Surprises: Could this 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 such names as Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell and MarenMorris, are winning fans by deviating from the guns- and- girls 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
Themajority 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 rock performance with
Don’t Hurt Yourself, her collaboration with Jack White, competing with such artists as 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 nearunprecedented 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 Ibiza 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 prize with Hello, 7 Years’ emotional songwriting could win them an upset.
ANDERSON . PAAK
This year, the Recording Academy proved that the new- artist category has room for more than one young, charismatic rapper. Along with predicted favorite Chance the Rapper, Anderson . Paak, a 30- year- old indie favorite from Oxnard, Calif., earned a spot in the newartist field, which usually is dominated by rising pop stars.
AMY SCHUMER
If an EGOT — the storied quadruplecrown 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 nominations for audiobook readings, and the comedian nabbed a nomination for spoken- word album for GirlWith the Lower Back Tattoo memoir. In addition, Schumer grabbed a nomination in the comedy album category for her Live at the Apollo special.