Taylor Swift & Jonas Brothers get shafted

Bon Iver, H.E.R. celebrate

WBy Chris Willman

ho imagined they’d wake up to a Grammy morning in 2019 where Tanya Tucker has more nominations than Taylor Swift? Where Bruce Springsteen’s most acclaimed album since “The Rising” gets zero nominations, but a far less publicized release by Bon Iver is up for both album and record of the year? Where the Jonas Brothers, Maren Morris and Tyer, the Creator are all limited to one minor nomination each, but H.E.R. has racked up five, for the second year in a row?

The Grammy nominations have once again proven worthy of all the gasps of surprised elation or distress we can give them. Some of the things that made you go hmmm:

Snub: Taylor Swift gets just three nods

Swift, a two-time album of the year winner, fell from grace with the Grammys with her last album, “reputation”, which only got one minor nomination. That she got three this year for “Lover” could be seen as an uptick from that, but it’s not much of one for a project that was expected to compete in all the top categories. She got a song of the year nod for the title track, but was shut out of album and record of the year, somewhat inexplicably on a project even those who were left a little cold by “reputation” seemed to love.

Surprise: Bon Iver is big-time in two out of three top categories

The group’s “I, I” peaked at No. 26 on the album chart and hasn’t been any kind of major force in the critical year-end rankings so far. Yet you’d think they were the band of the moment from their Grammy showing in the top categories. “I, I” is up for album of the year, to the shock of every prognosticator, none of whom had it on their radar.

Snub: Maren Morris almost gets shut out of the country categories, let alone the top ones

According to virtually every forecaster, the country star was a shoo-in for an album of the year nod for her sophomore album, “GIRL” – which just won that at the CMA Awards last week – and possibly record and song of the year for the title song, which was a rare No. 1 for a woman in the country format. The Grammys didn’t much care about whether Morris was killing it against the odds in her genre, though.

Surprise: Tanya Tucker faces a new Grammy dawn with four nominations

Obviously, hooking up with Carlile is a fast track to success with Grammy committees. Tucker was expected to be a contender in the country categories with her Carlile-co-produced and -co-written album, “While I’m Livin’,” and she was, with three nominations in the genre categories. But the shock was in the song “Bring Me My Flowers” getting a nomination in the all-genre song of the year category.

Snub: Bruce Springsteen’s “Western Stars” meets an empty sky

Springsteen hasn’t been as well reviewed since 2002’s “The Rising”, and he even had a movie version of the album in theaters recently. But Jimmy Webbesque departure from form or not, the Grammy committees didn’t want to know about it. He last won a Grammy in 2010.

Surprise: The Grammy nominations are H.E.R.’s to lose... again

Last year, H.E.R. was one of the big Grammy shocks with five nods. There was no reason to expect a rerun of that this year, because that’s the kind of multinom coronation that the Grammys usually only hand out to a young artist once – plus, her follow-up album this year, “I Used to Know Her”, peaked at No. 86. Snub: Rock bands you’ve heard of The Black Keys and Raconteurs may have both had their latest albums top the sales chart upon release – and the former act is selling out arenas – but neither got a single nod. And Springsteen, as previously noted, or other veteran rockers like Sheryl Crow? Forget about it. Tool and the 1975 did at least sneak in there with one nomination each. Surprise: Rock bands you’ve never heard of As always in recent years, the rock categories are filled with niche, non-household names, with Rival Sons picking up both best rock album and best rock performance nods, and additional nominations for groups like Bones UK and I Prevail.

Snub: Maggie Rogers and Lewis Capaldi fail to become Grammy darlings, yet

Big things in the top categories as well as pop divisions were predicted for both these hot newcomers. But Capaldi, who’s currently enjoying his third week at the top of the charts, got just one nod, for song of the year; he may have peaked too early. Surprise: Yola gets four nominatons Yola fared much better than freshman frontrunners like Capaldi and Rogers. Not only did she make it into the best new artist category, but her “Faraway Look” single and “Walk Through Fire” album picked up an additional three nominations in American roots and Americana categories. Dan Auerbach produced her, so at least he got some nods here, even if the Black Keys themselves came up short.

Snub: Beyonce’s “Homecoming” finds little home at the Grammys

Sure, live albums are always a long shot, but this was Beyonce, so it seemed like shed at least get a few nods for the companion album to her celebrated Netflix special. The album got nothing, though; the documentary is at least contending for best music film.

Surprise: Beyonce’s “Lion King” album finds some fans after all

But wait, the Grammys weren’t going to snub Beyonce that thoroughly, when they had another go-to for her. There didn’t seem to be much love for the movie companion album she curated, “The Lion King: The Gift”, when it came out and almost instantly disappeared. But it turns out Grammy committee members, perhaps uniquely, liked it better than “Homecoming”. Snub: The Grammys are no suckers for “Sucker” What are the Grammys made for if not to reward a ubiquitous pop smash like the Jonas Brothers’ comeback that, even all these months of overexposure later, no one seems to hate? The answer is: They were made for something else, apparently. “Sucker” and the Jonases in general were limited to one minor pop-genre nomination.

Surprise: Grammys decide Lil Nas X looks like at least a X-hit, not a one-hit, wonder

It was inevitable that the biggest record of the year would get in for something, but there was still a suspicion that the Grammys would be suspicious about a 20-year-old who hasn’t even released a full album yet. (RTRS)

Springsteen