59 Reasons To Watch The 59th GRAMMY Awards
From Beyoncé, Rihanna and Adele to Justin Bieber, Chance The Rapper, Drake, and Kanye West, here are 59 storylines to follow at the GRAMMYs in February.
You’ve seen the official 59th GRAMMY nominations list, but do you really know the nominees? In case you’re not sure, we’ve dissected the categories to bring you 59 must-know factoids about this year’s nominations class. While these facts won’t help you predict the winners, they’re certain impress friends during your GRAMMY viewing party. Read all 59 facts below and be sure to follow your favorite artists on Music’s Biggest Night.
1. Beyoncé
Beyoncé received nine GRAMMY nominations this year, more than any other artist. She now has 62 career nominations, extending her lead as the most nominated female artist in GRAMMY history.
2. Lukas Graham
Lukas Graham’s “7 Years” is nominated for Record Of The Year. The Danish group is just the second group or duo from continental Europe to receive a nomination in this category. The first was Daft Punk. The French duo won three years ago for “Get Lucky” (featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers).
3. Rihanna
Rihanna received her third Record Of The Year nomination for “Work” (featuring Drake). All three of these nominations are for collaborations. Rihanna was previously nominated for “Umbrella” (featuring Jay Z) and Eminem’s “Love The Way You Lie” (on which she was featured).
4. Beyoncé
Beyoncé landed her fifth Record Of The Year nomination with “Formation.” (This counts “Say My Name,” which she recorded as a member of Destiny’s Child.) This puts her in a tie with Barbra Streisand as the woman with the most career nominations in this category.
5. Adele
Adele’s 25 is nominated for Album Of The Year. The singer’s previous album, 21, won in this category five years ago. This is the first time an artist’s follow-up to an Album Of The Year winner has been nominated in this category since Bob Dylan’s Love And Theft (the follow-up to Time Out Of Mind) was a 2001 nominee.
6. Justin Bieber, Drake
Canadians Justin Bieber and Drake are among the nominees for Album Of The Year for Purpose and Views, respectively. Bieber, from London, Ontario, and Drake, from Toronto, are vying to become the first Canadian solo artist in 20 years to win the category. Celine Dion won for Falling Into You for 1996.
7. Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd
Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd, who were nominated for Album Of The Year last year for their albums To Pimp A Butterfly and Beauty Behind The Madness, respectively, are nominated in the same category this year as featured artists on Beyoncé’s Lemonade.
8. Sturgill Simpson
Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor’s Guide To Earth is nominated for both Album Of The Year and Best Country Album. Simpson produced his album. It’s the first entirely self-produced album to receive an Album Of The Year nomination since 2014, when two such albums — Beck’s Morning Phase and Pharrell Williams’ Girl — were nominated.
9. “Hello”
“Hello,” which Adele co-wrote with Greg Kurstin, is nominated for Song Of The Year. A different song with the same title, by Lionel Richie, was nominated in this category 32 years ago. This marks the first time in GRAMMY history that two different songs with the same title have been nominated in this category.\
10. “I Took A Pill In Ibiza”
Mike Posner’s “I Took A Pill In Ibiza” is nominated for Song Of The Year. Posner wrote the song. It’s vying to become the first song written by a single songwriter to win in this category since Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” (2007).
11. Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran is looking to become the first songwriter in GRAMMY history to win Song Of The Year two years in a row. Sheeran won in this category last year for “Thinking Out Loud” (which he co-wrote with Amy Wadge). He’s nominated this year for “Love Yourself” (which he co-wrote with Justin Bieber and Benjamin Levin aka Benny Blanco).
12. Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris
Kelsea Ballerini and Maren Morris are both nominated for Best New Artist. This marks the first time in GRAMMY history that two country artists have received nominations in this category in the same year.
13. The Chainsmokers
The Chainsmokers are only the second electronic dance music artist to receive a Best New Artist nomination. Skrillex, a 2011 nominee, was the first.
14. Chance The Rapper
Chance The Rapper is nominated for Best New Artist. The rapper, 23, wasn’t even born in 1989 when Tone Loc became the first rap artist to receive a nomination in this category.
15. Anderson .Paak
Anderson .Paak is nominated for both Best New Artist and Best Urban Contemporary Album for Malibu. He is the first artist to be nominated for both of these awards in the same year since Frank Ocean four years ago. (Ocean’s Channel Orange won Best Urban Contemporary Album.)
16. Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for the second year in a row. The rock legend is nominated for Fallen Angels. Dylan is the fourth GRAMMY nominee to have won a Nobel Prize. The other three are Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama and Toni Morrison.
17. Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson received his third nomination in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category. The country legend is nominated for Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin. Nelson was previously nominated for Moonlight Becomes You (1994) and American Classic (2009).
18. Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand could win her first GRAMMY in 30 years. The star is nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway. Her most recent GRAMMY win was for her first Broadway collection, The Broadway Album, which won for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female (1986).
19. Best Pop Vocal Album
For the first time in 11 years, female solo artists take four of the five nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album. Adele, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, and Sia are nominated alongside Justin Bieber.
20. Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert is among the nominees for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Human Nature. (The title track is the John Bettis/Steve Porcaro song made famous by Michael Jackson.) Alpert received his first GRAMMY nominations (and awards) for 1965 for his work with the Tijuana Brass.
21. Jack White
Jack White, who is nominated for three GRAMMYs this year, will be honored for his contributions “behind the glass” at the Producers & Engineers Wing’s annual GRAMMY Week celebration on Feb. 8, 2017. White is nominated for Album Of The Year as one of the featured artists and producers on Beyoncé’s Lemonade; Best Rock Performance for “Don’t Hurt Yourself” with Beyoncé (her first nomination in a Rock Field); and Best American Roots Song for “City Lights.”
22. Best Rock Performance
Two of this year’s nominees for Best Rock Performance were recorded live on television programs. Alabama Shakes’ “Joe” was recorded for the PBS series “Austin City Limits.” Disturbed’s version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound Of Silence” was recorded on TBS’ “Conan.”
23. Megadeth
The title track from Megadeth’s album, Dystopia, is among the nominees for Best Metal Performance. This is the band’s 12th nomination in this category (including nominations in the discontinued Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category). The band is seeking to win their first GRAMMY.
24. Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop earned his first nomination since 1988: Best Alternative Music Album for Post Pop Depression. In 2016 Pop appeared at the GRAMMY Museum at L.A. Live for a wide-ranging talk with Josh Homme as part of the Museum’s A Conversation With series.
25. Radiohead
Radiohead are vying to become the first four-time winner for Best Alternative Music Album. The band is nominated for A Moon Shaped Pool. Radiohead won in this category for OK Computer (1997), Kid A (2000) and In Rainbows (2008). Radiohead are currently tied with the White Stripes as the only three-time winners in the category.
26. Solange
Solange’s “Cranes In The Sky” is nominated for Best R&B Performance, marking her first career nomination. Solange’s older sister, Beyoncé, has won nine of her 20 GRAMMYs to date in R&B performance categories.
27. Rihanna
Rihanna is vying to become the first repeat winner in the Best Urban Contemporary Album category (which dates to 2012). Her album Anti is nominated this year. Unapologetic won three years ago.
28. Jay Z, Kanye West
The Throne aka Jay Z and Kanye West are nominated for Best Rap Performance with Drake for “Pop Style.” If they win, it would be their eighth collaboration to score a GRAMMY. Their previous wins together are “Swagga Like Us,” “Run This Town” (which won two GRAMMYs), “Otis,” “N****s In Paris” (which won two GRAMMYs), and “Church In The Wild.”
29. Drake
Drake’s “Hotline Bling” is nominated for Best Rap/Sung Performance. The category was formerly known as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. The change was made to expand the category beyond collaborations between rappers and vocalists to include recordings by a solo artist who blurs the lines between rapping and singing. Drake is the first beneficiary of that change.
(For more facts about the 59th GRAMMY nominees, visit GRAMMY.com.)
(The 59th GRAMMY Awards will take place Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, live from Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast on the CBS Television Network from 8–11:30 pm ET/5–8:30 pm PT. Follow Recording Academy/GRAMMYs on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and use #GRAMMYs to join the conversation.)
