Grammys
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When the Grammy nominations were revealed on Tuesday (Nov. 15) for the upcoming 2023 ceremony, Nashville-based artist and first-time Grammy nominee Molly Tuttle found herself among the 10 artists nominated in the all-genre best new artist category. Tuttle is also nominated in the best bluegrass album category, for her Nonesuch Records-released album Crooked Tree, recorded with band Golden Highway.
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“I was just in complete shock. I’m still shaking a little,” Tuttle tells Billboard.
“I was hoping for the bluegrass album category because that community means so much to me. I was trying to keep my expectations reasonable, like, ‘Well, if I don’t get it this year, I can try again next year,’” she adds. “But this means so much to me because I grew up playing bluegrass and going to bluegrass festivals. Then this whole new flood of messages came in that were like, ‘Holy s—, that’s crazy! Congrats!’ And I was like, ‘What happened?’ I had to look it up again and then I saw the best new artist nomination.”
She will compete for the best new artist title against Anitta, Domi & JD Beck, Latto, Måneskin, Muni Long, Omar Apollo, Samara Joy, Tobe Nwigwe and Wet Leg.
Of course, Tuttle is no stranger to upsetting an awards category–in 2017, Tuttle made history at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s IBMA Awards in 2017 when she was the first woman to be nominated for—and win—the IBMA’s guitar player of the year honor. She won the honor again the following year, and was also named instrumentalist of the year at the 2018 Americana Music Awards.
For her now-Grammy nominated album, Tuttle worked with co-producer Jerry Douglas, recording the album live at Nashville’s Ocean Way Studios. The album features collaborations with Billy Strings, Margo Price, Old Crow Medicine Show, Hull and Douglas’ Alison Krauss & Union Station bandmate Dan Tyminski.
“Jerry was one of the first people to call me and it was so cool because we worked so hard on it together. And my band, we were all on a text thread together today, and then old friends like Sierra Hull, Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’ Donovan, who was also nominated for quite a few things today. Those are all people I’ve known since I was really young and it makes me proud to be part of that bluegrass community, but also the general Nashville music community as well.”
Old Crow Medicine Show guests on the unifying, folksy “Big Backyard” (“Come on out to the big backyard/ It ain’t mine it ain’t yours it’s all of ours”) which Tuttle wrote with Old Crow member Ketch Secor.
“We wrote it with them in mind, and then reworked the lyrics to make it fit my voice,” Tuttle says.
Price appears on “Flatland Girl,” a song about the farm Tuttle’s father grew up on in Illinois, the farm that helped launch the Tuttle family tradition of bluegrass.
“That’s where my grandfather used to play banjo and got that love of bluegrass started in my family,” Tuttle says. “I’m a fan of Margo’s songs and I read in an interview that her family had a farm as well, so it kind of tracked with the story of the song I was writing, about the family selling the farm and moving. So I wanted to have a fellow Midwestern farm girl on the song.”
Tuttle herself grew up in Northern California, playing at bluegrass festivals and becoming known as a deft guitar picker. She moved to Nashville in 2015, and her keen songwriting and the fleetness of her guitar picking quickly garnered attention in music circles. She released her debut full-length album, When You’re Ready in 2019, followed by the covers project But I’d Rather Be With You in 2020.
Tuttle says she’s written most of her next record and is getting ready to head into the studio.
“People can definitely expect some music coming out next year,” she says. Though she says she hasn’t completely set all of the details of the upcoming album, she says that working with Douglas again is “a high probability.”
With her awards accolades, Tuttle says she hopes young female musicians will take inspiration in forging their own careers.
“I would hope for young women who wanna make this a career to just see that the sky’s the limit, and if you set your mind to something, you can achieve it. It might feel hard at times. I know it is a hard life sometimes when you’re out touring so much and it doesn’t feel like things are moving forward, but sometimes it just takes time. The biggest lesson I’ve had to learn is just to be patient, because everything adds up. So many of my favorite bluegrass singers and songwriters are women from Hazel Dickens to Alison Krauss. They were people who really inspired me. I don’t know if I’d be doing this without them.”
This year’s rollout of the Grammy nominations was much smoother than last year’s. Last year, on the eve of the nominations announcement, the Academy expanded the number of nominations in each of the Big Four categories from eight to 10. Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason, jr. was concerned that hip-hop representation in the Big Four categories was light and saw that it would improve if they went a little deeper.
There were no frantic, last-minute moves this year. The Academy continues to have 10 slots in each of the Big Four categories, something Mason likes and plans to continue. Mason spoke with Billboard on the eve of this year’s nominations announcement.
What did you think of the nominations?
I love the diversity. I love the range of different genres; the fact that we have six or seven different genres in the general field categories – in the Big Four categories – is crazy. We have almost 50% gender parity, which is great to see. I love that people of color are over 50%, which is exciting. In general, I thought the voters did great work.
I’m pleased that the voters are doing the due diligence to really give music a fair listen. You see some music that’s very popular. You see some other music that is not as popular but [is] just as great. You see younger, older – just a lot of variety.
Mary J. Blige has two of the Big Three nominations, which is a little surprising for a veteran artist. What’s your take on that?
It’s a tribute to her obvious talent; her long-standing career. She’s been putting out great music for such a long time and she’s so well-respected. I’m really happy that voters are acknowledging her work this year.
Steve Lacy also has two of the Big Three nominations, but he wasn’t eligible for best new artist because he had been nominated previously. What do you think of that rule?
That’s a really tough rule. How do you decide when somebody is considered new and when they’re not? It’s so subjective. We’ll continue to look at all of our rules and keep trying to refine them. We just want to make sure we’re doing the best we can to honor as many excellent artists as possible. We’ll see where this thing goes.
I picture you getting the nominations list each year and thinking, “OK, who’s going to beat us up this year?” Inevitably, there will be somebody.
I’m never happy to hear complaints from people who are unhappy. We want these awards and nominations to really represent the year in music. I want to make sure that we’re being accurate with our nominations.
Again this year, country music is missing from the Big Four categories. A lot of things that could have been nominated just didn’t get there. I’m thinking especially of Miranda Lambert and Luke Combs for album of the year and Lainey Wilson for best new artist. Do you feel that you could strike a better balance there?
We’re going through all our genres and we’re spending great time and care to make sure we are actively recruiting people to come and join us and be a part of what we’re doing. We have to continue to look at everything – membership, nominations, our events, our shows – and make sure we are representative, because we want to represent all music. This is not about one genre versus the other. So, if there’s an area where we’re light, we’re going to catch it.
Let’s talk best new artist. Five female pop singers – Em Beihold, GAYLE, Tate McRae, Lauren Spencer-Smith and Dove Cameron – seemed to have a good shot at a nomination. All were passed over. When you look at the list of nominees in that category, even people who know music will be saying “Who’s that?” in a few instances.
That’s the exciting part of best new artist – you can discover something amazing.
But at the expense of those five women, all of whom had big, recognizable and very good hits.
That category is not a one-and-done situation. There’s an opportunity for many of those to come back into the conversation next year. This year, these are the ones that resonated with the voters. We ask our voters to do a lot of homework. They listen to a lot of music. They’re very contentious with their votes. These are the ones they came up with this year. I think it’s a pretty cool list. We have two jazz artists on that list [DOMi & JD Beck and Samara Joy]. I think that’s very cool.
Drake and The Weeknd declined to submit their albums this year. You put out a statement saying you accepted their decision. What are you doing to reach out to them and bring them back into the fold?
I’m never pleased when somebody chooses not to submit. My hope is that we can continue to do the work; continue to evolve the organization to the point where we continue to attract great people to submit; who want to be a part of the awards process. Of course, I’m always disappointed when some of our biggest and brightest artists aren’t a part of it and we just want to continue to be better, so that everyone feels a part of our organization.
Nicki Minaj expressed her displeasure at “Super Freaky Girl” being moved from rap to pop, where she was less likely to be nominated – and where she wasn’t nominated. Are you comfortable that it was placed in pop?
I’m not comfortable when artists aren’t comfortable. In general, I do feel strongly that the screening committees work extremely hard and were very diligent. We had experts in the room to listen to all the genres and they had to make some really difficult choices. It’s a subjective thing. One person hears [something] as rap, one person hears it as rock, one person hears it as pop. So it’s not easy. I never want us to cause displeasure for an artist. That’s something we try to avoid at all costs. Going forward, we’ll continue to look at that part of our process to make sure we’re getting it right.
How did you think having 10 nominees in each of the Big Four categories worked this year?
I think you’re seeing the diversity that we always hope to have. We get a chance to celebrate more music [rather] than less. That’s always going to make things exciting for us at the Academy. Having the age, race and gender range is something that I love about the general field. I think it’s worked really well so far.
Anything you want to add?
The only thing I would add is my enthusiasm for the show this year. We’re so excited to be back on home court. [The show will return to Crypto.com Arena, formerly Staples Center, for the first time in three years.] It will be great to be in the room with all of these incredibly talent artists, music people, to celebrate each other. This is a time to look across the room and see all these incredible people. Coming out of COVID, coming out of different societal issues that we’re facing, this show to me is the chance to uplift and to start healing some of this. I’m excited to see all these different types of people from every walk of life, every age, every race, in the room or on the stage celebrating each other and celebrating music.
With massive successes from superstars Adele, Beyoncé and Harry Styles, Columbia Records landed the most nominations among labels in the Big Four Grammy categories of album, song and record of the year and best new artist. With nine nominations, Columbia was comfortably in first, as all three artists earned nominations for album, song and record of the year.
Columbia’s noms helped parent company Sony Music to lead the charge among label groups, with 16 nominations, besting the Warner Music Group (13), Universal Music Group (nine) and the indie label sector (two). In addition to Columbia, RCA racked up four nominations — Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” for record and song; Doja Cat’s “Woman” for record; and Latto for best new artist — while Epic picked up one (DJ Khaled’s “God Did” for song of the year), Sony’s distribution company The Orchard landed another for Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, and Arista picked up one, with Maneskin getting a nod for best new artist.
The second-biggest haul of nominations was for Warner-owned Atlantic, which landed five: a trio for Lizzo, an album nod for Coldplay and song of the year for new artist GAYLE. Three other Warner Music labels picked up two nominations apiece: Warner Records, with two best new artist nominees in Anitta and Omar Apollo; 300, which saw Mary J. Blige pick up noms in record and album of the year; and Elektra, with perennial Grammy favorite Brandi Carlile getting nominated for record and album of the year. (Earlier this year, 300 and Elektra were merged into the new 300 Elektra Entertainment.) Nonesuch also picked up a best new artist nomination with Molly Tuttle, while Bonnie Raitt — who got a song of the year nomination for “Just Like That” — put out her latest album through her Redwing label, which is distributed by Warner-owned ADA.
Within Universal, Interscope grabbed the most nominations — a trio for Kendrick Lamar — while ABBA’s nods in record and album of the year landed two for Capitol through ABBA’s Polar Music. Four other UMG labels also scored one nomination: Def Jam (best new artist, Muni Long), Republic (song of the year, Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”), Verve (best new artist, Samara Joy) and Blue Note (best new artist, DOMi & JD Beck, in partnership with APESHIT Records.)
Finally, two nominations for best new artist went to acts unaffiliated with the big three labels: Wet Leg, which released its debut album on Domino; and Tobe Nwigwe, whose latest album was put out through his own imprint The Good Stewards.
Taylor Swift knows “All Too Well” what a Grammy nomination feels like, with 42 noms under her belt. But Tuesday’s (Nov. 15) announcement that the 10-minute version of her Red (Taylor’s Version) hit is up for song of the year meant something more to the star.
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Swift took to Instagram Stories following the news to share a screenshot from the song’s accompanying short film, which stars Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. “So many reasons to lose my damn mind today but… All Too Well 10 is the song I’m the most proud of, out of anything I’ve written,” she wrote on top of the photo. “The fact that it’s nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammys, an award I’ve never won, that honors the songwriting… it’s momentous and surreal.”
The 11-time Grammy winner went on to say that she called Liz Rose, who co-wrote the song with Swift, noting that they “reminisced about how we started writing together when I was 14. She believed in me then and we are nominated together now. It’s just so cute I can’t cope.”
Swift concluded her message by writing, “I want to ramble about the magic and mystery of time and fate and reclaiming my art but instead I think I’ll go scream for ten minutes straight. And think about how this wouldn’t have happened without you.”
“All Too Well” was originally featured on Swift’s 2012 album, Red, which was one of the albums that Scooter Braun purchased when buying her her master recordings in 2019. She unveiled the re-recorded LP, Red (Taylor’s Version), in November 2021, which included the new, 10-minute version of “All Too Well.” The song went on to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.
See the full list of 2023 Grammy nominations here.
When the Grammys unveil their annual nominations, fans pore over the Big Four categories — album of the year, record of the year, song of the year and best new artist — to pinpoint the biggest snubs, surprises and upcoming showdowns. Yet the nominations for the 65th annual Grammy Awards, which were announced on Tuesday (Nov. 15), also included particularly stacked shortlists in the main pop categories; those include best pop solo performance, best pop duo/group performance and best pop vocal album. (Best traditional pop vocal album — which includes works by Michael Bublé, Kelly Clarkson, Norah Jones, Pentatonix and Diana Ross — is a little removed from this conversation.)
Some of the biggest names in music have songs and albums in the running this year, a veteran group translated its shocking Big Four nods into the pop categories as well, and history could be made by international superstars turning their nominations into victories. Here are the five biggest takeaways from this year’s Grammy pop category nominations — buckle up, because a whole lot of star power is about to be unleashed.
The Superstars Show Out
The pop artists in the culture’s current upper echelon have nearly all been active over the past year, and as such, the pop categories are brimming with big names and their latest respective smashes. Out of the 11 songs nominated for best pop solo performance or best pop duo/group performance, six of them — Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” Adele’s “Easy On Me,” Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” Lizzo’s “About Damn Time,” Coldplay and BTS’ “My Universe” and Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” — have reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100, while other major hits from long-proven hitmakers like Doja Cat, Bad Bunny, Post Malone and Camila Cabello have also scored nods.
That’s hardly unusual for the pop categories — but in most years, songs by A-listers are intermixed with those by newer artists. This year, however, the 10 best new artist nominees score zero nominations in the pop categories, as well as none in the other Big Four categories. Lacy, who was ineligible for best new artist due to past nominations, is a rare representative of the rising-artist class, with his Hot 100-topping “Bad Habit” up for best pop solo performance, as well as for record of the year and song of the year. And kudos to Petras, who not only earned her first career Hot 100 entry with “Unholy,” but now has her first career Grammy nomination.
ABBA Crashes the Party
After scoring a surprise record of the year nod at this April’s Grammys with “I Still Have Faith In You,” the legendary Swedish quartet shows up twice in the Big Four categories this year — with their long-awaited comeback LP Voyage placing in the album of the year race, and “Don’t Shut Me Down” giving ABBA their second consecutive record of the year nod.
Both the album and song show up in the pop categories, too — for best pop vocal album and best pop duo/group performance, respectively — and those nominations might end up being more meaningful for ABBA in the long run. The Big Four categories are as hyper-competitive as ever with 10 nominees in each, and if Voyage or “Don’t Shut Me Down” prevails in the less-crowded pop categories (five noms each), ABBA would earn their first-ever Grammy, capping one of the most celebrated runs in pop history.
Bad Bunny Keeps Making History
With his May blockbuster album Un Verano Sin Ti earning Bad Bunny his first album of the year nod, the Puerto Rican superstar continues breaking ground — and could become the first recipient of the top prize for an album performed predominantly in Spanish. Yet it’s also worth noting that album standout “Moscow Mule” becomes the first-ever Spanish-language nominee for best pop solo performance in the category’s 12-year history, and gives Bad Bunny his first career appearance in the pop categories. The “Moscow Mule” nod confirms what we’ve already known about Bad Bunny’s enormous year: His popularity transcends language and genre, and he belongs in competition with his fellow A-listers of any nationality.
Could the Stars Align for Coldplay and BTS?
Seven-time Grammy winners Coldplay may have not won a new trophy since 2009, but the stadium rockers keep racking up nominations, including another album of the year nod — this time for 2021’s Music of the Spheres, the band’s third overall nod in the category and second consecutive project to be nominated. The space-pop full-length is also up for best pop vocal album this year, and Hot 100 No. 1 hit “My Universe” (alongside BTS) will compete for best pop duo/group performance — where it has a strong chance to earn the K-pop group its first career Grammy win.
BTS is actually up for three total Grammys — their song “Yet to Come” snagged a nod for best music video, and they’re credited for their Music of the Spheres contributions in album of the year — but ARMY should circle “My Universe” in best pop duo/group performance as perhaps the group’s best shot at a long-coveted W, especially as part of a category that doesn’t include mega-stars like Adele, Harry Styles or Taylor Swift. Recording Academy voters are still in Coldplay’s corner, and that support could earn the band their first trophy in over a decade — and, simultaneously, a historic win for BTS.
Adele, Harry and Lizzo Could All Dominate Early, Then Late
This year, five artists — Adele, Beyoncé, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar and Lizzo — could earn a hat trick by winning in each of the album of the year, record of the year and song of the year categories. And while Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar both could rack up additional wins in the dance, R&B and hip-hop categories, Adele, Styles and Lizzo all have work nominated for best pop solo performance and best pop vocal album — and if any of them dominates in those categories, that could foreshadow a big night for someone in the Big Four.
Could Adele — who has won three best pop solo performance trophies in the past, and has yet to lose in the category — score another victory with “Easy on Me”? Will Harry Styles, whose “Watermelon Sugar” emerged victorious in the category two years ago to give him a first career Grammy, come out on top with his even-bigger smash “As It Was”? Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” won in the category the year prior to “Watermelon Sugar” — can “About Damn Time” notch another W for her? And when it comes to best pop vocal album, can 30, Harry’s House or Special take home the trophy and set the stage for the night’s top prize? No matter which artist wins on Grammy night, the pop categories will be a clash of some of music’s biggest personalities, and just might preview a return trip or two to the stage.
On Tuesday morning (Nov. 15), the nominations for the 2023 Grammy Awards were announced. Unsurprisingly, Beyoncé leads the charge with nine nominations for her dance-rooted album Renaissance, and awaits her blockbuster showdown against Adele’s 30 and eight other nominees for the coveted album of the year award. Other notable names in the R&B and hip-hop space that enjoyed a career day on the nominations front alongside the venerable megastar include Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and DJ Khaled.
After releasing his first album in five years with Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar hopes to increase his win tally next January via his eight nominations. Mary J Blige, who delivered her riveting album Good Morning Gorgeous last November, reeled in six nods, including two in the Big Four categories. Regular collaborators Future and DJ Khaled also took home six nods apiece, and will square off in multiple rap categories — most notably best melodic rap performance, where their song “Beautiful” alongside SZA will compete against Future’s “Wait for You.”
There were also notable snubs, as Summer Walker’s Still Over It and Ari Lennox’s age/sex/location failed to receive any nominations after garnering acclaim for their respective efforts. Stunningly, Brent Faiyaz also failed to receive any looks from the Recording Academy this year, after Wasteland proved to be an R&B darkhorse, nearly dethroning Bad Bunny from the Billboard 200 albums chart back in July.
Check out the rest of our takeaways below.
Khaled’s Drive for Five
Khaled’s poignant chants and godly affirmations did more than push his 12th studio album, God Did, to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last August — it secured him five nominations for next year’s ceremony. Anchored by the starry line-up of Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, and Fridayy, “God Did” received nominations for best rap performance and best rap song. Khaled’s crowning moment of the day came when “God Did” was nominated for song of the year.
The Return of Kendrick Lamar
Following his blistering Grammy run in 2018, where he won five awards, including a clean sweep in the rap categories for his seminal album DAMN, Kendrick Lamar looks to return to the winner’s circle with his 2022 effort, Mr. Morale & The Bigger Steppers. And though Lamar has remained active on the Grammy circuit in recent years (he spearheaded the album of the year-nominated Various Artists set Black Panther: The Album in 2018, and won two awards last year as a feature on Baby Keem’s “Family Ties”), this go-round, he competes as a solo star, eying more trophies. With a stacked AOTY battle against pop titans Adele, Beyonce, and Harry Styles, Lamar sits as the lone rapper in the category, ready to settle the score after losing out in 2018 and 2019.
Make Room for the Ladies
The female side of the rap game was also well-represented, as GloRilla and Latto both earned recognition for their hard work. The former had the summer on tilt with her club-driven single “FNF,” which clawed its way into top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a nomination for best rap performance. As for the self-proclaimed “Queen of Da Souf,” Latto enjoyed her crossover success with her bubbly No. 3-peaking Hot 100 smash “Big Energy,” scoring nods for best new artist and best melodic rap performance, the latter for a live version of her breakthrough hit.
Elsewhere, Doja Cat also gnawed her way into the conversation after “Vegas” from the ELVIS soundtrack scored her a look the best rap performance category, while her Post Malone collab “I Like You (A Happier Song)” also earned recognition in best pop duo/group performance, and her Planet Her single “Woman” scored a trio of nods, for best music video, best pop solo performance and even record of the year. But amidst all the female MCs recognized, there was one glaring omission: Megan Thee Stallion, who previously netted three awards (including best new artist) in 2021, was missing out. She released her project Trauamzine last August and showcased vulnerability as she grappled with personal issues. Despite her candor, it wasn’t enough to secure a best rap album look.
Good Morning, Mary
Mary J. Blige, Muni Long and Jazmine Sullivan are among the R&B artists making Grammy headlines this morning. After winning an Emmy in September as one of the headliners of outstanding variety special (live) winner, the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, Blige continues her banner year. She scored six Grammy nominations today — four of them in the R&B field: best R&B performance for “Here With Me” featuring Anderson .Paak (who with Silk Sonic partner Bruno Mars declined to submit An Evening With Silk Sonic for Grammy contention); best traditional R&B performance for “Good Morning Gorgeous”; best R&B song for “Good Morning Gorgeous”; and best R&B album for Good Morning Gorgeous. Rounding out Blige’s total count are nods for her album and its title track in the album of the year and record of the year categories.
Perfect Timing For “Hrs & Hrs” Star Muni Long
With today’s announcement, Muni Long came into her own as a solo artist with nods for best R&B performance and best R&B song for her hit single “Hrs & Hrs,” as well as for best new artist. Prior to adopting her Muni Long moniker, songwriter Priscilla Renea had garnered notice as the co-writer of songs for Rihanna (“California King Bed”), Fifth Harmony (“Worth It”) and Ariana Grande (“Imagine”), among others. In 2021, Renea received a Grammy nomination for album of the year, via her writing contributions to H.E.R.’s Back of My Mind project.
Jazmine Sullivan Is Back for More
Jazmine Sullivan, who took home her first two Grammys earlier this year for best R&B performance (“Pick Up Your Feelings”) and best R&B album (Heaux Tales), returns to the derby with three nominations, including best R&B performance and best R&B song (both for “Hurt Me So Good”) plus best traditional R&B performance through her featured turn on Adam Blackstone’s “’Round Midnight.”
All Hail the Queen
With her nine nominations leading all artists for 2022, Beyoncé’s nods — beyond those for record, song and album of the year and two more in the dance/electronic categories (all for either for Renaissance or its Hot 100-topping lead single “Break My Soul”) — also covered three bases in R&B. In that field, she’s up for best R&B performance for “Virgo’s Groove,” best traditional R&B performance for “Plastic Off the Sofa” and best R&B song for “Cuff It.”
Also of note in the R&B field: Steve Lacy picks up a nod in best progressive R&B album for Gemini Rights, while that critically acclaimed album’s breakout single “Bad Habit” garners nods for record and song of year. Grammy-winning R&B/pop icon Babyface returns to Grammy recognition alongside Ella Mai with “Keeps on Fallin’,” vying for best traditional R&B performance. And Robert Glasper celebrates the 10th anniversary of his Grammy-winning 2012 Black Radio album with another best R&B album nomination for that series’ latest installment, Black Radio III.
After months of debating who would score nominations at the 2023 Grammy Awards, we finally have our answers.
The Recording Academy unveiled the new slate of Grammy nominees on Tuesday (Nov. 15), with Beyoncé garnering a whopping nine nominations, followed by Kendrick Lamar with eight. Beyoncé also tied with her husband Jay-Z (who scored five nods of his own this year) for the most Grammy nominations by any artist, with 88 total throughout her career.
But Beyoncé was far from the only big winner with the 2023 noms — LGBTQ artists once again found themselves winning big, with nominations across each of the Big Four categories, and representation throughout genre categories including pop (Sam Smith & Kim Petras), rock (Brandi Carlile), R&B (Steve Lacy), country (The Brothers Osborne), alternative (Big Thief) and more.
To celebrate all these nominees, Billboard took a look at the 5 biggest wins for LGBTQ artists in the 2023 Grrammy nominations:
Steve Lacy’s big year continues
Between his first chart-topping single and a sold-out tour, Steve Lacy already had reason to celebrate 2022 as a massive year for his career. But now he gets to add even more on top of that — the alt-R&B star earned four Grammy nominations for his work this year, including record and song of the year for “Bad Habit.” It’s not his first time being recognized at the awards — the star received his first nod as part of the hip-hop collective The Internet for 2015’s Ego Death when he was just 17 years old, and later earned his first solo nomination for his debut album Apollo XXI, both for best urban contemporary album. Lacy returns in 2023 to the now-renamed category for best progressive R&B album with Gemini Rights.
Brandi Carlile returns to Americana as a Grammys staple
Over the course of the last decade, groundbreaking folk singer Brandi Carlile has established herself as a Grammys favorite, earning nominations every year since 2019. 2023 will certainly be no different — the singer-songwriter nabbed a stunning seven nominations, tying pop diva Adele for the third-most nominations of any artist this year, just behind Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar. Carlile grabbed two nominations in the Big Four categories (album of the year for In These Silent Days and record of the year for “You and Me on the Rock” featuring Lucius), as well as a pair of rock nominations (best rock performance for “Broken Horses” and best rock song for “You And Me On The Rock”). The star also returned to the categories of best Americana performance and song after she was excluded in 2022 when her song “Right on Time” was deemed a pop song by the Recording Academy — she went on to express her “disappointment” at not getting to represent her community in the genre.
Sam Smith and Kim Petras earn under-the-wire nods
Sam Smith and Kim Petras cut it close when they released their chart-topping collaboration “Unholy” on September 22; eligibility for the 2023 Grammy nominations closed just over one week later on September 30. Yet despite the tight deadline, the power of the pair’s sultry single could not be denied when nominations were announced on Tuesday — while Smith and Petras didn’t manage to earn any Big Four nods, they did get a look in best pop duo/group performance. This marks Petras’s first-ever Grammy nomination, and Smith’s first since he nearly swept the Big Four categories in 2015 with “Stay With Me” and In the Lonely Hour.
Anitta and Omar Apollo round out the Best New Artist roster
In recent years, the best new artist category has featured a bevy of up-and-coming queer artists — 2022 saw Arlo Parks and Japanese Breakfast earn nods, while 2021 featured acts like Phoebe Bridgers, Chika, Doja Cat and Kaytranada. It appears 2023 will be no exception — along with names like Latto, Wet Leg and Muni Long, out performers Anitta and Omar Apollo earn nominations for their breakthrough albums Versions of Me and Ivory, respectively. However, some LGBTQ music fans were surprised not to see Dove Cameron, Rina Sawayama or MUNA nominated in the category: Cameron, for example, earned her first Top 40 hit on the Hot 100 with “Boyfriend,” and even went on to win best new artist at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards — yet the singer was shut out of all categories at the Grammys this year.
Randy Rainbow goes up against comedy greats
Randy Rainbow may be best-known for his sharp-witted song parodies on YouTube — so it’s even more surprising that they weren’t what got the viral sensation his first Grammy nomination. A Little Brains, A Little Talent, the performer’s variety album released at the end of 2021, scooped a nomination for best comedy album. Rainbow’s covers of Broadway standards mixed with a few original and parody numbers of his own will face some stiff competition in comedy A-listers Jim Gaffigan, Patton Oswalt, Dave Chapelle and Louis CK.
Let’s go! Good news awaited GloRilla when she landed in Los Angeles Tuesday morning (Nov. 15) as the nominees for the upcoming 65th annual Grammy Awards were being announced — she was one of them. Her breakout hit single, “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” with Hitkidd, earned her a coveted spot in the best rap performance category.
“I’m in disbelief. I don’t think this is happening for real. This crazy,” she tells Billboard shortly after the announcement. “My team let me know, [but] I had to go look it up for myself because I had thought maybe they was playing.”
Surely enough, the 23-year-old MC found herself with the likes of DJ Khaled, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Future, Young Thug and other hip-hop heavyweights in the same category. “It’s super lit!” she says of being in their company. The 2022 summer anthem “F.N.F.” propelled GloRilla into stardom this year, reaching No. 1 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and peaking at No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as inviting a deal with Yo Gotti‘s CMG label in July.
The song not only put Glo on the map, but it also helped shine a light on Memphis. “That’s what we were lacking in Memphis. We got great male artists coming out, but for females, the light was so dim. She’s opened up doors and put a spotlight on a lot of females,” her manager Marcus Ward told Billboard back in February.
“It’s a hood triumph fo sho,” Glo says. “I feel super blessed.”
The 2023 Grammy nominations for the pair of dance/electronic categories were announced with the rest of the 2023 nominees earlier on Tuesday (Nov. 15), with Grammy mainstays Diplo, ODESZA, RÜFÜS DÜ SOL and Bonobo leading the pack of nominees.
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In the best dance/electronic album category, the 2023 nominees are Bonobo’s Fragments, Diplo’s self-titled LP, ODESZA’s The Last Goodbye, RÜFÜS DÜ SOL’S Surrender and Beyoncé’s Renaissance. All of these artists have multiple previous Grammy nominations and several wins. (RÜFÜS DU SOL took home the awards for best dance/electronic recording at last year’s Grammys.)
2023 marks Beyoncé’s first nomination in this category, with her seventh studio album Renaissance earning wide acclaim for embracing house music as well as incorporating beloved dance world producers including Honey Dijon and Green Velvet.
Meanwhile over in best dance/electronic recording, Beyoncé turns up again for “Break My Soul,” Bonobo turns up again for “Rosewood,” Diplo turns up again with his Miguel collab “Don’t Forget My Love,” RÜFÜS DU SOL turns up again for “On My Knees,” Kaytranada (the 2021 winner for best dance/electronic album) gets the nod for his H.E.R. collab “Intimidated” and David Guetta and Bebe Rexha snag the nomination for “I’m Good (Blue),” their collab that samples the the 1998 Eiffel 95 classic “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” and which is currently spending its eighth week at No. 1 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs.
Notably absent from the nominations is Swedish House Mafia’s debut album, Paradise Again, or any of the singles from that LP. Fred again.., a huge fan and critic favorite in this past year, was also not acknowledged by the Recording Academy.
The 65th annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 5, 2023 at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.
Hundreds of artists and tens of thousands of music fans watched with bated breath as Grammy season officially began Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 15), when the nominees for the 2023 Grammy Awards were announced.
The news was delivered in an hour-long live-streamed show on the Recording Academy’s official YouTube channel, with John Legend, Olivia Rodrigo and more guests there to announce each category’s competitors. It brought an end to many weeks of speculation over who will face off at the Feb. 5, 2023 ceremony, particularly in the contentious album of the year category. (Yes, Adele and Beyoncé are indeed headed for a rematch.)
The real showdown is still a couple months away, but first-time nominees and Grammy vets alike are taking to social media to share their excitement in lieu of the honor — because, as everyone knows, it’s an honor just to be nominated.
“I’M CRYING,” wrote GAYLE, who received her first ever nod for song of the year with “abcdefu,” posting a tearful selfie on her Instagram story. “SONG OF THE F–KING YEAR.”
Lizzo started her day with a major surprise: that her album Special was nominated alongside her pal Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny and more. “I JUST WOKE UP WHATS GOING ON?!?!?” she tweeted minutes after the Grammy noms were announced.
Anitta shared an emotional video reacting to her name being announced in the best new artist category. “Thank you, thank you, thank you… grateful forever,” she tweeted. “Winning or losing this is the biggest achievement I could ever imagine.”
See how artists are reacting to their 2023 Grammy nominations below:
I’m crying so bad right now!!!! Never give up on your dreams yall!!! Shit gone get rough… but DONT GIVE UP 🥺😭🏆🙏— BIG LATTO 🎰 (@Latto) November 15, 2022
The same song they was clowning me & my friends about saying we was Ugly & Dusty just got nominated for a Grammy !!!!!!!!! WHEN GOD IS ON YOUR SIDE YOU CANNOT FAIL 🔥🏆— GloRilla 🦍 (@GloTheofficial) November 15, 2022
OMG! We can’t believe our eyes and ears, but we just got nominated as Best New Artist at the #GRAMMYs!! We really couldn’t be more THANKFUL and excited about it ❤️❤️❤️Thanks to the Academy and all of you who have always supported us with love ⭐@RecordingAcad https://t.co/oMDTqImshU— MåneskinOfficial (@thisismaneskin) November 15, 2022
I can barely keep my tear ducts from overloading. It’s not about a nomination or a trophy for me. I’m the orphan from Atlanta Ga. I have no parents I only have their pictures replaying in my mind. Some of those moments I can’t seem to remember like my mothers hands or my— THE-DREAM (@TheKingDream) November 15, 2022