Beyoncé leads the contenders for the 2021 Grammy Awards with nine nominations, a surprisingly high amount given that the superstar didn’t release a new album during the eligibility period. Taylor Swift, Roddy Ricch and Dua Lip follow with six nominations each.
Beyoncé’s nine nominations came in eight categories, including both record and song of the year for ‘Black Parade’, a track released during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests this year. In the best record category, Beyoncé will compete against herself as the featured guest on Megan Thee Stallion’s hit “Savage.”
The star’s ‘Black Is King’ film that highlighted Black art, music, history and fashion is up for best music film while ‘Brown Skin Girl,’ a song dedicated to dark- and brown-skinned women, is nominated for best music video.
Beyonce’s domination this year came as a surprise since the singer did not release a new album.
Other surprises, specifically snubs, include pop star The Weeknd being completely shut out and earning zero nominations despite having a No. 1 album, multiple hit singles and winning the coveted Super Bowl halftime performance slot. He led nearly all of the expert-predictions lists for the past several months.
Along with The Weeknd, other widely predicted artists who were shut out include R&B singer Summer Walker, former Grammy host Alicia Keys, and pop acts Blackpink, Halsey, Charli XCX, Selena Gomez, Camila Cabello, and the Jonas Brothers.
Instead, multiple nominations went to Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Roddy Ricch, who each earned six nominations and followed Beyonce as the second-most nominated acts.
Swift, whose last two albums received minimal attention from the Grammys got five nominations for ‘Folklore,’ the blockbuster album she recorded during the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Folklore’ is up for album of the year and best pop vocal album, and her song ‘Cardigan’ got two nods, including song of the year.
If she wins, she would become the first artist to win album of the year three times. She also got a nomination for ‘Beautiful Ghosts,’ a song she wrote with Andrew Lloyd Webber for the critically-panned film version of ‘Cats.’
British star Dua Lipa, who won two Grammys last year, earned bids for album of the year with ‘Future Nostalgia’ as well as song and record of the year for her hit ‘Don’t Start Now.’
Other top nominees for next year’s show include the rapper Roddy Ricch, with six in four categories, and Brittany Howard, the frontwoman and guitarist of the band Alabama Shakes, with five for her solo debut. Billie Eilish, the 18-year-old star who swept the most recent awards, and the rappers Megan Thee Stallion and DaBaby each got four.
Songs and albums released between Sept. 1, 2019 and Aug. 31, 2020 were eligible for nominations this year.
Winners will be announced at the live show hosted by Trevor Noah on January 31st.
Rita Osakwe