Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Billie Eilish and more artists set some very impressive records in the 63rd annual Grammy Awards nominations, which were announced Tuesday morning (Nov. 24). Take a look:
Beyoncé received two nominations for record of the year — for her own “Black Parade” and as a featured artist on Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage.” This gives Beyoncé seven career record of the year nods, which enables her to tie Frank Sinatra for the most record of the year nods in Grammy history. She pulls ahead of Barbra Streisand (with five record of the year nods) as the top female artist in this category.
Beyoncé is just the second artist to receive two record of the year nods in one year. Pharrell Williams was the first, seven years ago, when he was nominated as a featured artist on hits by Daft Punk and Robin Thicke.
Beyoncé received nine nominations this year, more than anyone else. This is the fifth time the star has been the year’s leading nominee, or at least tied for lead. She also led at the 2009 and 2016 awards and tied for the lead at the 2003 and 2014 awards.
“Savage” is the third all-female collab to be nominated for record of the year, following Brandy & Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine” (1998) and Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX’s “Fancy” (2014).
Jay-Z received three nominations, which puts him in a tie with Quincy Jones as the person with the most Grammy nominations in history. And Q started amassing his Grammy nominations in 1960 — 38 years before Jay-Z landed his first. Beyoncé’s nine nods puts her career tally at 79. She’s tied with Paul McCartney for second place on the all-time nominations list. (And McCartney had a 35-year head-start.)
Swift received her fifth song of the year nomination, for “Cardigan,” which she co-wrote with Aaron Dessner. That’s more than any other female songwriter in Grammy history. Swift was formerly tied with lyricist Marilyn Bergman with four nods each. Swift is also nominated for album of the year for Folklore. It’s her fourth nod in that category. Among female artists, only Streisand, with six nods, has had more.
Post Malone became the first artist in more than 30 years to be nominated for record of the year three years running. He is nominated this year for “Circles,” was nominated last year for “Sunflower,” a collab with Swae Lee, and two years ago for “Rockstar” (featuring 21 Savage). Post is first artist to receive a record of the year nod three years running since Steve Winwood (1986-88). Just two other artists in Grammy history have achieved the feat—Sinatra (who did it four years running, 1958-61) and Roberta Flack (1972-74).
Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted” was nominated for record of the year, one year after she won the award for “Bad Guy.” She’s the first artist to receive a record of the year nod the year after winning in this category since U2 nearly 20 years ago.
Dua Lipa, Roddy Ricch and Swift each received six nods, second only to Beyoncé this year. Ricch probably would have had one more nod, but he wasn’t eligible to compete for best new artist because he has won a Grammy—as a featured artist on Nipsey Hussle’s “Racks in the Middle.”
Lipa and Post Malone each received nominations in the three highest-profile categories, album, record and song of the year. Oddly, those three nods were Post Malone’s only nominations this year.
Brittany Howard had the most nominations (five) of anyone who didn’t receive a nod in any of the Big Four categories. Impressively, her five nods span four separate fields (as the Grammys refer to genre groupings)—rock, alternative, R&B and American roots.
Justin Bieber, Phoebe Bridgers, jazz musician John Beasley and classical producer David Frost are next in that regard, with four nods, but none in Big Four categories.
For the first time in Grammy history, two songs that touch on the topics of race and social justice are nominated for song of the year—“The Black Parade” (which Beyoncé and eight co-writers created to raise funds for the BeyGOOD Black Business Impact Fund, administered by the National Urban League) and H.E.R.’s “I Can’t Breathe” (which she co-wrote with Dernst Emile II and Tiara Thomas).
Female artists dominated numerous categories. The nominees for best rock performance consist of four female solo artists, a female trio (Haim) and a female-fronted group (Big Thief). The nominees for best country album consist of four female solo artists and a co-ed quartet (Little Big Town).
Female solo artists also accounted for six of the eight nominees for best new artist, four of the six nominees for best pop solo performance and four of the five nominees for best R&B performance.
Noah Cyrus was nominated for best new artist. Cyrus’ father, Billy Ray Cyrus, was nominated in the category 28 years ago. This marks the first time that a child of a Grammy-nominated best new artist has been nominated in that category since Julian Lennon was nominated in 1985, 21 years after his father John Lennon won the award as part of The Beatles.
Coldplay and Post Malone each received their second album of the year nominations.
Flying Lotus (Steven Ellison) and Andrew Watt received their first nominations for producer of the year, non-classical. Repeat nominees are Dan Auerbach (his third nod in the category), Jack Antonoff (his second) and Dave Cobb (his second).
Emily Lazar received three album of the year nominations, as mastering engineer on Coldplay’s Everyday Life and Haim’s Women in Music, Pt. III and as one of two mastering engineers on Jacob Collier’s Djesse, Vol. 3.
Renée Zellweger’s Judy soundtrack received a nod for best traditional pop vocal album, nine months after she won an Oscar for portraying Judy Garland in that film. Zellweger is the first artist to receive a Grammy nod for the soundtrack to a film for which he or she won an acting Oscar since Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls.
Nominees were announced in 83 of the 84 categories. For immersive audio album, the nominations list contains this notice: “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the best immersive audio album craft committee was unable to meet. The judging of the entries in this category has been postponed until such time that we are able to meet in a way that is appropriate to judge the many formats and configurations of the entries and is safe for the committee members. The nominations for the 63rd Grammys will be announced next year in addition to (and separately from) the 64th Grammy nominations in the category.”
Final round online voting runs from Dec. 7 through Jan. 4, 2021. The 63rd annual Grammy Awards will air on CBS on Jan. 31, 2021.