Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and the Weeknd were among the artists nominated for the Grammys’ biggest awards as all three artists earned Album of the Year noms. Swift also locked up nominations in the Song of the Year and Record of the Year categories thanks to “Blank Space,” while Lamar’s “Alright” earned a Song of the Year nod and the Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” scored a Record of the Year nomination. The 58th annual Grammy Awards will air February 15th on CBS.
Swift’s 1989 , Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly and the Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness will face Chris Stapleton’s CMA Awards-dominating Traveller as well as Alabama Shakes’ Sound & Color in the Album of the Year category.In the Song of the Year category, Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush,” Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s “See You Again” and Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” will challenge “Blank Space” and “Alright.” “Thinking Out Loud” and “Blank Space” reappear in the Record of the Year category alongside “Can’t Feel My Face,” Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” and D’Angelo and the Vanguard’s “Really Love.”
In the Best New Artist field, Courtney Barnett, Meghan Trainor and Tori Kelly will face off against Sam Hunt and James Bay for the award. Sam Smith won the award this year as part of a huge Grammy night that ended with the British singer taking home six Grammys, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Stay With Me.” Beck’s Morning Phase was the surprise recipient of Best New Album.
Although Swift’s “Shake It Off” was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for the 2015 ceremony, her 1989 was released on October 27th, 2014, outside of the eligibility window for the 57th annual Grammys, making it a frontrunner for the 2016 event.
Lamar’s 11 nominations range from Album of the Year and Song of the Year to Best Rap Album, Best Rap Collaboration (“These Walls”) and Best Music Video (“Alright”). While Swift will be Lamar’s strongest competition in the main categories, the two will actually be on the same team for a pair of awards thanks to their “Bad Blood” remix: Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Music Video. Lamar also added a dance nomination thanks to his appearance on Flying Lotus’ “Never Catch Me,” which is up for Best Dance Recording.
In the Best Rap Album category, where Lamar’s good kid, m.a.a.d. city lost to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ The Heist in 2014, To Pimp a Butterfly will meet Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late , Nicki Minaj’s The Pinkprint , J. Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive and Dr. Dre’s comeback LP Compton .
Death Cab for Cutie’s Kintsugi , Slipknot’s .5: The Gray Chapter , Muse’sDrones , Highly Suspect’s Mister Asylum and James Bay’s Chaos and the Calm will duke it out for Best Rock Album. The Best Alternative Music Album category boasts Alabama Shakes’ Sound & Color , Björk’s Vulnicura , Wilco’s surprise Star Wars , Tame Impala’s Currents and My Morning Jacket’s The Waterfall .
The Grammy cut-off was September 30th, making Adele’s multi-platinum smash 25 and its debut single “Hello” ineligible for any awards at the February 15th event.
Check out the Grammy site for the full list of nominees.
Album of the Year Alabama Shakes ”“ Sound & Color Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly Chris Stapleton – Traveller Taylor Swift – 1989 The Weeknd – Beauty Behind the Madness
Record of the Year D’Angelo & The Vanguard ”“ “Really Love” Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars ”“ “Uptown Funk” Ed Sheeran ”“ “Thinking Out Loud” Taylor Swift ”“ “Blank Space” The Weeknd ”“ “Can’t Feel My Face
Song of the Year Kendrick Lamar ”“ “Alright” Taylor Swift ”“ “Blank Space” Little Big Town ”“ “Girl Crush” Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth ”“ “See You Again” Ed Sheeran ”“ “Thinking Out Loud”
Best New Artist Courtney Barnett James Bay Sam Hunt Tori Kelly Meghan Trainor
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance “Ship To Wreck” ”” Florence + The Machine “Sugar” ”” Maroon 5 “Uptown Funk” ”” Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars “Bad Blood” ”” Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar “See You Again” ”” Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth
Best Dance Recording “We’re All We Need” ”” Above & Beyond Featuring Zoë Johnston “Go” ”” The Chemical Brothers “Never Catch Me” ”” Flying Lotus Featuring Kendrick Lamar “Runaway (U & I)” ”” Galantis “Where Are Ãœ Now” ”” Skrillex And Diplo With Justin Bieber
Best Rock Performance “Don’t Wanna Fight” ”” Alabama Shakes “What Kind Of Man” ”” Florence + The Machine “Something From Nothing” ”” Foo Fighters “Ex’s & Oh’s” ”” Elle King “Moaning Lisa Smile” ”” Wolf Alice
Best Alternative Music Album Sound & Color ”” Alabama Shakes Vulnicura ”” Björk The Waterfall ”” My Morning Jacket Currents ”” Tame Impala Star Wars ”” Wilco
Best Urban Contemporary Album Ego Death ”” The Internet You Should Be Here ”” Kehlani Blood ”” Lianne La Havas Wildheart ”” Miguel Beauty Behind The Madness ”” The Weeknd
Best Rap Album 2014 Forest Hills Drive ”” J. Cole Compton ”” Dr. Dre If Youre Reading This Its Too Late ”” Drake To Pimp A Butterfly ”” Kendrick Lamar The Pinkprint ”” Nicki Minaj
Best Country Album Montevallo ”” Sam Hunt Pain Killer ”” Little Big Town The Blade ”” Ashley Monroe Pageant Material ”” Kacey Musgraves Traveller ”” Chris Stapleton
Best Americana Album The Firewatcher’s Daughter ”” Brandi Carlile The Traveling Kind ”” Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell Something More Than Free ”” Jason Isbell Mono ”” The Mavericks The Phosphorescent Blues ”” Punch Brothers
Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling) Blood On Snow (Jo Nesbø) ”” Patti Smith Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, And Assorted Hijinks ”” Dick Cavett A Full Life: Reflections At Ninety ”” Jimmy Carter Patience And Sarah (Isabel Miller) ”” Janis Ian & Jean Smart Yes Please ”” Amy Poehler (& Various Artists)
Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical Jeff Bhasker Dave Cobb Diplo Larry Klein Blake Mills
Best Music Film Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of James Brown ”” James Brown Sonic Highways ”” Foo Fighters What Happened, Miss Simone? ”” Nina Simone The Wall ”” Roger Waters Amy ”” Amy Winehouse