GOLDEN SUNDAY
The Grammy Awards on Sunday will feature many Oklahomarelated storylines
Oklahoma music fans can follow some intriguing storylines at the 61st Grammy Awards.
Will Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill add to his record-setting collection of golden gramophones? Will R&B icon Charlie Wilson finally win after a baker's dozen career nominations? Will alternative rock star St. Vincent turn three nods into multiple wins?
We'll find out Sunday, when the Grammys air from 7 to 10:30 p.m. on CBS, with Alicia Keys hosting.
Gill, who hails from Oklahoma City, has won 21 Grammys so far, the most of any male country artist, and is nominated with Maren Morris for Best Country Duo/Group Performace for their timely collaboration “Dear Hate,” which also earned a nomination for Best Country Song for songwriters Morris, Tom Douglas and David Hodges.
Wilson, who grew up in Tulsa, earned his 13th career Grammy nomination for Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Made for Love,” his romantic duet with Lalah Hathaway. The former Gap Band frontman has never won a golden gramophone in his more than 45-year recording career. Wilson also will be a presenter on the show.
A previous Grammy victor, St. Vincent, who was born in Tulsa, received three nominations from her acclaimed 2017 album “Masseduction”: Best Alternative Music Album, Best Rock Song for the title track for St. Vincent and co-writer Jack Antonoff and Best Recording Package for art director Willo Perron. St. Vincent will perform on Sunday's broadcast with “New Rules” hitmaker Dua Lipa.
Also, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Elvin Bishop, who was raised in Tulsa, earned his third nomination in the Best Traditional Blues Album
category for “Something Smells Funky Round Here” by Elvin Bishop s Big Fun Trio, and 1976 Grammy winner Boz Scaggs, who grew up in McAlester, garnered his seventh career nod with “Out of the Blues,” a Best Contemporary Blues Album contender.
In the Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/ Song category, MercyMe, which was formed in Edmond, is nominated for “Grace Got You,” while Alice in Chains, which includes Jerry Cantrell, who has a family ranch in Atoka, is a finalist for Best Rock Album for “Rainier Fog.”
Engineer/mixer Craig Alvin, a onetime Oklahoman who has worked with state bands like Hanson and Colourmusic, is among the nominees in one of the top categories, Album of the Year, for his work on country singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves' celebrated release “The Golden Hour.”
Sooner State performers the Oklahoma Wranglers, Carl Belew, Merle Kilgore, Roger Miller and Jean Shepard are featured on the compilation “At the Louisiana Hayride Tonight ...,” nominated for Best Historical Album.
Other rooting interests
Songwriter Luke Dick, who hails from tiny Cogar, co-wrote the groovy track “Velvet Elvis” on Musgraves' “Golden Hour.” Grammy-winning Tulsa native, producer and songwriter Ryan Tedder worked on two nominees in the Best Pop Vocal Album category: Shawn Mendes' selftitled release and Camila Cabello's “Camila.” Ada native Blake Shelton's hit “I Lived It” is nominated for Best Country Song for songwriters Rhett Akins, Ross Copperman, Ashley Gorley and Ben Hayslip.
Audra Mae, a Putnam City High School graduate, co-wrote songs tied into three Grammy nods: “Fall in Line,” by Christina Aguilera Featuring Demi Lovato, nominated for Best Pop Duo / Group Performance; “Didn't I,” a track from Kelly Clarkson's “Meaning of Life,” nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album; and “Church,” a track from Fall Out Boy's “M A N I A,” nominated for Best Rock Album.
And Oklahoma musicians Steve Ripley, who died Jan. 3, and Jim Keltner played on “Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series Vol. 13 / 1979-1981 (Deluxe Edition),” a contender for Best Album Notes.
Rapper Kendrick Lamar leads the 2019 field with eight Grammy nominations, followed by fellow hip-hop artist Drake with seven.
Other performers on the broadcast will include Morris, Musgraves, Mendes, Dolly Parton, Little Big Town, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Cardi B, Brandi Carlile, Dan + Shay, H.E.R., Post Malone, Janelle Monae, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chloe x Halle, Travis Scott and Diana Ross.
Additionally, J Balvin, Young Thug, Ricky Martin and Arturo Sandoval will join Cabello for the show's opening, while Fantasia, Yolanda Adams and Andra Day will pay homage to the late Aretha Franklin.