Taylor Swift won’t have to compete with herself at the Grammys or CMA Awards this year, as she’s decided to pull Fearless (Taylor’s Version) from contention.
A representative for Republic Records confirmed to Billboard that the re-recording of Swift’s 2008 sophomore record won’t be submitted “in any category at this year’s upcoming Grammy and CMA Awards.” As the statement went on to note, “Fearless has already won four Grammys including album of the year, as well as the CMA Award for album of the year in 2009/2010 and remains the most awarded country album of all time.”
It’s certainly fair of Swift not to try and repeat her wins with essentially the same songs. But it also means that she won’t be competing with herself, as the Republic rep added that the singer’s ninth LP, December 2020’s evermore, will still vie for honors at both the Grammys and CMAs. That album shattered the record for best vinyl sales in a week earlier this year, so it’s already racking up the accolades.
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evermore followed folklore, which took home the Album of the Year honors at the 2021 Grammys. Both efforts hit No. 1 on the charts, which means Swift now holds the record for shortest gap between chart-toppers, as there was just a four month and 18-day gap between the two.
All that is to say, despite Fearless (Taylor’s Version) being technically eligible for awards, there’s really no reason for Swift to submit it for nomination. After all, the whole reason she re-recorded the album was to stick it to Scooter Braun for buying (and then re-selling) her masters, not to get in the way of actual new releases receiving industry recognition.
Besides, she also could wind up nominated for her “Renegade” collaboration with Big Red Machine (Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner), or via her writing credit on Olivia Rodrigo’s “deja vu”.
Meanwhile, her next re-recording, Red (Taylor’s Version), is scheduled for a November 19th release.
