State Champ Radio Grammys
Page: 39
Nominees: Jon Batiste’s World Music Radio, boygenius’ The Record, Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation, Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, Janelle Monáe’s The Age of Pleasure, Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts, Taylor Swift’s Midnights, SZA’s SOS
This is the most female-dominated fields of album of the year contenders in Grammy history. Here are all the times female artists have dominated in the category.
Analysis: I asked three Billboard colleagues who they thought would win in each of the Big Four categories. They are all super-smart and plugged-in. In this category, they gave me three different answers (Swift, SZA and boygenius), so I guess I’m on my own here.
Each of Swift’s three album of the year winners represented a major chapter in her career – Fearless, her breakthrough as a pop/country superstar; 1989, a risky and hugely successful transition into pop; and Folklore, a perfectly-timed folkie side-step during the pandemic. The capsule summary of this album – a concept album about late-night ruminations inspired by her sleepless nights – isn’t quite as compelling.
SZA is a very strong challenger with SOS, which topped the Billboard 200 for 10 nonconsecutive weeks, longer than any of these other nominees. The narrative here is the emergence of a newly-minted superstar in an industry that relies on them.
SZA is vying to become the first Black woman to win in this category as a lead artist since Lauryn Hill 25 years ago for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Last year, many (including me) thought Beyoncé would win for Renaissance. Instead, Harry Styles won for Harry’s House, and while he was a deserving winner, there is a pent-up frustration on the part of many that R&B and hip-hop are so often passed over in the Big Four categories. That Grammy history is unavoidably playing into this year’s contest.
Boygenius is also aiming to make history. The all-female trio, consisting of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, would become just the second all-female group or duo to win in this category, following The Chicks, who won in 2007 for Taking the Long Way.
Boygenius wrote their entire album by themselves and produced it with Catherine Marks. The album even had a female mastering engineer, Pat Sullivan. (The album had both male and female engineer/mixers, so men weren’t completely sidelined here.) This is the only album of the year finalist to also be nominated for best engineered album, non-classical.
Batiste’s World Music Radio is nominated two years after he was the surprise winner in the category for We Are. Winning again so soon is a longshot, but if it happens, he’ll be the first artist to win twice in the space of three years as a lead artist since the mid-’70s, when Stevie Wonder won three times in a four-year span.
A side-note here: If Midnights (or Rodrigo’s Guts) wins, Serban Ghenea would become the first person (not artist, mind you) to win album of the year five times. The Canadian engineer/mixer previously won in the category as an engineer/mixer on Swift’s 1989 and Folklore, Adele’s 25 and Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic.
Predicted winner: SZA
And if not her: Taylor Swift, boygenius
Billy Joel has been added to the lineup of the 2024 Grammy Awards, set for Feb. 4 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Three days before that, Columbia Records will release Joel’s “Turn the Lights Back On,” the veteran performer’s first new pop song in nearly two decades.
Joel is the seventh performer announced to perform on the Grammy telecast, following Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Travis Scott, Luke Combs and Burna Boy. Joel is the first of the announced performers who isn’t a current Grammy nominee.
Joel is, however, a five-time Grammy winner. He won each of the Big Three awards in a two-year span in 1979-80 – album of the year for 52nd Street and record and song of the year for “Just the Way You Are.” Joel also received a Grammy Legend Award in 1991.
Rodrigo famously name-dropped Joel in her 2022 hit “Déjà Vu” – “I’ll bet that she knows Billy Joel/’Cause you played her ‘Uptown Girl,’” a reference to Joel’s 1983 smash. It is unknown if the Grammy telecast producers will arrange any kind of interaction between the two stars, but it seems too good an opportunity to pass up.
Joel, who has scored 33 top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, co-wrote “Turn the Lights Back On” with Freddy Wexler, Arthur Bacon and Wayne Hector. Wexler also produced it. It’s Joel’s first song released with words since 2007’s “All My Life,” a lush ballad Joel wrote for his then wife, Katie Lee.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee is on the tail end of his record-breaking 10-year residency at Madison Square Garden. Joel has played the historic New York City arena once a month since January 2014, and will wrap with his 150th show in July. He continues to tour outside of the residency, including a sold-out stadium show in Tokyo on Thursday (Jan. 25).
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 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.
For years, Recording Academy members who were fortunate enough to land Grammy nominations were given a pair of free tickets to the show. Now, the Academy is making members who are nominated buy their companion ticket.
The policy change, announced quietly in November, has drawn criticism. Rhiannon Giddens, a two-time Grammy winner in the folk field, wrote a thoughtful post on Facebook in which she expressed her disappointment with the new policy, and put it in the context of life getting harder for working-class musicians.
Early in her post, she talked about the experience of going to the Grammys for the first time in February 2011, when her band Carolina Chocolate Drops was nominated for best traditional folk album for Genuine Negro Jig. Spoiler alert: They won.
“People might not know this, but it’s expensive to go to the GRAMMYs – if you are nominated, you pay for your flight, hotel, hair, makeup, dress, food, what have you, yourself. All nominees receive a plus one to the ceremony and after party, and for a lot of non-mainstream folks, win or lose, it’s a moment of a lifetime.”
Then she dealt with the Academy’s recent announcement about charging nominated members for their +1 tickets.
“The onslaught on the working class musician was taken up a notch this year. I am not going to the GRAMMYs for various reasons in February but I have just heard that the companion ticket is no longer free but costs 1200 dollars.
“For all the big names that’s easy, and for middle class musicians like me, its doable, if super annoying. For the folks who are just making ends meet, harder than ever in a world that is systematically erasing every avenue the musician used to have to actually make money from their music, from Spotify to closed venues to digitized orchestras, it’s a slap in the face.
“There are folks within the GRAMMY ranks who really love music and are trying to change things for the better. I get that. The afternoon ceremony has slowly been upgraded and is now even livestreamed! But honestly, this is a really bad look – and it makes it ever more obvious who is valued, and more specifically what (that would be lots of money, for the folks in the back).
Giddens attached a photo of her at the Grammys in 2011 and noted, “This picture wouldn’t exist if the policy then was what it is now, and that makes me sad.
“Music is art. Family. Empathy. Love. We’ve made it about money, and that’s a tragedy bigger than we know.”
Asked to comment, the Academy provided this statement to Billboard: “The recent adjustment affects only nominated members of the Recording Academy, which now brings them in line with all other nominees who already pay this cost for a companion seat. We acknowledge tickets to our show can be expensive, but the additional revenue raised from this small subset of our membership allows the Recording Academy, a not-for-profit organization, to serve many thousands of music people by helping to fund our educational initiatives, advocacy efforts, curated programming, and direct assistance extended to music people facing challenges. As with everything we do, the Recording Academy will continue to work to improve and evolve how we serve our music community.”
Giddens’ statement that Grammy tickets cost $1,200 was a little off. Tickets were made available this year at both higher and lower price points. (Tickets at all pricing tiers are now sold out.) Platinum tickets went for $2,000 each, Gold tickets for $1,000 each, Silver tickets for $562.50 each, and Bronze tickets for $375 each. Members may purchase two tickets within any of these pricing tiers and may also purchase two additional Bronze tickets, though additional Bronze tickets are $500, not $375. All of these pricing tiers include the Premiere Ceremony (a.k.a the pre-telecast awards). None of the tiers include the after-party.
An Academy spokesman said that this policy change of charging nominated members for their +1 tickets is true for all nominees, in marquee categories as well as the lower-profile categories that are presented at the Premiere Ceremony.
(Each year, all but about 11 awards are presented at the Premiere Ceremony, which is livestreamed on Grammy.com. These include some high-profile categories, though the biggest awards – including the vaunted Big Four — album, record and song of the year plus best new artist – are presented on the live telecast.)
This isn’t the only money-tightening change the Academy has instituted recently. On July 10, it announced that it was raising annual membership dues from $100 to $150, its first dues increase since 2000. The increase took effect on Aug. 1.
The Academy sought to justify the dues increase in an email to voting members. “It is important to highlight the significant accomplishments we have achieved together since the last dues increase in 2000. We have organized over 650 events across 12 Chapters, celebrated and recognized countless GRAMMY Award nominees and winners, provided $110 million in aid through MusiCares, and actively supported the passage of numerous bills at both the state and federal level to protect creators’ rights.”
A third example of upping fees is that the Academy used to allow members to enter an unlimited number of entries in the Grammy process. Since 2022, all professional and voting members of the Recording Academy receive five “courtesy entries” per year. If they choose to enter more than five entries, they must pay. Last year, the fee was $40 for entries made between July 17-31, $75 for entries made between Aug. 1-23 and $125 for entries made between Aug. 24-31.
The Academy justifies charging a fee for any member making more than five entries by saying, “The per-entry fee structure encourages entrants to consider the value of each entry and make mindful decisions to put forward work that they truly believe is Grammy-worthy.”
Gidden is nominated for two Grammys at this year’s ceremony, which is set for Feb. 4 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles – best Americana album for You’re the One and best American roots performance for a track from that album, “You Louisiana Man.”
It’s her first nod for best Americana album; her third for best American roots performance.
Gidden received her second of two Grammy Awards two years ago – best folk album for They’re Calling Me Home, with Francesco Turrisi.
Gidden won a Pulitzer Prize for Music last year for Omar, a collaboration with Michael Abels. That’s the same award that Kendrick Lamar won five years ago for Damn. Gidden has also been honored at the International Folk Music Awards and Americana Music Honors & Awards, among others.
Six female solo artists and an all-female group account for all but one of the 2024 Grammy nominations for album of the year. Only Jon Batiste’s World Music Radio kept male artists from being shut out in the top category this year. This is the 12th time that female artists have dominated the album of […]
Six days after announcing Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo as the first performers set for the 2024 Grammy Awards, CBS announced three more performers: Travis Scott, Luke Combs and Burna Boy. These bookings bring gender, genre and racial diversity to Music’s Biggest Night.
The announcement was made during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s NFL football game (Kansas City vs. Buffalo), just as last week’s performer announcement was made during the fourth quarter of the AFC wild-card game. Both games were broadcast on CBS, which has aired the Grammys since 1973.
All three of the newly-added performers are current Grammy nominees. Scott is nominated for best rap album for Utopia. He was also nominated in that category for his previous studio album, Astroworld. Scott has amassed 10 nominations. He has yet to win.
Combs is nominated for best country solo performance for his version of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” Chapman performed the song as the final performance of the night on the Grammy telecast in February 1989, so there may be reason to hope the Grammys can land a collaborative performance on this year’s show. This is Combs’ seventh nomination. He too has yet to win. He was nominated for best new artist five years ago, but lost to Lipa. (Both artists have done exceptionally well in the ensuing five years.)
Burna Boy is nominated in four categories – best global music album (I Told Them…), best African music performance (“City Boys”), best global music performance (“Alone”), and best melodic rap performance (“Sittin’ on Top of the World”). He won best global music album three years ago for Twice as Tall.
Additional performers will be announced in the two weeks leading up to the Feb. 4 ceremony.
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.
Spotify‘s annual best new artist party is returning for Grammy Week 2024.
On Thursday, Feb. 1, the streamer will showcase live performances from Grammys best new artist nominees Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams, Victoria Monet and Jelly Roll, among others, at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. The event kicks off at 7 p.m.
“2024 marks eight years since launching Spotify’s Best New Artist campaign and seven years that we have hosted the party to honor the nominees,” says Jeremy Erlich, Spotify’s global head of music, in a statement. “Our mission is to support new artists and artist development, and BNA is a moment to honor the best of the best. It’s been incredible to celebrate with the artists and their teams and see this event grow to what it has become today.”
“Our team has been working for months to bring this event to life,” added Joe Hadley, Spotify’s global head of music partnerships & audience. “Not only do we get to celebrate the artists, but we also get to lift up our partners on the labels, publishers, management and industry teams who we work with day in and day out. Spotify prides itself on being the premiere partner for artists of all stages and their teams. It’s a privilege to not only showcase the incredible art being made but also bring opportunities to artists that help propel careers to the next level.”
The year’s other best new artist nominees are Fred again.., Ice Spice, Coco Jones and The War and Treaty.
Spotify first hosted its best new artist Grammy party in 2017, when it showcased performances by two nominees: The Chainsmokers and Maren Morris. Last year, the party featured performances from all 10 best new artist nominees — Anitta, Omar Apollo, Domi & JD Beck, Muni Long, Latto, Måneskin, Tobe Nwigwe, Molly Tuttle, Wet Leg and eventual winner Samara Joy — at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.
Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Blues has been an awards magnet in the past year. The collection won album of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards on May 11 and at the Country Music Awards on Nov. 8. On Feb. 4, we’ll find out if it becomes the eighth album to complete country […]
The 66th annual Grammy Awards are almost here, and before Music’s Biggest Night takes over the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday (Feb. 4), this year’s top talent, nominees and more will be spending the week celebrating their achievements at countless parties and events. SZA leads this year’s pack of nominees with nine nods — including […]
Diddy will not be attending the 2024 Grammy Awards on Feb. 4, despite his nomination for best progressive R&B album for his The Love Album: Off the Grid, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The news comes amid a series of sexual assault accusations against the musician and entrepreneur. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news […]
The Grammy Awards have had genre-specific categories from the very start, but the line-up looks a lot different today than when the first Grammys were presented in May 1959.
Back then, when there were 28 categories, there were six categories reserved for classical music, two for jazz and one each for country & western and rhythm & blues.
That meant some records were shoehorned into categories where they didn’t quite fit. Because there was no category for folk, The Kingston Trio’s “Tom Dooley” wound up winning best country & western performance. Because there was no category for rock and roll, The Champs’ “Tequila” won best rhythm & blues performance.
That first year, there were also no categories specifically earmarked for eventual staple Grammy genres like pop (though the awards for best vocal performance, male and female tended to go to pop artists), dance music (unless you count best performance by a dance band, won by Count Basie), blues, gospel or Latin — or such later-emerging genres as rock, metal, alternative, rap, Americana, Contemporary Christian or Global.
The addition of these and other categories has made the number of categories swell to 94 by the time of the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, which will be presented on Feb. 4. That’s more than three times as many as at the first Grammy ceremony, but down from the all-time high of 110 categories that were presented in 2008 and 2009.
There was a major streamlining in 2012, when the number of categories plummeted from 109 to 78. In a recent interview with Billboard, Academy CEO Harvey Mason, jr. referred to it as “the great consolidation.” Two factors were responsible for the reduction: Many felt that the glut of categories devalued the award. Also, The Grammys opted for gender-neutral categories, which reduced the number of categories needed.
Ahead of this year’s ceremony, we put together a guide to the history of 20 genres that are recognized on the big night, listed in the order they were first introduced on the Grammy ballot. We also rounded up some of the discontinued Grammy categories that have been lost to time.
This story is part of Billboard’s Genre Now package, highlighting the artists pushing their musical genres forward — and even creating their own new ones.
A few notes first: many categories have had name changes over the years. At the Grammy Awards presented in 1969, country & western was shortened to country; rhythm & blues was abbreviated R&B. More recently, best urban contemporary album was renamed best progressive R&B album because some took umbrage at the term “urban.” Best world music album was renamed best global music album to get away from “connotations of colonialism, folk, and ‘non-American’ that the former term embodied,” according to an Academy statement. Best rap/sung collaboration became best rap/sung performance (it no longer had to be a collaboration); it is now best melodic rap performance.
Some category names were changed because they were just too unwieldly. Best soundtrack album or recording of original cast from a motion picture or television, as the category was known in 1961-62, is now known by the much simpler best score soundtrack for visual media. Even when the original names weren’t that clunky, the new shorter versions are catchier, as when best long-form music video became best music film and best short-form music video became best music video.
Read on for a brief, selective history of genre at the Grammys – the years shown are the years of the award presentations each genre first appeared.
Rock (1962)
