Grammys
The Weeknd Shut Out of All Grammy Categories
After Hours is the best full-length album of The Weeknd‘s career, and this year “Blinding Lights” has been about as ubiquitous as photons. Many observers expected a slew of Grammy nods for the artist born Abel Tesfaye, so when the nominations were announced earlier today, it came as a shock when he was shut out entirely. As Variety points out, there are a few possible explanations. First, perhaps The Weeknd’s representatives at Republic Records forgot to submit his music for consideration. Granted, they successfully handled Taylor Swift’s paperwork, helping her on the way to five nominations, but it’s conceivable. Another possibility is that the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing; that the R&B committee considered him pop, the pop committee figured he counted...
Noah Cyrus on Scoring Best New Artist Grammy Nomination: ‘I’ve Idolized the Show Since I Was Little’
Cyrus says the news felt even more special coming from her mom, who has always been her biggest fan; at the beginning of the year, Tish even wrote in her intentions book that Noah would win a Grammy. Cyrus immediately after called her dad and the rest of the family, wiping away tears each time she relived the news. “I’ve watched the show since I was a little girl and I’ve idolized the show since I was a little girl,” she says. “I’ve always known the importance, the weight and the honor that it holds to be nominated for or to receive a Grammy. This is something I’ve talked about since the day that I started as an artist. I remember being 15 in my manager’s office talking about the Grammys and everybody being like, ‘That’s so far away.’” Cyrus, now 20 and with over 940 million on-demand care...
Trevor Noah to Host the 2021 Grammys
The Daily Show host Trevor Noah can add a new gig to his resume: Grammys host. On Tuesday morning, hours before the list of nominations is set to be revealed, Noah was announced as the host of the 63rd annual Grammy Awards. Alicia Keys had hosted the event for the past two years. “Despite the fact that I am extremely disappointed that the Grammys have refused to have me sing or be nominated for best pop album, I am thrilled to be hosting this auspicious event,” Noah said in a statement. “I think as a one-time Grammy nominee, I am the best person to provide a shoulder to all the amazing artists who do not win on the night because I too know the pain of not winning the award! (This is a metaphorical shoulder, I’m not trying to catch Corona). See you at the 63rd Grammys!” In a statement of hi...
Recording Academy Halts ‘Grammy Nominees’ CD Series After 26 Years
The Recording Academy has called a halt to its annual Grammy Nominees CD series. The franchise was a major hit for many years, but has faltered in recent years as CD sales have dwindled. “It ended up costing us quite a bit of money to do it and it was not selling [in big numbers anymore]” Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy’s chair and interim president/CEO, told Billboard. An Academy spokesperson injected a hopeful note: “The CD is taking a year off and conversations will be had next year on how to proceed in this new music consumption world.” Fifteen volumes in the annual series, which was produced by Leslie Lewis, made the top 10 on the Billboard 200. Two volumes—in 2013 and 2014—climbed as high as No. 2. {“nid”:”5885267″,”type”:”post”...
Who Should Be Nominated for Album of the Year at the 2021 Grammys? Vote!
Nominations for the 2021 Grammys are officially being announced on Tuesday, and Billboard has some big bets for who could be up for album of the year. Luke Combs won the accolade at both the ACM and CMA Awards this year for What You See Is What You Get and Roddy Ricch won album of the year at this year’s BET Awards for Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial. So Billboard awards editor Paul Grein thinks the two have a shot of winning the award again if nominated at yet another awards show. Former best new artist nominee Fiona Apple (in 1997) and winner Dua Lipa (in 2019) would earn their first nods in this Big Four category for Fetch the Bolt Cutters and Future Nostalgia, respectively. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift has a shot at gaining her fourth album of the year nod with Folklore, while P...
Here Are the 8 Likeliest Grammy Nominees in Each of the Big Four Categories
Look for Post Malone, Harry Styles and The Weeknd to do very well in the 63rd annual Grammy nominations, which will be announced on Tuesday (Nov. 24). All three artists could wind up with nominations for album, record and song of the year. Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, Maren Morris and Taylor Swift could each wind up with nominations in two of the so-called Big Four categories: album, record and song of the year, plus best new artist. For the third year, there will be eight nominees in each of the Big Four categories, up from five. {“nid”:”9399117″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Recording Academy Announces 9 Rule Changes to Its Grammy Awards & Nominations Process”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/news\/...
Recording Academy Has 1,345 New Voting Members—About 12% of Its Total
The Academy reports that 40% of those who accepted their invitations are female. Breaking it down by race, 53% are white, 23% are African American, 9% are Hispanic, 3% are Asian American and 5% are “other.” By age, 55% of new acceptances are age 39 or younger. Before this year’s freshman class joined the academy, women accounted for 26% of the academy’s overall membership. People from “traditionally under-represented communities” (meaning: non-white) accounted for 25%. People who are age 39 or younger accounted for 25%. Counting the new members, women continue to account for 26% of the academy’s overall membership. People from traditionally-underrepresented communities (non-white) now account for 27%. People who are 39 or younger now account for 28%. (If you’re puzzled why the percen...
Grammys Rename Best World Music Category Due to “Connotations of Colonialism”
In a continued push towards cultural sensitivity, the Grammys have changed the name of the Best World Music Album category to Best Global Music Album. The move comes a little under five months after the Recording Academy dropped “Urban” from what are now the Best Progressive R&B Album and Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album categories. (They still use the word in the Best Latin Pop or Urban Album category, for some reason.) It also echoes a change over at the Oscars, where Best Foreign Language Film is now known as Best International Feature Film. In a statement, the Recording Academy said the decision reflects a desire to “embrace a truly global mindset.” They continued (via Billboard), “Over the summer we held discussions with artists, ethnomusicologists, and linguists from around t...
MusiCares Launches ‘Wellness in Music’ Survey to Gauge Music Community’s Physical & Mental Health
The survey delves into a lot of personal areas, including the respondent’s alcohol, drug, tobacco and marijuana use. It also asks the respondents to reveal their age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, spiritual practice, income level, life satisfaction level, stress and anxiety level, health insurance status, how well they sleep and how often they exercise and meditate. Two areas it does not inquire about: the respondent’s sexual orientation or religious affiliation. One section of the survey uses the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 test — a standardized test that helps to screen for depression. MusiCares stresses that this is a voluntary survey and that all responses are strictly confidential. The survey is limited to those 18 and older and who have been working in ...
As Grammy Voters Rush to Meet First-Round Voting Deadline, Here Are 14 Questions This Year’s Awards Process Will Answer
The Academy added something new this year: For the first time in this first round of voting, voters can listen to recordings for which entrants provided links on select streaming services. Before, this service was only available in the final round of voting. Final-round voting, to determine the winners, will run from Dec. 7 through Jan. 4, 2021. The winners will be announced on Jan. 31. Here are 14 big questions that this year’s Grammy process will answer. Will Taylor Swift return to the album of the year finals after her last two albums were passed over in that category? Swift’s last two albums, Reputation and Lover, were passed over for album of the year nods, but the not-to-be-denied Swift just redoubled her efforts and came up with an album they can’t overlook. Folklore spent seven wee...
LL Cool J Has Something Else for Kanye West to Disrespect Instead of a Grammy
Add LL Cool J to the list of people who weren’t too happy about one of Kanye West‘s recent tweets. In an interview with Desus & Mero, the artist opened up about how he felt after seeing West’s Sept. 16 Twitter video in which the “Wash Us in the Blood” rapper appeared to urinate on a Grammy that had been placed in a toilet. When Desus asked LL what it was like to host the Grammys, the artist kicked off his opinion of the Yeezy designer’s actions. “I think, like — with all due respect — I think Kanye should maybe piss on a Yeezy or something,” he said. “I felt some kind of way about that s–t. I didn’t love that s–t because I hosted the Grammys for five years.” “Yeah, the Grammys didn’t g...
How Maria Schneider Is Using Her Jazz Orchestra to Take On Big Tech
The composer and bandleader — a Grammy favorite and a fierce advocate for artists’ rights — takes on the ‘Data Lords’ with her newest album. When Maria Schneider sits down to write music, it is seldom with a specific idea in her head. Lately, though, the celebrated orchestral jazz composer and bandleader — a five-time Grammy winner and a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master — has had a lot on her mind. “Early on, I became very aware that big data companies were using musicians as carrots so that they could gather data from users,” says Schneider, 59. “And this has been a huge frustration for me. It has really destroyed the music industry for those that make the music, and now I feel that for our society at large it’s a catastrophic loss.” That frustration fueled the idea...
