The Grammys, now in their 64th year, will bring together the biggest names in music on Sunday to celebrate their peers, with pop superstars joining jazzman Jon Batiste as the leading nominees.
The gala will be held for the first time in Las Vegas this year after organizers postponed the planned January 31 event due to an increase in COVID-19 cases and then relocated it from Los Angeles to the US gambling city.
The Recording Academy has expanded the top four categories again, this time to make room for ten nominees in an effort to make the awards more diverse. The field is wide open now.
The Grammys being held only one week after Will Smith startled the world by slapping Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars adds an added degree of craziness to what is already one of the most odd nights on the Hollywood awards calendar.
At the program, which will be hosted by late-night personality Trevor Noah, Justin Bieber, H.E.R., and singer-rapper Doja Cat, will compete for eight trophies.
Billie Eilish, the Grammys’ sweetheart, is up for seven awards. Olivia Rodrigo, a former Disney Channel actress who broke into the music scene last year with her breakout blockbuster tune “Drivers License,” is in the same boat.
Eilish’s brother Finneas, rapper Saweetie, experimental pop act Japanese Breakfast, and others, received predicted nominations for her much-lauded first album “Sour,” and is a near-shoo-in for Best New Artist.
Rodrigo, like Eilish in 2020, has the chance to sweep all four categories, making her only the third artist to do so.
The jazz and R&B performer and bandleader Jon Batiste, who won an Oscar last year for his soundtrack to the Pixar animated film “Soul,” has the most chances at Grammy gold, with 11 nominations, including two in the top categories.
As the musical director of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” for many years, Batiste has been a strong supporter of social justice and protests in the last few years.
The black singer from a well-known New Orleans musical family will fight primarily on the strength of his album “We Are” and its rousing single “Freedom.”
R&B, jazz, American roots, and modern classical are among the genres and mediums for which he is nominated, as well as nominations for Best Music Video for his composition work on “Soul.”
Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, the famed 95-year-old crooner, have a good chance of adding to their Grammy nomination tally – their album “Love For Sale” received six nods.
Kanye West’s album “Donda” received multiple nods, and he’ll compete in the Album of the Year category alongside Taylor Swift, who has the only chance at Grammy gold for “evermore.”
Swift did not submit her 2021 re-recording of her 2008 album “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” for a Grammy nomination, despite winning four wins for the original in 2010.
West is nominated in the rap categories alongside Nas, J. Cole, and Tyler the Creator – but not Drake, who withdrew his two nominations without explanation in December.
As a result of his race, the Canadian chart-topper says the Recording Academy, which has had a long fight with him, has tried to make him fit into the rap genre.
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion will participate in the Best Rap Performance category, which is the only category where the artists behind the mega hit “WAP” are competing.
BTS, a hugely popular Korean boy band, got one nomination in the pop categories for “Butter,” which was not enough for the group, which has had a hard time getting into the Grammys in the past.
BTS, Rodrigo, Eilish, Batiste, and H.E.R., as well as Lil Nas X, are all set to perform on the night, which will be watched as much for its production as for the actual awards.
As a result of his sometimes unruly behavior, West is said to have been dropped from the performance schedule. However, some sources say he could still be added at the last minute.
West has been launching personal attacks on comedian Pete Davidson, who is dating West’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian, for several weeks.
West, 44, was also banned from Instagram for 24 hours after criticizing Grammy host Noah, who said West was becoming “more and more confrontational in his attempts to reclaim Kim.”
