 1s during Grammy Week with their 17th annual pre-Grammy party on Feb. 3.
The event, which will take place at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, Calif., will feature a DJ set from CeeLo Green, who will pay tribute to Primary Wave’s roster and catalog. In addition CeeLo’s set, expected attendees include Asake, Bryson Tiller, DDG, Fantasia Barrino, Gavin Rossdale, Hit-Boy, Jon B, Iann Dior, Lecrae, Rapsody, Rebecca Black, SAINt JHN, Smokey Robinson and Tainy, among others.
It’s a fitting guest list for a Billboard No. 1s party, given that there are multiple Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers in the mix. Robinson scored two Hot 100 No. 1s with The Miracles: “The Tears of a Clown” and “Love Machine (Part 1)”; Barrino topped the chart with her American Idol coronation song “I Believe”; and Iann Dior teamed up with 24kGoldn to reach the summit with “Mood.”
The Primary Wave Pre-Grammy Party Celebrating Billboard No. 1s is sponsored by McIntosh, Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment and Iron Mountain Entertainment Services.
The event will take place just a day before the 66th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 4, where SZA leads the pack with nine nominations — including record and song of the year nods for her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Kill Bill” and an album of the year nod for her 10-week Billboard 200 chart-topper SOS.
Next up are Phoebe Bridgers, Victoria Monét and engineer/mixer Serban Ghenea with seven nominations; six of Bridgers’ nods are with the indie trio boygenius (alongside Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus), plus a solo mention in best pop duo/group performance for her SZA collab “Ghost in the Machine.” Other six-time nominees this year include Taylor Swift and her longtime producing partner Jack Antonoff, along with Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus, Jon Batiste and Brandy Clark.
When Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” debuted in January 2023, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 — and remained there for eight weeks. The album it introduced, Endless Summer Vacation (her eighth full-length and first on Columbia Records), went on to hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200. And a year later, the single and album both remain forces: At the upcoming Grammys, Cyrus (who has yet to win one) has six nominations, including song and record of the year nods for “Flowers” and an album of the year nod for Endless Summer Vacation.
Many of her closest album collaborators spoke to Billboard about how they came to take this creative trip with her — and why her Grammy recognition is long overdue.
All Aboard!
Mike WiLL Made-It, writer-producer: Since we’ve made so many hits over the years, Miley approached me and said she wanted me involved — she felt like this was going to be her best work yet. She has already explored so many different sounds, and she’s really on her songwriting. It’s always dope to work with her because she’s constantly pushing the envelope.
Michael Pollack, writer-producer: Miley and I had done a few writing sessions in 2021 with no real mention of an album. It wasn’t until we got back in the studio in January of 2022 that the momentum seemed to pick up and I started to notice Miley assembling Endless Summer Vacation.
Tyler Johnson, writer-producer: I think it was just part of being in the system after working on the Harry [Styles album Harry’s House]. And Miley’s team and our team — myself and Kid Harpoon’s teams — wanted to make it happen. We got together for a week at NightBird Studios [in Los Angeles] and wrote the song “Wildcard” and started our relationship with Miley. Six months later, after she heard some music that we had been working on with Kevin Abstract, she came over to do a potential feature on one of the songs.
Kid Harpoon, writer-producer: I’ve always been a fan. I just fanboy when she’s singing. When we [reconnected], she had some songs she liked but she didn’t have a production direction on them. The big thing for her was, “I want to make an album I’m proud of.”
Tobias Jesso Jr., writer: I ran into [Columbia CEO] Ron Perry at Adele [One Night Only] at Griffith [Observatory in L.A.]. He was like, “Hey, I’d really like to get you involved in this Miley thing.” In this particular session, I knew why Ron wanted me there: He wanted me to write a song on the piano with Miley. As soon as all the writers were there — Mike WiLL Made-It, Bibi Bourelly and me and Miley — I was like, “Why don’t we go to the piano and just try some stuff?” I think within 30 minutes, “Thousand Miles” was written.
Tobias Jesso Jr.
Justin Chung
Tyler Johnson
Cedrick Jones
Greg Kurstin, writer-producer: Ron Perry and [Miley’s co-manager] Jonathan Daniel both reached out to me about Miley. We initially got together to write songs and “Jaded” came out of one of our sessions with [writer] Sarah Aarons. We spent a lot of time at my studio. Miley is great to work with because she has a clear vision of what she wants and she doesn’t stop until she gets it. She’s also a lot of fun.
Caitlyn Smith, writer: Since Miley cut our song “High” on her 2020 Plastic Hearts record, she and my co-writer, Jenn Decilveo, had been texting about the three of us getting together and writing a bit for her next record. It was a last-minute “Want to write this week?” in April of last year that led to a day in the studio.
Jenn Decilveo, writer: [Miley] sent me this idea, and then we got together with my friend BJ [Burton] and Caitlyn, and that was the start of “Island.” I think it was at Larrabee in the Valley [in L.A.] — 1-2-3 done. She’s such an incredible songwriter and had so much input melodically, lyrically, productionwise. She was involved in every aspect.
Maxx Morando, writer-producer: We were just hanging out, and I was working on stuff and she was working on stuff, and she heard the instrumental version of “Handstand” and was like, “Oh, I have an idea for the vocal.” I made [it] during COVID-19 — and I don’t even smoke that much weed, but I think I was really high when I made it.
Gregory “Aldae” Hein, writer: [Columbia Records head of A&R Rani Hancock] was a cheerleader for Miley to work with me. Ron Perry FaceTimed me and was like, “Hey, we’re going to bring you in with Miley. This is what we want from you.” I went in with her and it was just instant chemistry. The first day we ever worked [together], we wrote “Used To Be Young” in less than an hour.
Mike WiLL Made-It
Cam Kirk
Michael Pollack
Nesrin Danan
Stopping To Smell The “Flowers”
Pollack: “Flowers” was written in January of 2022 during a week of sessions at Sunset Sound [in L.A.]. The song came together organically, being written in its entirety at the piano. Initially the idea was slower and sadder, but both Greg [Hein] and Miley had the vision to make the song positive and free-spirited. We demo’d the song on Rhodes [piano] and left thinking it was a ballad — or at least I did. Almost immediately after, I remember being told, “ ‘Flowers’ is going to be the first single and it’s going to be produced out as an uptempo.”
Hein: Miley randomly texted us almost a year later, like, “Hey, just so you guys know, you have my first single.” Then she invited me to the music video shoot and I saw the scene where she walks up in the gold dress and I was like, “Oh, this is going to be a thing.”
Johnson: Ron Perry was really leading the charge of making sure “Flowers” and “Used To Be Young” were right. Those songs were definitely the priority, especially “Flowers.” But while we were working on that, we were doing other records, and it was actually [album track] “Rose Colored Lenses” that helped us gel.
Kid Harpoon: “Rose Colored Lenses” isn’t necessarily anything single-y, but we just loved it. Those songs are the soul of the record. “Rose Colored” was always the one that felt like the touchstone, but making sure that “Flowers” did its job in relation to that was important.
Johnson: It’s important for artists like Miley to have a level of autobiographical texture to their songs. Then you mix that with something people can move to, that feels new and retro at the same time, and it’s a really powerful cocktail.
Hein: It all comes down to, “I can love me better than you can.” That’s the all-encompassing lyric to me. I was in a city just now called Siguatepeque in Honduras and I was driving to meet a priest for my wedding coming up and there was no music playing in this city but “Flowers.” That one’s reach is just crazy.
Maxx Morando
Eva Pentel
Kid Harpoon
Josiah Van Dien
Vacation Scrapbook
Smith: Miley arrived at the studio wanting to write this idea called “Island.” She talked to us about how being in the spotlight since she was a kid has put her on a bit of an island from the rest of the world and how it’s beautiful but, at times, can be really lonely. I’m obsessed with the hook: “Am I stranded on an island or have I landed in paradise?”
Decilveo: I love that line, which is one she wrote, which I think sums it up. Being uber successful, uber everything — is it paradise, or are you stranded alone? Not being able to go out because you’re so famous and you can’t go to Trader Joe’s because people won’t let you walk down the aisles like a normal person.
Smith: Also, Miley’s mom came by for a bit that day, and she had told us about this “Smoke ’Em If Ya Got ’Em” hat that she had bought. Later that day, we thought it would be a great line to put in the song.
Jesso: I love [on “Thousand Miles”] how country she gets on “Pick up the phone and I call back home, but all I get is a dial tone. And instead of hangin’ up, I hang my head.” It was really cool to see Mike WiLL Made-It be part of that too, because it’s not something you imagine, but he was so into it.
Mike WiLL Made-It: Miley took the song and switched the direction. I was already married to what we made but she took it to Grammy collaboration level. She got Brandi [Carlile] on the song and that was the piece that was missing. That’s how we ended up with the banger “Thousand Miles” we hear today before every Delta flight.
Morando: For “Violet Chemistry,” [Miley] was like, “Do you think you could add some sauce into this song and spice it up?” [My friend Max Taylor-Sheppard and I] thought, “What if we did some Erykah Badu bridge with a stinky bassline and something crazy?” It happened in maybe 15 minutes. We like the idea of throwing a wrench in something — a tasteful wrench.
Kid Harpoon: They’re very similar, Miley and Harry [Styles]. They’re giant pop icons, but their process is like an indie kid that just wants to have fun and doesn’t really give a sh-t about all the pop stuff. They just want to make something creative, so for those kinds of brains, going in and trying to write a pop hit is going to completely destroy all their fun. Me and Tyler [engineered] an environment in the studio where you can just do whatever the f–k you want.
Jesso: Even if you had a day session with Miley, it wouldn’t feel like a day session because she gets real so quick. She has just been so exposed in her life that she’s like, “What have I got to lose?” That’s a very fertile place for creativity to live. You feel a jolt of this creative energy from her, almost at all times. It’s sporadic and it’s crazy and it’s wild — but it’s the best kind.
Jennifer Decilveo
Brantley Gutierrez
Greg Kurstin photographed on November 28, 2022 in Los Angeles.
Austin Hargrave
Destination: Grammys
Smith: She seems to have arrived at a place in her life and her career where she doesn’t want to chase but simply create from the heart. I remember her talking about how even though she was successful and had reached this place and level in her career, it still felt like a treadmill, and she still felt like she was always “chasing the carrot.” She seems to have entered a season of life where she has found some peace and clarity. I think it shows in this record.
Pollack: Over the years we’ve seen so many sides to Miley and her music. Endless Summer Vacation is a representation of what all those elements look like when they come together.
Morando: This has been a long time coming for her. Endless Summer Vacation is a fantastic album; on top of that you have her whole career and everything that she has done before. Now [she’s] at this pinnacle.
Hein: It’s her most mature body of work.
Mike WiLL Made-It: This is the year where she wins album of the year after all the growth and hard work. This album, she found and unlocked another sound, that poster-girl Miley sound that no one can replicate.
Caitlyn Smith
Robert Chavers
Gregory “Aldae” Hein
Sylvain Photos
Jesso: [2013’s] Bangerz was robbed. The Grammys need prison for Bangerz not being nominated for album of the year. Aside from that, I think it’s time for her to get what’s due.
Kid Harpoon: I still love Bangerz. It’s a classic. The thing I’ve always felt with Miley is that everyone wants Miley to win. She represents that part of everyone who doesn’t give a f–k and just wants to enjoy their life. I think this is a culmination of years and years of just being an absolute boss. People think, “Oh, someone writes Miley’s songs,” or “someone tells her where to stand, someone does this, and the record label says this,” but it’s not like that, and it’s a narrative that I just don’t think is helpful. And someone like Taylor [Swift], she’s helped change that narrative. That’s why I’m proud of Miley, because the Grammys will mean more, in a way, [now]. [A Grammy win is] recognition by your creative peers that you created this, and she really did.
Johnson: Without the Grammy, people are [still] singing the song. People are living their lives to this music. That’s the point of it. Grammys are a reflection of that already achieved milestone. We’ve already won — this would just be a bonus.
This story will appear in the Jan. 27, 2024, issue of Billboard.
When 9-year-old Coco Jones was first trying to break into the entertainment world — auditioning and sitting in business meetings with strange executives — her mother would sometimes give her a secret signal.
“If my mom grabbed her earring, that meant, ‘You need to sing.’ And I’d sing,” Jones recalls with a laugh. “I spent a lot of time perfecting the a cappella.”
That early confidence-building lesson has served Jones well. At 12, she embarked on the path to tween stardom with roles on Disney Channel shows and films like So Random! and Let It Shine; more recently, she won the role of Hilary Banks on Peacock’s Fresh Prince reboot, Bel-Air. And now, it has helped her become one of R&B’s most promising rising stars, signed to High Standardz/Def Jam Recordings. “She’s one of the hardest-working artists that I’ve ever worked with,” Def Jam chairman/CEO Tunji Balogun says. “Coco is an artist with the confidence of a veteran but the energy of a newcomer.”
As Jones explains with characteristic conviction on the eve of her 26th birthday, she’s not simply an actress trying out a new side career. “I’m actually a singer who pursued acting at the same time,” she says. “But the acting caught on before the music did. Music has always been my comfort, my purpose — the driving force that has kept me in this industry.”
Powered by her compellingly soulful voice and self-assured moxie, the singer-songwriter had a major breakthrough in 2023. Her RIAA platinum-certified single, “ICU,” has now netted her Grammy Award nominations for best R&B song and best R&B performance — just two of five that Jones will vie for at this year’s event, along with best new artist, best R&B album for What I Didn’t Tell You (Deluxe) and best traditional R&B performance for her collaboration with Babyface, “Simple.”
“It feels surreal,” Jones says of her first-ever nominations. “And to see these other amazing women like [fellow nominees] Victoria Monét, SZA and Janelle Monáe who are paving different lanes for a modern R&B that can be so flexible and genreless … I commend us. But in another way, this feels like confirmation of my journey; that there can’t always be a storm. The weather has to change.”
Coco Jones photographed on January 5, 2024 in New York.
Jai Lennard
Jones began that journey 17 years ago in Lebanon, Tenn., as a kid auditioning and entering talent competitions, singing songs of raw emotion way beyond her years that her mother, Javonda — who, Jones says, studied music in school and did some background singing as well — introduced her to, like Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools.”
In 2011, Jones landed a recurring role on Disney’s musical sketch-comedy series So Random! and the next year, she co-starred in the Disney film Let It Shine. Five Let It Shine tracks she sang on — “What I Said,” “Whodunit” (with Adam Hicks), “Me and You,” “Let It Shine” and “Guardian Angel” (the latter three collaborations with actor-rapper Tyler James Williams) — launched her onto the Billboard charts for the first time in 2012, as all made the Kids Digital Song Sales list.
But Jones wanted to be a singer-songwriter in her own right. And though Hollywood Records released her 2013 EP, Made Of (which reached No. 10 on the Heatseekers Albums chart), the label dropped her the following year. Two more independent EPs followed (2017’s Let Me Check It and 2019’s H.D.W.Y.); in between, Jones continued acting, including in the 2016 film Grandma’s House, the 2018 TV series Five Points and the 2020 film Vampires vs. The Bronx.
By the time she landed those projects, Jones had forgone college, moving to Los Angeles at 17 to further pursue her dream of becoming a singer-songwriter. “That was a key sacrifice: comfort,” Jones says of making the decision. “I didn’t choose the route that was expected and thought things would happen immediately. But it didn’t work out that way. Without a continuous source of income, I was living off my savings as a Disney kid. So [as a young adult] it was getting real. I could only be a young girl following her dreams for so long. But I got to live, make friends, fall in and out of love … be normal — which helped me find my own voice, my sound.”
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In 2020, a major turning point occurred when a fan from her Disney days asked on social media what was up with her career. Jones responded to the query on YouTube, sharing the struggles and second-guessing she had faced as a Black female artist while “opening doors for people to see me as an adult.”
“Instead of internalizing that comment, Coco made a video to give fans and others information and context [about her industry experiences],” Def Jam’s Balogun says. “Then she started doing covers of popular R&B records [Mary J. Blige’s “Real Love,” Brandy’s “Full Moon”] that she posted on TikTok and YouTube that started to reframe conversations about her as an artist. And when she got on Bel-Air, that gave her a new audience who may not have known she does music.”
Jones’ work ethic, focus and determination are what initially impressed Jeremy “J Dot” Jones (no relation) — the founder and CEO of High Standardz, a joint venture with Def Jam — who signed her in summer 2021, before her audition for Bel-Air.
“Before I even got to the music, I saw how professional and on point she was about her vision for what she wanted to do and how she wanted to do it,” J Dot recalls of first meeting Jones. “And then there was the voice, which blew me away. So I felt that with the right plan, the right producers and time to grow in the marketplace, she would have a strong opportunity to stake her claim in the game. Between the loyal Disney fan base, the R&B covers, Bel-Air and seeing how much she has grown artistically from being a child star, I definitely think fans who felt like Coco didn’t get a fair shot early on were ready to see her win.”
With the breakout success of “ICU” from her What I Didn’t Tell You EP, Jones has finally graduated from Disney star to adult singer-songwriter on the rise. “This is who I am offscreen, without a script,” Jones says of the EP’s songs about relationships, love and heartbreak. “These are my own secrets, my own life.”
Coco Jones photographed on January 5, 2024 in New York.
Jai Lennard
The pureness and clarity of Jones’ full-bodied vocals call to mind R&B’s traditional soul roots and its 1990s heyday, but she puts a modern spin of her own on the proceedings. “ICU,” her aching examination of the painful withdrawal and residual feelings after a romantic split, spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart; it also reached No. 6 on Hot R&B Songs and has earned 175.6 million official U.S. streams (through Jan. 4), according to Luminate.
Follow-up single “Double Back,” which samples the SWV hit “Rain,” reached No. 21 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. And Jones is on the road to becoming an in-demand collaborator as well: She guested on Brent Faiyaz’s summer 2023 top 10 R&B hit, “Moment of Your Life,” and more recently paired up with ascendant pop singer and fellow actress Reneé Rapp on the remix of Rapp’s “Tummy Hurts.”
“Def Jam and High Standardz wanted to make sure the R&B audience understood, accepted and championed Coco,” says Balogun, whose roster also includes rising R&B stars Muni Long and Fridayy. “We also focused on making sure people saw her perform live [either] on her tour, the Soul Train Awards [or] other shows. The report card in R&B is live performance and what matters to the core base is, ‘Does it sound and feel as good as the album?’ She has been able to live up to that.”
With filming of season three of Bel-Air starting at the end of January, Jones is also working on her debut album, due later this year. But she says fans shouldn’t simply assume it will be part two of the EP.
“That story has been told,” Jones says. “Between this taste of success and being on tour, I’ve learned so much that I can’t be anything that I was. The most raw and authentic version of whatever you’re doing is going to win. You just have to be willing to bare your spirit.”
This story will appear in the Jan. 27, 2024, issue of Billboard.