Fisher, Cornell, Cohen receive posthumous nods
Carrie Fisher’s audiobook recording of her memoir The Princess Diarist could win the actress her first Grammy Award, just one year after her death in December 2016.
Fisher, whose narration of her November 2016 memoir is nominated for best spoken word album, is one of the many stars being honored posthumously by the Grammys this year. The Star
Wars icon previously was nominated for a spoken word Grammy in 2009 for her book Wishful Drinking.
Chris Cornell, the former Soundgarden frontman who died in May 2016, is nominated for best rock performance for The Promise. Released in March 2016, the song was recorded for the ending credits of the 2016 film of the same name and was Cornell’s last solo release before his death.
Cornell previously was nominated for 12 awards and won two with Soundgarden in 1994 but never has been awarded a solo Grammy.
Nominated alongside Cornell in the best-rock performance category is Leonard Cohen’s song You Want It Darker, the title track to his October 2016 album, which was released weeks before his death in November. Cohen is also nominated for best American roots performance for Steer Your Way, another song from his final album.
Cohen won an album of the year Grammy in 2007 for his involvement in the Joni Mitchell covers album Riv
er: The Joni Letters and was honored by the Recording Academy with a lifetime achievement award in 2010. In addition to Cohen’s Steer Your
Way, the American roots performance category also honors the song Arkan
sas Farmboy by Glen Campbell, the country legend who died in August. Ar
kansas Farmboy was released as part of Campbell’s farewell album, Adios, which he released in June.
Allman Brothers frontman Gregg Allman, who died in May, is nominated for two Grammys: best Americana album for his September release South
ern Blood and best American roots
song for My Only True Friend.