Grammys
Blue Ivy Carter Retroactively Nominated for Grammy
At just eight years old, Blue Ivy Carter has landed her first-ever Grammy nomination. The eldest daughter of Jay-Z and Beyoncé is nominated alongside her mother in the category of Best Music Video for “Brown Skinned Girl”. As TMZ reports, Blue’s name was left off the list of nominations when they were revealed on November 24th, but the Recording Academy has since rectified the omission and added her as one of the eligible contenders. (Looks like mom and dad made a phone call.) If “Brown Skinned Girl” is to win Best Music Video (and that seems like a pretty safe bet), Blue Ivy would become the second youngest artist to ever win a Grammy. The current record holder is Leah Peasall, who was eight years old when the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack took home Album of the Year in ...
How the Academy’s New Black Music Collective Is Dismantling the ‘Disconnect’ With Its Community
Butterfield Jones: We are also shifting our thoughts around to equity and inclusion — making sure that once you are part of the Recording Academy, you have the opportunity to break that ceiling and get into leadership roles within the academy. We want to get more folks into the room. But we also want to make sure there’s a pathway to leadership once they get in the door. Which goals can the BMC accomplish immediately, and which will be more long term? Butterfield Jones: The North Star is to earn the trust of the Black music community. Being able to move that needle in one year and have more Black representation in the room will be progress. I’m here because many different powerful Black women paved the way. We’re focused on making sure that people that look like us have a seat at the table...
Mickey Guyton, Charley Pride & More Black Artists to Receive Grammy Nods in Country Categories
Charley Pride: Ten nods in the country field between 1966 and 1979. One win: Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs won best country vocal performance, male for 1972. The album logged 16 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart in 1972. It contained Pride’s signature song, the charming “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’,” a No. 1 hit on Hot Country Songs for five weeks in 1971-72. The Pointer Sisters: Two nods in the country field in 1974-75, plus another for Anita Pointer and Bonnie Pointer for writing “Fairytale,” a best country song nominee. “Fairytale” won for best country vocal performance by a duo or group, 1974. “Live Your Life Before You Die” was nominated in the same category the following year. The former track was from the Pointers’ album That’s a Plenty; the latter ...
Still Have Questions About 2021 Grammy Nominations? We Have Answers
Billie Eilish is just 18 and has received two nods for both record and song of the year. That’s got to be a first, right? It is. The previous youngest two-time nominee in the record of the year category was Kelly Rowland, who was 21 when she was nominated for the second time as a featured artist on Nelly’s “Dilemma.” Her first nod came two years before, when she was nominated as a member of Destiny’s Child with “Say My Name.” The previous youngest two-time nominee in the song of the year category was Avril Lavigne, who was 19 when she was nominated for the second time for “I’m With You.” Her first nod was the year before when she was nominated for “Complicated.” Eilish turns 19 on Dec. 18. Beyoncé is nominated for best music film for Black Is King. She won in that category last year f...
Grammy Museum Announces First Exhibit for When It Reopens
“While the museum’s doors may still be closed, our curatorial team has been hard at work preparing for our reopening,” said Michael Sticka, president of the Grammy Museum, in a statement. In the meantime, Motown Records will take over this month’s Spotlight Saturdays, the museum’s virtual program series featuring up-and-coming artists in sit-down interviews and performances. Here is this month’s Spotlight Saturdays schedule: Dec. 5 – Joy Denalane Dec. 12 – Chaz French Dec. 19 – Asiahn Dec. 26 – NJOMZA The museum also announced the rest of its December schedule on COLLECTION:live (which consist of interviews and/or performances). Two of the subjects of these sessions were Grammy-nominated last week. Bettye LaVette was nominated for best contemporary blues album...
Halsey Speaks Out After 2021 Grammy Nominations Snub: ‘It’s Not Always About the Music’
The 26-year-old pop star’s exclusion from the 2021 Grammy nominations came as a surprise to many, given that her recent album, Manic, featured the hit song “Without Me,” which reached No. 1 on the Hot 100. To date, the singer has not been nominated in a Big Four (album of the year, record of the year, song of the year and best new artist) category at the Grammys. “The Grammys are an elusive process,” Halsey continued in her post. “It can often be about behind the scenes private performances, knowing the right people, campaigning through the grapevine, with the right handshake and ‘bribes’ that can be just ambiguous enough to pass as ‘not bribes.'” She added that many politics go into receiving a Grammy nomination, including “...
The 13 Best Things That Happened in Music This Week (November 27)
Take a look at all of the week’s can’t-miss music moments below. AC/DC’s new album charged in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 AC/DC’s Power Up debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart this week, giving the legendary rockers their third chart-topping set. The new LP started with 117,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 28, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. See the full Billboard 200 rundown for the week ending Nov. 28 here. The 2020 American Music Awards were a night to remember Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, BTS, Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes, Dua Lipa, and Doja Cat and Bebe Rexha all performed during the AMAs on Sunday (Nov. 22), making for a star-studded evening. Of course, some awards were handed out, too! Check out the full winners’ list here to...
Sources Close to The Weeknd Believe Grammys Snubbing Was Retaliation for Playing Super Bowl
Sources close to The Weeknd believe his shocking Grammys snubbing was not an oversight by the Recording Academy, but rather an act of retaliation. The Canadian crooner’s fourth album, After Hours, is one of the year’s biggest releases — both commercially and critically. Going into yesterday, a nomination for Album of the Year felt like a lock. The smash After Hours single “Blinding Lights” was also expected to receive consideration for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. But ultimately, The Weeknd was completely shut out of the general music categories. He also failed to receive a single nomination in the genre-specific categories. How was this possible? Sources close to The Weeknd believe the Recording Academy sought revenge after the singer agreed to headline the 2020 Super Bowl hal...
Fofty’s Fury: 50 Cent Blasts Grammys For Best Rap Album Picks
Source: Raymond Hall / Getty The 2021 Grammy Award nominees were announced on Tuesday (Nov. 24) and most were pleased and even shocked by the amount of notable Hip-Hop acts named. However, 50 Cent voiced his displeasure with the selections and called the Recording Academy “out of touch” in typical Fofty fashion. In a now-deleted post, 50 Cent took to his favored social media vehicle of Instagram to share his distaste with the Grammy nominations. “Best Rap Album,” Fif wrote with some emojis in tow. “They out of touch this shit ain’t it, get the fuck outta here. 50cent #bransoncognac #lecheminduroi.” Most are speculating that the artist born Curtis Jackson was perhaps angered that the late Pop Smoke and his studio debut album Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon was not among the nominees. ...
Phoebe Bridgers Reacts to 4 Grammy Nominations, Reveals Plans to ‘Level Up’ Her Skeleton Outfit
Bridgers, who released her acclaimed second album, Punisher, on Dead Oceans in June, earned four nominations: best new artist, best alternative album, and best rock song and best rock performance for the melodic and impassioned single “Kyoto.” While she asserts “there’s not enough nominations for the amount of very incredible music in the world,” she’s excited to see artists she loves, like Chika and Megan Thee Stallion, also in this year’s best new artist class. “I feel like [Megan] turned positivity into being punk rock, you know?” she says of the latter. “If the intersection of nihilism and optimism is ‘f— everything,’ she’s the optimism side.” Bridgers also recalls how Conor Oberst’s former tour manager used to say: “Bright Eyes, best new artist 15 years running” (the band was, i...
The Killers Channel Trump In Hilarious Grammys Snub Tweet
As everyone digests the Grammys nominations list, while we’re still chewing over the political events of recent weeks, Brandon Flowers and Co. let the world know they won’t be going quietly into the night. The Killers let loose with a Trumpian tweet, in all caps, and all for laughs. The band banged on about observers not being allowed into counting rooms, “bad things happened,” the whole set up was “rigged.” And, of course, the “Mr Brightside” singers really won. Forget the results. The message was completed with the hashtags #RIGGEDGRAMMYS #WEWON. Its timely and a bit of good, clean fun. And every other band who failed to get a Grammys mention will wish they’d got there first. The Killers could be excused for having a gripe. In a career spanning more than 16 years, ...
Recording Academy Chief Harvey Mason Jr. Responds to The Weeknd’s ‘The Grammys Remain Corrupt’ Tweet
That’s pretty blunt, but it’s nothing compared to a tweet from The Weeknd himself: “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency.” Asked for a response, Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy’s chair and interim president/CEO, supplied a statement to Billboard that read in part, “We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent…We were thrilled when we found out he would be performing at the upcoming Super Bowl and we would have loved to have him also perform on the Grammy stage the weekend before …To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd’s performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have aff...
