Surprises: Could it be Sturgill Simpson’s year?
Will Sturgill Simpson pull a Beck at the 2017 Grammys?
At the 2015 awards, Beck beat pop favorites Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams and Sam Smith to take home the award for album of the year. This year’s biggest nominations surprise is Simpson, whose rootsy country music earned him a nod for A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. Here are the biggest surprises of the Grammy nominations:
STURGILL SIMPSON
Simpson is part of a critically acclaimed class of country singers who, along with names like Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell and Maren Morris, are winning fans by deviating from the guns-andgirls themes of his genre’s mainstream. Simpson is a particularly inflammatory figure, publicly repudiating the Nashville establishment for being out of touch. With the rest of the album-of-the-year category dominated by pop, rap and R&B, Recording Academy voters who prefer rock and country music may gravitate to Simpson, giving him a boost. BEYONCÉ The majority of Beyoncé’s nine nominations, including album, record and song of the year, were no surprise. But in addition to nominations in the pop and rap/ sung categories, the singer earned a Grammy nod for best rock performance with Don’t Hurt Your
self, her collaboration with Jack White, competing with artists like Twenty One Pilots and Disturbed in the category. For Beyoncé fans keeping track, she is recognized in rap, rock and pop categories this year, a near-unprecedented Grammy feat. MIKE POSNER Many of 2016’s top-charting songs didn’t earn nominations in the main categories, including The Chainsmokers’ Closer, Sia’s
Cheap Thrills and Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling! Not so for songwriter/producer Mike Posner, whose I Took a Pill in Ibi
za earned a surprise nomination for song of the year. LUKAS GRAHAM Don’t be fooled by the name; Lukas Graham is a band, not a single person, and their breakout hit 7 Years opened the door to their biggest year yet. Their massive 2016 now includes four Grammy nominations, including song and record of the year; if Adele doesn’t take home the best song category with Hello, 7
Years’ emotional songwriting could win them an upset. ANDERSON .PAAK This year, the Recording Academy proved that the best new artist category has room for more than one young, charismatic rapper. Along with predicted favorite Chance the Rapper, Anderson .Paak, a 30year-old indie favorite from Oxnard, Calif., also earned a spot in the new artist field, which usually is dominated by rising pop stars. AMY SCHUMER If an EGOT — the storied quadruple-crown of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony — is on Amy Schumer’s wish list, Tuesday’s Grammy announcements brought good news. Hollywood stars frequently earn Grammy nods for audiobook readings, and the comedian nabbed a nomination for best spoken word album for her Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo memoirs. Additionally, Schumer grabbed a nomination in the best comedy album category for her Live at the Apollo special.