If I Was the Only One Who Voted for the Grammys, Vol. 2
“Give me a day or two to think of something clever.”
I wasn’t sure if I’d return to my own version of the Grammys after last year’s. I love doing my own Oscars and my own Emmys, but I feel like my modern music knowledge is just not as strong as it is with film and television. The music industry is like the wild west. Hardly any zeitgeist exists. You just find the music you like and you stick with it. Breakout hits in music aren’t as common as they are in the other two industries. Yes, a musician like Phoebe Bridgers can enter into your own personal canon, but that seems a lot rarer than, say, a year in movies that brings us Get Out and Lady Bird within months of each other.
Ultimately, I decided to come back with a second edition, though, because they are my Grammys, know what I mean? It doesn’t have to encapsulate the breadth of music in the world in the same way that my 2022 Emmys won’t be talking about Yellowstone. Just because I’ve seen more shows than I’ve heard albums, doesn’t mean that I have to acquiesce. The categories can have some overlap! It’s fine!
So, yes, there will be quite a bit of overlap and many of the same artists will be nominated across multiple categories. That’s how music works, though. If I like an album, I’m going to like some of the individual songs on that album. Expect to see a lot of that. Especially for Taylor Swift’s two “Taylor’s Version” albums. Only the vault tracks are eligible!
Ultimately, it was an interesting year in music. A lot of the pantheon stars and a lot of my most anticipated musicians returned in 2021, but they were just slightly outgunned by people I didn’t see coming. Either because they’re newly eighteen years old or they haven’t released an album in over twice that timespan. You never know where great music will come from. That’s the beauty of the segmented west, wild as it may be.
Album of the Year
30 by Adele
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power by Halsey
Solar Power by Lorde
Sour by Olivia Rodrigo
Star-Crossed by Kacey Musgraves
Voyage by ABBA
Like Best Picture, this is the main indicator of the Grammys’ “big winner.” However, I announce it first because you already know what I thought the best album of 2021 was. Sour by Olivia Rodrigo was the first album I thought had a chance to be the best, but I knew Kacey, Lorde, and Adele, among others were waiting in the angelic-sounding wings. Yet, Olivia held on! The breakout star’s debut album is a succinct, impossibly effective, liltingly lovely work of stellar pop tunes. It’s not just the best of 2021, it’s one of the most fully realized pop albums of the twenty-first century.
Previous winner: Folklore by Taylor Swift
Soundtrack of the Year
Encanto
Girls5eva
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Schmigadoon!
Tick, Tick, Boom!
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work on Encanto is sure to go down in Disney history; the Girls5eva tracks are silly and sound; Schmigadoon! makes great use of its high pedigree and talent; Tick, Tick, Boom! opens a whole new angle of Jonathan Larson’s oeuvre. But when you have a chance to honor a Broadway soundtrack, you have to take it. Baz Luhrmann’s original Moulin Rouge! film is one of my favorite musicals ever made and I was so grateful to be able to see the Broadway adaptation live. On the actual Broadway! With the original cast, including Aaron Tveit and Karen Olivo! It was a special experience and I was glad I waited to see the show before I listened to the soundtrack. Because it just makes the brand new jukebox blend that much sweeter. It’s not even about the bombast and the recognition, though. It’s that seeing this Broadway show, music and all, opened my eyes to a new angle of storytelling: that it can be a vessel for celebrating the lives that never had a chance for that. In this case, the sex workers who never had an obituary can now have their stories told. Musically, I don’t even want to spoil the new medleys. Just listen to it and see it if you can!
Previous winner: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Music Video of the Year
“Camera Roll” by Kacey Musgraves
“Deja Vu” by Olivia Rodrigo
“I Bet You Think About Me” by Taylor Swift
“I Still Have Faith in You” by ABBA
“Solar Power” by Lorde
ABBA may have an unfair advantage here in the sense that no one saw new music from them coming and they’d been gone for four decades, which heaped the nostalgia on a ton. They made good use of it in their music video for “I Still Have Faith in You,” as the Swedish pop group utilized new technology to demonstrate that they’re still the same, iconic band. And one of the best bands to ever do it. All the music videos above are intriguing (and one is directed by Blake Lively). Hell, it was even nostalgic to see Lorde back in action. But “I Still Have Faith in You” is proof of everything that makes ABBA timeless and more than welcome to exercise their talent in 2022, too.
Previous winner: “Savior Complex” by Phoebe Bridgers
The Paul McCartney Award for Lifetime Achievement in Music
Brian Wilson
The lead singer of The Beach Boys has not had the easiest go of it in life. The 2015 film, Love and Mercy, is testament enough for those who haven’t lived through the ups and downs of Brian Wilson’s career trajectory. The nearly-eighty-year-old native Californian sat at the helm of one of the best bands that ever existed. The Beach Boys are synonymous with surf, rock, pop, surf rock, and surf pop before they eventually transitioned into psychedelic rock, like many of their 1960s counterparts. As the band’s leader, Wilson can be credited with much of the creative efforts (not to neglect the exceptionalities of Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love, and Al Jardine) over the years. Most notably among these is Pet Sounds, assuredly one of the ten best albums to ever exist. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “Sloop John B,” “God Only Knows.” These all come from Pet Sounds. That’s insane! It’d be like if Edgar Allan Poe published “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Raven,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” in the same anthology. And that’s only the visible part of Wilson’s career iceberg. He is one of the best musicians ever (and one of my most favorite). The reason he’s being honored this year? He released his first album since 2015 back in November with At My Piano, a collection of instrumental versions of the most beloved entries in his canon. Long live Brian Wilson.
Previous winner: Paul McCartney
Best New Artist
Julien Baker
Charlotte Lawrence
Olivia Rodrigo
Robin Schulz
Rachel Zegler
No contest here. When you’re eligible for Best New Artist after winning Album of the Year, it’s clear that you win Best New Artist, too. (The Grammys nearly matched me here, but they only nominated her for the Album award.) It’s like when a documentary gets nominated for Best Picture. Good bet it’s winning Best Documentary. Still, though, Rodrigo is no less deserving. I enjoyed various parts of the output from the other nominees here (and I know Zegler is a bit of a stretch, but she obviously factors heavily into the West Side Story soundtrack), but there’s no contest. Rodrigo is one of the most exciting new pop stars in years.
Previous winner: Phoebe Bridgers
Producer of the Year
Benny Andersson
Jack Antonoff
Aaron Dessner
Greg Kurstin
Dan Nigro
Every year Dessner collaborates with Taylor Swift is a year he should maybe get this award. It’s one of my favorite musical pairings of all-time. It’s like, how do we not give Bill Belichick Coach of the Year every season? But this year, I had to consider the breadth of everyone’s output. Dan Nigro was an instrumental part of my favorite album this year, Sour. Benny Andersson led the ABBA resurgence without needing any Mamma Mia!-flavored assists. Even Greg Kurstin made a case for himself by working with Nick Jonas, Halsey, Adele, and the Foo Fighters. Ultimately, though, it had to be Jack Antonoff. He apparently had input on Sour, was an instrumental figure on the production of Solar Power, helped curate some of Taylor’s best vault tracks (including “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” “Bye Bye Baby,” “Forever Winter,” and “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”), and aided Lana Del Rey’s latest. Yet, what’s most impressive is that he achieved all of it while also producing, writing, and performing in the latest from his Fun. follow-up band, Bleachers. That’s some massive talent there! He’s probably our best working music producer.
Previous winner: Aaron Dessner
Group of the Year
ABBA
Big Red Machine
Bleachers
Manchester Orchestra
OneRepublic
No contest here. Big Red Machine is rooted in an intriguing duo. Bleachers, we already know what they’re capable of. Manchester Orchestra is a staple of the indie genre. And OneRepublic barely qualified to round it out to five here. Still, no contest. This is ABBA’s and it should maybe even be named The ABBA Award. Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad came back this year and reminded us why they are so instrumental when telling the story of music and its history. Where would any of us be without ABBA? In the instance that this is the only chance I have to award them Group of the Year, it only makes sense to anoint them. That’s all without even considering that their album was a revelation in 2021 and they’re wholly deserving. ABBA forever!
Previous winner: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Artist of the Year
Billie Eilish
Halsey
Lorde
Kacey Musgraves
Olivia Rodrigo
This was definitely less assured than Best New Artist. Artist of the Year is a whole other stratosphere and you really have to be the best of the best to crack it. I mean, just look at the first winner right below this paragraph. That’s immediately elite company. Thankfully, these women are all young and have plenty of chances to receive this honor in the future, so I don’t feel too guilty about passing up some artists who would’ve likely won this in previous years, had I been writing these types of articles back then. (For example, Lorde would have a great argument in 2017 and Kacey would be a contender for 2019.) We have to consider the 2021 output, though, and Olivia Rodrigo really was my favorite musical artist this year. (If I had to dodge a repeat for Taylor Swift.) She deserves the kind of sweep that Billie Eilish had back at the 2020 Grammys.
Previous winner: Taylor Swift
Record of the Year
“All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff
“Chinatown” by Jack Antonoff, Patrik Berger, and Bruce Springsteen
“Don’t Shut Me Down” by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad
“Girl Is a Gun” by Halsey, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross
“Good 4 U” by Olivia Rodrigo, Dan Nigro, and Alexander 23
“Happier Than Ever” by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
“Message in a Bottle” by Taylor Swift, Elvira Anderfjärd, and Shellback
“Mood Ring” by Lorde and Jack Antonoff
“This Is Heaven” by Nick Jonas and Greg Kurstin
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mike Elizondo
As I said last year, I don’t fully know the difference between Record of the Year and Song of the Year. But I’ve determined that Record of the Year refers to music and production, while Song of the Year refers to music and lyrics. That’s why the lists of nominations are different from one another. “Happier Than Ever” is a remarkable track of production with multiple, musically unique segments that blend cohesively. “This Is Heaven” is simply a delightful-sounding dance bop. “Chinatown” is a lilting collaboration between Jack Antonoff and Bruce Springsteen. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has some of the best production and cohesion of any modern Disney track. “Mood Ring,” “Good 4 U,” and “Girl Is a Gun” are the best-sounding songs from their respective albums. “Message in a Bottle” belongs in the echelon of Taylor Swift’s best pop beats. And “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” is just an astonishing achievement that shouldn’t work, but does in such a way that Rolling Stone thinks it’s the best song she’s ever made. But I have to give it to “Don’t Shut Me Down” for two key reasons. One, it’s already one of the best ABBA songs ever made, which — by extension — means it’s one of the best songs ever made. Two, it became this immediately upon listening to the first chord because it just sounded so immediately perfect.
Previous winner: “‘Tis the Damn Season” by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner
Song of the Year
“Bye Bye Baby” by Taylor Swift and Liz Rose
“Camera Roll” by Kacey Musgraves, Ian Fitchuk, and Daniel Tashian
“Don’t Shut Me Down” by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad
“Driver’s License” by Olivia Rodrigo and Dan Nigro
“Easy on Me” by Adele and Greg Kurstin
“Forever Winter” by Taylor Swift and Mark Foster
“Happier Than Ever” by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
“Jealousy, Jealousy” by Olivia Rodrigo, Dan Nigro, and Casey Smith
“Mr. Perfectly Fine” by Taylor Swift
“Renegade” by Aaron Dessner, Justin Vernon, and Taylor Swift
“Don’t Shut Me Down” is deserving of a nomination here, too. And while Billie Eilish’s entire album did not work for me at every turn, the title track certainly does. I was impressed by the writing and overall song qualities of so many of the other nominees, too! “Renegade” shows us what it’s like to have Taylor Swift giving secondary input on a song (still stellar, b-t-dubs). “Easy on Me” is the welcome return of Adele, who hardly disappointed. “Camera Roll” was the best from Kacey Musgraves in 2021. And “Jealousy, Jealousy” is the best song, lyrically, on Sour, whereas “Driver’s License” must be considered the Song of the Year in the purest sense of the title. But the honor for Song of the Year is going to a Taylor Swift vault track. “Bye Bye Baby” might be the most underrated vault track if it wasn’t for “Don’t You.” “Forever Winter” is the best from Red (Taylor’s Version). But ultimately, Taylor Swift will repeat in this category for the beauty that is “Mr. Perfectly Fine.” Like the ABBA song awarded before it, “Mr. Perfectly Fine” was an instant classic from the first lesson. Lyrically, it utilizes a ton of literary devices to paint the portrait of Joe Jonas’ split from Taylor Swift (back in 2008), but sonically, it has everything you want from a T-Swift joint. Hooky chorus, catchy bridge, glorious key change. It’s one of the best in her entire canon. How did this not make the original album? It’s the best song from 2021!
Previous winner: “August” by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff
And that’s going to do it for the Grammys as they should have been! The Grammys have to have the biggest disconnect between the general music public and the awards body of any of the major awards shows. The Tonys have always been niche; the Emmys choose to balloon rather than cull; the Oscars dictate their own conversations. The Grammys are just straight up never taken seriously and no one really cares. Unless Taylor Swift wins Album of the Year. Then, they are definitive. Like these ones, hopefully!
Most Individual Nominations
Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift (7)
ABBA (6)
Jack Antonoff (5)
Lorde, Kacey Musgraves, Dan Nigro (4)
Aaron Dessner, Billie Eilish, Halsey, Greg Kurstin (3)
Adele, Finneas O’Connell, Justin Vernon (2)
Alexander 23, Elvira Anderfjärd, Julien Baker, Patrik Berger, Mike Elizondo, Ian Fitchuk, Mark Foster, Nick Jonas, Charlotte Lawrence, Manchester Orchestra, Lin-Manuel Miranda, OneRepublic, Trent Reznor, Liz Rose, Atticus Ross, Robin Schulz, Shellback, Casey Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Daniel Tashian, Brian Wilson, Rachel Zegler (1)
Most Album Nominations
Sour (5)
Red (Taylor’s Version), Voyage (4)
Solar Power, Star-Crossed (3)
30, Encanto, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Happier Than Ever, If I Can’t Have Love I Want Power (2)
Girls5eva, How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Schmigadoon!, Spaceman, Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, Tick, Tick, Boom! (1)
Most Individual Wins
ABBA, Olivia Rodrigo (3)
Jack Antonoff, Taylor Swift, Brian Wilson (1)
Most Album Wins
Voyage (2)
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Red (Taylor’s Version), Sour (1)
