CANCON CAN
Bieber, Cara and Bublé among Grammy nominees
Justin Bieber, Alessia Cara, the late Leonard Cohen and The Weeknd are among the Canadians with nominations for this year’s Grammy Awards.
Bieber is up for his vocal contributions to Despacito, the massive global hit by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, which is in the running for record of the year, song of the year, and best pop duo and group performance.
Cara is also nominated in the song of the year category for 1-800-273-8255, a song she cowrote and performs with rapper Logic. The song, named for the U.S. suicide prevention hotline, is also nominated for best music video. She grabbed two other nods for the best new artist award and the best pop duo and group performance trophy for the song Stay with Zedd.
Cohen is nominated in the best rock performance category for his song You Want It Darker and best American roots performance for the track Steer Your Way, both off his final album.
The Grammys will mark its 60th anniversary by taking place in New York City Jan. 28, 2018. More fun facts about this year’s nods:
CANADA ROCKS
To add to that Cancon list — Toronto R&B singer Daniel Caesar also has two nominations. He’s contending for best R&B performance for Get You featuring Kali Uchis and best R&B album for Freudian. Sound engineer Charles Moniz grabbed three nominations for his work on the Bruno Mars album 24K Magic.
Others include Michael Bublé and Sarah McLachlan, both in the best traditional pop vocal album category for their respective albums Nobody But Me and Wonderland; Arcade Fire’s Everything Now for best alternative album; The Weeknd’s Starboy for best urban contemporary album; The theatrical show Come From Away for best musical theatre album; Northern Cree’s Miyo Kekisepa, Make A Stand (Live) for best regional roots album; Barbara Hannigan’s Crazy Girl Crazy for best classical solo vocal album; Alex Cuba’s Lo Unico Constante for best Latin pop album; Jane Bunnett and Maqueque’s Oddara for best Latin jazz album; Shawn Everett for best engineered album, nonclassical; Leighton James and Christian Srigley of Adventure Club for best remixed recording, for their version of Kehlani’s Undercover; and Matt Maher’s Echoes for best contemporary Christian album.
THIS IS NOT #OSCARSSOWHITE
The Recording Academy is ensuring black or Latino artists will win big at the show next year: Only three white acts are nominated in the top four categories.
Black and Latino artists often lose in the top categories, including album of the year and song of the year.
This year, those categories are dominated by Jay-Z, Bruno Mars, Childish Gambino, Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Kendrick Lamar.
Lorde is the only white nominee for album of the year, while Bieber is the only white nominee for record of the year (for his appearance on Despacito). Bieber is nominated again for song of the year, where singer-songwriter Julia Michaels is nominated. Michaels is also the only white nominee in best new artist.
ROCK ’N’ NO
Rock and country acts were shut out of the top four categories of the Grammys, though they have won those top honours in the past.Two country artists were nominated for best new artist at the 2017 Grammys, and the 2016 show featured a country and rock act nominated for album of the year with Chris Stapleton and Alabama Shakes.
LEGACIES LIVE ON
Actress Carrie Fisher and singers Cohen, Chris Cornell, Glen Campbell and Gregg Allman are among the deceased nominees.
Cornell is up for best rock performance, and best American Roots performance, where Campbell is nominated.
Allman also scored two nods, including best Americana album and best American Roots song. Fisher is nominated for best spoken word album, pitting her against Bruce Springsteen.
STILL ROCKING ’N’ ROLLING
Despite being one of the most celebrated acts in music history, The Rolling Stones have only won two Grammy Awards. The veteran act is nominated this year for best traditional blues album for Blue & Lonesome.