When the nominees for the Grammys were announced last month, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent received nods for Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour. The trio were credited as songwriters on the album. On Sunday, the Recording Academy announced on its website that the trio’s nominations were removed from the Album of the Year category.
On the Grammy’s site, the Recording Academy said the following when it comes to changing nominations:
Each year, the Recording Academy makes adjustments to the nominations list as-necessary after the list is first published. Common changes are often the result of updated credits and may include spelling corrections, title modifications, and the addition of nominees who were not included in the original submission, among other revisions. This year, for the first time, we are making these updates public to ensure transparency and accessibility to the most up-to-date and accurate information.
Billboard reported that they were removed because they weren’t directly involved in the writing of the album. The trio are listed as songwriters since Rodrigo’s “deja vu” interpolated “Cruel Summer” from Swift’s Lover that the trio wrote together.
In a statement to Billboard, the Recording Academy said:
During the submission process, the Academy received credits from the label for the track ‘deju vu.’ Last week, we received the correct credits from the label that recognize Annie Clark, Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift as songwriters of an interpolation on the track, ‘deja vu.’ In keeping with current Grammy guidelines, as songwriters of an interpolated track, Clark, Antonoff and Swift are not nominees in the album of the year category for Sour. Antonoff and Swift are nominated in the category for Swift’s album, evermore.
However, as Billboard notes, Rodrigo’s “1 step forward, 3 steps back” contains an interpolation of Swift’s “New Year’s Day.” But, that was listed correctly by the label when it submitted the album.
