Grammys
Phoebe Bridgers Reacts to 4 Grammy Nominations, Reveals Plans to ‘Level Up’ Her Skeleton Outfit
Bridgers, who released her acclaimed second album, Punisher, on Dead Oceans in June, earned four nominations: best new artist, best alternative album, and best rock song and best rock performance for the melodic and impassioned single “Kyoto.” While she asserts “there’s not enough nominations for the amount of very incredible music in the world,” she’s excited to see artists she loves, like Chika and Megan Thee Stallion, also in this year’s best new artist class. “I feel like [Megan] turned positivity into being punk rock, you know?” she says of the latter. “If the intersection of nihilism and optimism is ‘f— everything,’ she’s the optimism side.” Bridgers also recalls how Conor Oberst’s former tour manager used to say: “Bright Eyes, best new artist 15 years running” (the band was, i...
The Killers Channel Trump In Hilarious Grammys Snub Tweet
As everyone digests the Grammys nominations list, while we’re still chewing over the political events of recent weeks, Brandon Flowers and Co. let the world know they won’t be going quietly into the night. The Killers let loose with a Trumpian tweet, in all caps, and all for laughs. The band banged on about observers not being allowed into counting rooms, “bad things happened,” the whole set up was “rigged.” And, of course, the “Mr Brightside” singers really won. Forget the results. The message was completed with the hashtags #RIGGEDGRAMMYS #WEWON. Its timely and a bit of good, clean fun. And every other band who failed to get a Grammys mention will wish they’d got there first. The Killers could be excused for having a gripe. In a career spanning more than 16 years, ...
Recording Academy Chief Harvey Mason Jr. Responds to The Weeknd’s ‘The Grammys Remain Corrupt’ Tweet
That’s pretty blunt, but it’s nothing compared to a tweet from The Weeknd himself: “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency.” Asked for a response, Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy’s chair and interim president/CEO, supplied a statement to Billboard that read in part, “We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent…We were thrilled when we found out he would be performing at the upcoming Super Bowl and we would have loved to have him also perform on the Grammy stage the weekend before …To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd’s performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have aff...
Kid Cudi, Scooter Braun, Tinashe & More Express Frustration Over The Weeknd’s 2021 Grammys Snub
A number of the singer’s peers agreed with his frustration. Kid Cudi wrote, “Abel was robbed man this sh–s weak,” following the Recording Academy’s announcement, while Tinashe replied with a line of trash can emojis under a tweet about The Weeknd’s zero nominations. Even though his own artist Justin Bieber fared well in the nominations, Scooter Braun weighed in, writing that The Weeknd and his manager Wassim “Sal” Slaiby “deserved to be there as well and deserved better. Brilliant artist and brilliant album.” Canadian producer Boi-1da, who’s not credited on After Hours, said the album was “criminally robbed,” as “ROBBED,” “abel” and “weeknd” all began trending on Twitter i...
Flume, Madeon, Disclosure, More Receive 2021 Grammy Award Nominations: See the Full List
The Recording Academy has announced the official nominations for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards. It is a big day for the EDM scene, as a slew of artists received well-deserved nods for their spectacular work this past year. Up for the award of Best Dance Recording are Diplo and SIDEPIECE for their collaborative hit “On My Mind,” Disclosure for the duo’s Aminé and Slowthai-assisted Energy cut “My High,” Flume and Toro y Moi for “The Difference,” Jayda G for her single “Both of Us,” and KAYTRANADA for “10%.” Canadian production prodigy KAYTRANADA is also a nominee for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. He received a nod in the category of Best Dance/Electronic Album...
The Weeknd Shut Out of All Grammy Categories
After Hours is the best full-length album of The Weeknd‘s career, and this year “Blinding Lights” has been about as ubiquitous as photons. Many observers expected a slew of Grammy nods for the artist born Abel Tesfaye, so when the nominations were announced earlier today, it came as a shock when he was shut out entirely. As Variety points out, there are a few possible explanations. First, perhaps The Weeknd’s representatives at Republic Records forgot to submit his music for consideration. Granted, they successfully handled Taylor Swift’s paperwork, helping her on the way to five nominations, but it’s conceivable. Another possibility is that the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing; that the R&B committee considered him pop, the pop committee figured he counted...
Noah Cyrus on Scoring Best New Artist Grammy Nomination: ‘I’ve Idolized the Show Since I Was Little’
Cyrus says the news felt even more special coming from her mom, who has always been her biggest fan; at the beginning of the year, Tish even wrote in her intentions book that Noah would win a Grammy. Cyrus immediately after called her dad and the rest of the family, wiping away tears each time she relived the news. “I’ve watched the show since I was a little girl and I’ve idolized the show since I was a little girl,” she says. “I’ve always known the importance, the weight and the honor that it holds to be nominated for or to receive a Grammy. This is something I’ve talked about since the day that I started as an artist. I remember being 15 in my manager’s office talking about the Grammys and everybody being like, ‘That’s so far away.’” Cyrus, now 20 and with over 940 million on-demand care...
Trevor Noah to Host the 2021 Grammys
The Daily Show host Trevor Noah can add a new gig to his resume: Grammys host. On Tuesday morning, hours before the list of nominations is set to be revealed, Noah was announced as the host of the 63rd annual Grammy Awards. Alicia Keys had hosted the event for the past two years. “Despite the fact that I am extremely disappointed that the Grammys have refused to have me sing or be nominated for best pop album, I am thrilled to be hosting this auspicious event,” Noah said in a statement. “I think as a one-time Grammy nominee, I am the best person to provide a shoulder to all the amazing artists who do not win on the night because I too know the pain of not winning the award! (This is a metaphorical shoulder, I’m not trying to catch Corona). See you at the 63rd Grammys!” In a statement of hi...
Recording Academy Halts ‘Grammy Nominees’ CD Series After 26 Years
The Recording Academy has called a halt to its annual Grammy Nominees CD series. The franchise was a major hit for many years, but has faltered in recent years as CD sales have dwindled. “It ended up costing us quite a bit of money to do it and it was not selling [in big numbers anymore]” Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy’s chair and interim president/CEO, told Billboard. An Academy spokesperson injected a hopeful note: “The CD is taking a year off and conversations will be had next year on how to proceed in this new music consumption world.” Fifteen volumes in the annual series, which was produced by Leslie Lewis, made the top 10 on the Billboard 200. Two volumes—in 2013 and 2014—climbed as high as No. 2. {“nid”:”5885267″,”type”:”post”...
Who Should Be Nominated for Album of the Year at the 2021 Grammys? Vote!
Nominations for the 2021 Grammys are officially being announced on Tuesday, and Billboard has some big bets for who could be up for album of the year. Luke Combs won the accolade at both the ACM and CMA Awards this year for What You See Is What You Get and Roddy Ricch won album of the year at this year’s BET Awards for Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial. So Billboard awards editor Paul Grein thinks the two have a shot of winning the award again if nominated at yet another awards show. Former best new artist nominee Fiona Apple (in 1997) and winner Dua Lipa (in 2019) would earn their first nods in this Big Four category for Fetch the Bolt Cutters and Future Nostalgia, respectively. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift has a shot at gaining her fourth album of the year nod with Folklore, while P...
Here Are the 8 Likeliest Grammy Nominees in Each of the Big Four Categories
Look for Post Malone, Harry Styles and The Weeknd to do very well in the 63rd annual Grammy nominations, which will be announced on Tuesday (Nov. 24). All three artists could wind up with nominations for album, record and song of the year. Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, Maren Morris and Taylor Swift could each wind up with nominations in two of the so-called Big Four categories: album, record and song of the year, plus best new artist. For the third year, there will be eight nominees in each of the Big Four categories, up from five. {“nid”:”9399117″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Recording Academy Announces 9 Rule Changes to Its Grammy Awards & Nominations Process”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/news\/...
Recording Academy Has 1,345 New Voting Members—About 12% of Its Total
The Academy reports that 40% of those who accepted their invitations are female. Breaking it down by race, 53% are white, 23% are African American, 9% are Hispanic, 3% are Asian American and 5% are “other.” By age, 55% of new acceptances are age 39 or younger. Before this year’s freshman class joined the academy, women accounted for 26% of the academy’s overall membership. People from “traditionally under-represented communities” (meaning: non-white) accounted for 25%. People who are age 39 or younger accounted for 25%. Counting the new members, women continue to account for 26% of the academy’s overall membership. People from traditionally-underrepresented communities (non-white) now account for 27%. People who are 39 or younger now account for 28%. (If you’re puzzled why the percen...
