Every year, the Grammy Awards try their best to honour all that’s great about the world of music. Sometimes they screw it up, like when they snubbed Beyoncé’s Lemonade so tragically that even the person that won the prize (Adele, also a legend) dedicated her Album of the Year prize to Beyoncé. Now that’s a real fuck up.
But sometimes, they get things right. Like this year, when the top three most recognised talents are aren’t a trio guitar-strumming white men. This morning, the shortlist of nominees for the 2020 ceremony arrived, and it might be the academy’s most progressive line-up in years.
Leading the way on this year’s shortlist is Lizzo with eight nominations. She’s had a wild past 12 months with the international success of singles like “Juice” and “Truth Hurts”, the latter earning her three nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Pop Solo Performance. Hot on her tails are Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X, whose songs “Bad Guy” and “Old Town Road” have helped earn them six nominations. What’s even more wild is that excellent trio aren’t even old hats at this; they all nabbed nominations for both Best New Artist and the coveted Album of the Year.
Elsewhere, Lana Del Rey’s critically acclaimed “Norman F*****g Rockwell* has earned her two nominations for Song and Album of the Year, her first nomination in that category. Ariana Grande grabs four nominations, two of which are in the big categories (Record and Album of the Year) while Beyoncé (back again!) managed to nab four nominations for her work on The Lion King score. Her power!
Elsewhere, i-D favourite Koffee earned recognition for her record Rapture in the Best Reggae Album, two time winner H.E.R.added another five nominations this time around, while Catalan queen Rosalía racked up two.
All in all, it looks like a solid year for the world’s most prestigious music prizes. Check out the condensed shortlist below (full list here) and let us know who you are rooting for.
Record Of The Year:
“Hey, Ma” — Bon Iver
“Bad Guy” — Billie Eilish
“7 Rings” — Ariana Grande
“Hard Place” — H.E.R.
“Talk” — Khalid
“Old Town Road” — Lil Nas X Featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
“Truth Hurts” — Lizzo
“Sunflower” — Post Malone & Swae Lee
Album Of The Year:
i,i — Bon Iver
Norman F***ing Rockwell! — Lana Del Rey
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? — Billie Eilish
thank u, next — Ariana Grande
I Used To Know Her — H.E.R.
7 — Lil Nas X
Cuz I Love You (Deluxe) — Lizzo
Father Of The Bride — Vampire Weekend
Song Of The Year:
“Always Remember Us This Way” — Natalie Hemby, Lady Gaga, Hillary Lindsey & Lori McKenna, songwriters (Lady Gaga)
“Bad Guy” — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
“Bring My Flowers Now” — Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth & Tanya Tucker, songwriters (Tanya Tucker)
“Hard Place” — Ruby Amanfu, Sam Ashworth, D. Arcelious Harris, H.E.R. & Rodney Jerkins, songwriters (H.E.R.)
“Lover” — Taylor Swift, songwriter (Taylor Swift)
“Norman F***ing Rockwell” — Jack Antonoff & Lana Del Rey, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)
“Someone You Loved” — Tom Barnes, Lewis Capaldi, Pete Kelleher, Benjamin Kohn & Sam Roman, songwriters (Lewis Capaldi)
“Truth Hurts” — Steven Cheung, Eric Frederic, Melissa Jefferson & Jesse Saint John, songwriters (Lizzo)
Best New Artist:
Black Pumas
Billie Eilish
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
Maggie Rogers
Rosalía
Tank And The Bangas
Yola
Best Pop Solo Performance:
“Spirit” — Beyoncé
“Bad Guy” — Billie Eilish
“7 Rings” — Ariana Grande
“Truth Hurts” — Lizzo
“You Need To Calm Down” — Taylor Swift
Best Pop Vocal Album:
The Lion King: The Gift — Beyoncé
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? — Billie Eilish
thank u, next — Ariana Grande
No. 6 Collaborations Project — Ed Sheeran
Lover — Taylor Swift
Best Dance Recording:
“Linked” — Bonobo
“Got To Keep On” — The Chemical Brothers
“Piece Of Your Heart” — Meduza Featuring Goodboys
“Underwater” — RÜFÜS DU SOL
“Midnight Hour” — Skrillex & Boys Noize Featuring Ty Dolla $ign
Best R&B Performance:
“Love Again” — Daniel Caesar & Brandy
“Could’ve Been” — H.E.R. Featuring Bryson Tiller
“Exactly How I Feel” — Lizzo Featuring Gucci Mane
“Roll Some Mo” — Lucky Daye
“Come Home” — Anderson .Paak Featuring André 3000
Best Rap Album:
Revenge Of The Dreamers III — Dreamville
Championships — Meek Mill
I Am > I Was — 21 Savage
Igor — Tyler, The Creator
The Lost Boy — YBN Cordae
Best Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative Album:
X 100PRE — Bad Bunny
Oasis — J Balvin & Bad Bunny
Indestructible — Flor De Toloache
Almadura — iLe
El Mal Querer — Rosalía
Best Song Written For Visual Media:
“The Ballad Of The Lonesome Cowboy” — Randy Newman, songwriter (Chris Stapleton), Track from: Toy Story 4
“Girl In The Movies” — Dolly Parton & Linda Perry, songwriters (Dolly Parton), Track from: Dumplin’
“I’ll Never Love Again” (Film Version) — Natalie Hemby, Lady Gaga, Hillary Lindsey & Aaron Raitiere songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper), Track from: A Star Is Born
“Spirit” — Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Timothy McKenzie & Ilya Salmanzadeh, songwriters (Beyoncé), Track from: The Lion King
“Suspirium” — Thom Yorke, songwriter (Thom Yorke), Track from: Suspiria
Best Music Film:
Homecoming — Beyoncé
Remember My Name — David Crosby
Birth Of The Cool — (Miles Davis)
Shangri-La — (Various Artists)
Anima — Thom Yorke