Queen Bey garners award buzz galore
And the Grammy Awards go to … Sorry, but you’ll have to wait awhile for that. After all, the nominations were just announced Tuesday. The teeny gramophones won’t actually be handed out until Feb. 12 in Los Angeles. But just like every year, there are already plenty of winners and losers among the nominees. So without further ado, Darryl Sterdan presents the Grammy Award Nomination Awards. The envelopes, please?
Winner: Beyonce
To no one’s surprise, Queen Bey and her multimedia infidelity opus Lemonade lead the pack with nine nominations, including album of the year, record of the year, song of the year and even rock performance (for Don’t Hurt Yourself ). Take that, Becky with the good hair.
Loser: Solange
Beyonce’s little sister garnered just one nomination — best R&B performance — with her acclaimed (but unfortunately titled) album A Seat at the Table. The good news: It’s one of the few categories in which Beyonce isn’t nominated.
Winners: Drake, Rihanna and Chance the Rapper
Drizzy and RiRi are up for eight trophies each, including record of the year for their single Work. Drake is also vying for album of the year and all four rap awards, while Rihanna is a presence in the R&B races. Like Drake’s nods, Chance the Rapper’s seven nominations include all the rap categories. There’s a good chance he’ll grab some hardware.
Loser: Kanye West
Sure, West is also up for eight prizes. And Ultralight Beam and Famous are both nominated for best rap song and best rap/sung collaboration, while The Life of Pablo is up for best rap album. But basically, Yeezy was shut out of the major categories.
Winning Loser: Frank Ocean
Wondering why the R&B phenom and his rapturously received releases Blonde and Endless are absent from this year’s list? Because he reportedly declined to submit them for nominations, calling it his “Colin Kaepernick moment.” We know what you’re thinking Kanye, but it’s too late.
Winner: Sturgill Simpson
The maverick country rocker’s personal third album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth is up for album of the year against Adele’s 25, Beyonce’s Lemonade, Justin Bieber’s Purpose and Drake’s Views. One of these things is not like the others.
Loser: David Bowie
The Thin White Duke’s final masterpiece Blackstar is up for rock performance, rock song, alternative album and some packaging and engineering prizes — but not album of the year. In what world does Bieber make better albums than Bowie? Also missing from this category: Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool and Nick Cave’s devastating Skeleton Tree.
Winners: Twenty One Pilots and Gojira
Twenty One Pilots scored its first Grammy noms — and scored big with five nods, including record of the year for Stressed Out, along with rock performance, rock song and song written for visual media for Heathens. Get ready for takeoff, guys. Meanwhile, Gojira broke through with nominations for rock album (for Magma) and metal performance. Parlez vous headbang?
Loser: Traditional rock bands
Green Day, Kings of Leon, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Coldplay were all shut out. This will not be your older brother’s Grammy Awards.
Winners: Mike Posner and Lukas Graham
Popster Posner snagged a song of the year nomination for his revealing I Took a Pill in Ibiza, while Danish group Lukas Graham earned three nods — including record and song of the year — for the autobiographical 7 Years. Of course, they’re up against Beyonce and Adele, so they needn’t sweat that acceptance speech.
Loser: Aging popsters
Selena Gomez, Nick Jonas, DNCE and Zayn Malik are completely MIA. Demi Lovato earned her first nod in the pop vocal race. And Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling! managed just one minor nomination: Best song written for visual media.
Winner: Kelsea Ballerini and Maren Morris
The country singers are both up for the new artist award, along with The Chainsmokers, Chance the Rapper and Anderson .Paak. At least they’ll have someone to talk to during the ceremony.
Losers: Alessia Cara and Margo Price
Despite much acclaim for her debut Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, Nashville’s Price was overlooked for the best new artist award. Guess three country singers is too many for the Grammys. Brampton, Ont., native Cara was another strong contender who got snubbed. Is it because she’s Canadian?
Winner: Frank Zappa
The late rock iconoclast scored a posthumous nomination in the classical compendium category thanks to Los Angeles Philharmonic production of 200 Motels: The Suites. Now his feuding kids can fight over who goes to the awards.
Losers: Other old and/or dead guys
Eric Clapton, Paul Simon and Jeff Beck all made great albums this year, but were ignored. That’s especially surprising with Beck, who basically gets a trophy every time he plugs in his guitar. And Prince, Leonard Cohen and Allen Toussaint also got no love (though Bowie did). That’s no way to say goodbye.
Winner: James Corden
The Late Late Show star just added another gig to his resume: Grammy host. Red Carpet Karaoke, anybody?
Loser: LL Cool J
Hey, don’t blame us: Mama said knock you out.