2024 Grammy Awards: Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, SZA among the big winners

February 4, 2024

by Carla Hay

Taylor Swift at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California on February 4, 2024 (Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS)

Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, SZA were among the big winners at the 66th annual Grammy Awards, which were presented at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 4, 2024. Trevor Noah hosted the Grammy Awards for the fourth consecutive year. CBS had the live U.S. telecast of the ceremony, which was livestreamed on Paramount+ With Showtime. Several of the Grammy categories were presented in a pre-telecast ceremony that was livestreamed on Grammy.com.

Swift’s “Midnights” won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. She now holds the records as the person who has won Album of the Year the most times (four.) at the Grammy Awards. There was no artist at the show who dominated by winning more than three awards. Miley Cyrus won Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Flowers.” Billie Eilish and her brother/songwriting partner Finneas O’Connell won Song of the Year and Best Song Written for Visual Media for “What Was I Made For?” from the “Barbie” soundtrack.

SZA (whose real name is Solána Rowe) had the most nominations (nine) going into the ceremony. She won three Grammys at the show: Best Progressive R&B Album, for “SOS”; Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, for her “Ghost in the Machine” collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers; and Best R&B Song, for “Snooze.” SZA performed “Snooze” and “Kill Bill” at the show. Victoria Monét, who had seven nominations going into the ceremony, also won three Grammys: Best R&B Album (for “Jaguar II”), Best New Artist, and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical (for “Jaguar II”).

Jay-Z received the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, which was first given in 2023 to Dr. Dre. The Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective gives this noncompetitive prize to influential people in black music. During his acceptance speech, Jay-Z (whose real name is Shawn Carter) was joined on stage by his and wife Beyoncé’s eldest child, 12-year-old daughter Blue Ivy Carter, while Beyoncé watched at their table.

In his memorable speech, Jay-Z talked about being one of the hip-hop artists who boycotted the Grammys for overlooking hip-hop, such as the Grammys not putting the rap categories on television (which happened again this year) or not nominating certain rap artists in the years that they had successful albums. Jay-Z also gave some criticism for Beyoncé not winning a Grammy for Album of the Year, even though she holds the record for being the person who’s won the most Grammys (32), which was a record that she attained in 2023.

Jay-Z added when commenting about who gets awarded (or not) at the Grammys: “ “I’m saying, we want you to get it right. At least close to getting it right. Obviously, it’s subjective. It’s music, and it’s opinion-based … Some of you will go home tonight and will feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category.” After hearing a mixture of booing and laughter at that last remark, he said, “When I get nervous, I tell the truth.”

He concluded his speech by saying, “Outside of that, we’ve got to keep showing up. Forget the Grammys for a second—just in life … you’ve got to keep showing up … until they give you all those accolades you feel you deserve, until they call you chairman, until they call you genius, until they call you the greatest of all time.”

Artists who performed at the show included Dua Lipa, Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo. U2 performed remotely from the Sphere in Paradise, Nevada. On-stage collaborations included Luke Combs with Tracy Chapman; Travis Scott with Playboi Carti; and Burna Boy with 21 Savage and Brandy.

Joni Mitchell performed at the Grammys for the first time. She sang “Both Sides Now” and was joined on stage for the performance by Brandi Carlile, SistaStrings, Blake Mills, Lucius, Allison Russell and Jacob Collier.

Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Jon Batiste and Fantasia Barrino did separate performances for the “In Memoriam” segment that paid tribute to notable people in the music industry who died since the previous Grammy ceremony. Billy Joel performed “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first new song in 30 years, and closed out the show with his 1980 hit “You May Be Right.”

Celine Dion made a surprise appearance to present the award for Album of the Year. Other presenters at the show were Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep, Mark Ronson, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Lionel Richie, U2, Lizzo, Christina Aguilera, Maluma, Samara Joy, Brandi Carlile and Kacey Musgraves.

Here is the complete list of nominees and winners for the 2024 Grammy Awards:

*=winner

General Field

1. Record Of The Year

Award to the Artist and to the Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s) and/or Mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s), if other than the artist.

Worship
Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste, Jon Bellion, Pete Nappi & Tenroc, producers; Serban Ghenea & Pete Nappi, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer

Not Strong Enough
boygenius
boygenius & Catherine Marks, producers; Owen Lantz, Catherine Marks, Mike Mogis, Bobby Mota, Kaushlesh “Garry” Purohit & Sarah Tudzin, engineers/mixers; Pat Sullivan, mastering engineer

Flowers*
Miley Cyrus
Kid Harpoon & Tyler Johnson, producers; Michael Pollack, Brian Rajaratnam & Mark “Spike” Stent, engineers/mixers; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer

What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture “Barbie”]
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish & FINNEAS, producers; Billie Eilish, Rob Kinelski & FINNEAS, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer

On My Mama
Victoria Monét
Deputy, Dernst Emile II & Jeff Gitelman, producers; Patrizio Pigliapoco & Todd Robinson, engineers/mixers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer

Vampire
Olivia Rodrigo
Dan Nigro, producer; Serban Ghenea, Michael Harris, Chris Kasych, Daniel Nigro & Dan Viafore, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer

Anti-Hero
Taylor Swift
Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, producers; Jack Antonoff, Serban Ghenea, Laura Sisk & Lorenzo Wolff, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer

Kill Bill
SZA
Rob Bisel & Carter Lang, producers; Rob Bisel, engineer/mixer; Dale Becker, mastering engineer

2. Album Of The Year

Award to Artist(s) and to Featured Artist(s), Songwriter(s) of new material, Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s), Mixer(s) and Mastering Engineer(s) credited with 20% or more playing time of the album.

World Music Radio
Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste, Jon Bellion, Nick Cooper, Pete Nappi & Tenroc, producers; Jon Batiste, Pete Nappi, Kaleb Rollins, Laura Sisk & Marc Whitmore, engineers/mixers; Jon Batiste, Jon Bellion, Jason Cornet & Pete Nappi, songwriters; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer

the record
boygenius
boygenius & Catherine Marks, producers; Owen Lantz, Will Maclellan, Catherine Marks, Mike Mogis, Bobby Mota, Kaushlesh “Garry” Purohit & Sarah Tudzin, engineers/mixers; Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers & Lucy Dacus, songwriters; Pat Sullivan, mastering engineer

Endless Summer Vacation
Miley Cyrus
Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson & Mike Will Made-It, producers; Pièce Eatah, Craig Frank, Paul David Hager, Stacy Jones, Brian Rajaratnam & Mark “Spike” Stent, engineers/mixers; Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein, Thomas Hull, Tyler Johnson, Michael Len Williams II & Michael Pollack, songwriters; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer

Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Lana Del Rey
Jack Antonoff, Zach Dawes, Lana Del Rey & Drew Erickson, producers; Jack Antonoff, Michael Harris, Dean Reid & Laura Sisk, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey & Mike Hermosa, songwriters; Ruairi O’Flaherty, mastering engineer

The Age Of Pleasure
Janelle Monáe
Sensei Bueno, Nate “Rocket” Wonder & Nana Kwabena, producers; Mick Guzauski, Nate “Rocket” Wonder, Jayda Love, Janelle Monáe & Yáng Tan, engineers/mixers; Jarrett Goodly, Nathaniel Irvin III, Janelle Monáe Robinson & Nana Kwabena Tuffuor, songwriters; Dave Kutch, mastering engineer

GUTS
Olivia Rodrigo
Daniel Nigro, producer; Serban Ghenea, Sterling Laws, Mitch McCarthy, Daniel Nigro, Dave Schiffman, Mark “Spike” Stent, Sam Stewart & Dan Viafore, engineers/mixers; Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer

Midnights*
Taylor Swift
Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, producers; Jack Antonoff, Zem Audu, Serban Ghenea, David Hart, Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Ken Lewis, Michael Riddleberger, Laura Sisk & Evan Smith, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer

SOS
SZA
Rob Bisel, ThankGod4Cody & Carter Lang, producers; Rob Bisel, engineer/mixer; Rob Bisel, Cody Fayne, Carter Lang & Solána Rowe, songwriters; Dale Becker, mastering engineer

3. Song Of The Year

A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

A&W
Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey & Sam Dew, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)

Anti-Hero
Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

Butterfly
Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Jon Batiste)

Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album)
Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Dua Lipa)

Flowers
Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein & Michael Pollack, songwriters (Miley Cyrus)

Kill Bill
Rob Bisel, Carter Lang & Solána Rowe, songwriters (SZA)

Vampire
Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)

What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture “Barbie”]*
Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

4. Best New Artist

This category recognizes an artist whose eligibility-year release(s) achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape.

Gracie Abrams
Fred again..
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Coco Jones
Noah Kahan
Victoria Monét*
The War And Treaty

5. Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical

A Producer’s Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)

Jack Antonoff*

      • Being Funny In A Foreign Language (The 1975) (A)

      • Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (Lana Del Rey) (A)

      • Midnights (Taylor Swift) (A)

Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II

      • JAGUAR II (Victoria Monét) (A)

Hit-Boy

      • Bus Stop (Don Toliver Featuring Brent Faiyaz) (T)

      • Just Face It (Dreamville With Blxst) (T)

      • Kings Disease III (Nas) (A)

      • Magic 3 (Nas) (A)

      • Magic 2 (Nas) (A)

      • Slipping Into Darkness (Hit-Boy & The Alchemist) (S)

      • Surf Or Drown Vol. 1 (Hit-Boy) (A)

      • Surf Or Drown Vol. 2 (Hit-Boy) (A)

      • Victims & Villains (Musiq Soulchild & Hit-Boy) (A)

• Metro Boomin

      • Am I Dreaming (Metro Boomin Featuring Roisee & A$AP Rocky) (S)

      • Calling (Metro Boomin Featuring NAV, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie & Swae Lee) (S)

      • Creepin’ (Metro Boomin Featuring 21 Savage & The Weeknd) (S)

      • More M’s (Drake & 21 Savage) (S)

      • Oh U Went (Young Thug Featuring Drake) (S)

      • Superhero (Heroes & Villains) (Metro Boomin, Future & Chris Brown) (S)

      • Til Further Notice (Travis Scott Featuring James Blake & 21 Savage) (S)

      • Trance (Metro Boomin Featuring Travis Scott & Young Thug) (S)

      • War Bout It (Lil Durk Featuring 21 Savage) (S)

• Daniel Nigro

      • Casual (Chappell Roan) (S)

      • Divide (Dermot Kennedy) (S)

      • Guts (Olivia Rodrigo) (A)

      • Hot To Go! (Chappell Roan) (S)

      • Kaleidoscope (Chappell Roan) (S)

      • Red Wine Supernova (Chappell Roan) (S)

      • Welcome To My Island (Caroline Polachek) (S)

6. Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical

A Songwriter’s Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)

Edgar Barrera

      • Cuestion De Tiempo (Don Omar) (T)

      • Falsa Alarma (En Vivo) (Grupo Firme) (T)

      • Gucci Los Paños (Karol G) (T)

      • La Despedida (Christian Nodal) (T)

      • Mi Ex Tenía Razón (Karol G) (T)

      • Que Vuelvas (Various Artists) (T)

      • Un Cumbión Dolido (Christian Nodal) (T)

      • un x100to (Grupo Frontera & Bad Bunny) (T)

      • Yo Pr1mero (Rels B) (S)

Jessie Jo Dillon

      • Buried (Brandy Clark) (T)

      • Girl In The Mirror (Megan Moroney) (T)

      • Halfway To Hell (Jelly Roll) (T)

      • I Just Killed A Man (Catie Offerman) (S)

      • Memory Lane (Old Dominion) (S)

      • Neon Cowgirl (Dan + Shay) (T)

      • screen (HARDY) (T)

      • The Town In Your Heart (Lori McKenna) (T)

      • Up Above The Clouds (Cecilia’s Song) (Brandy Clark) (T)

Shane McAnally

      • Come Back To Me (Brandy Clark) (S)

      • Good With Me (Walker Hayes) (S)

      • He’s Never Gunna Change (Lauren Daigle) (S)

      • I Should Have Married You (Old Dominion) (S)

      • Independently Owned (Alex Newell & Original Broadway Cast of Shucked) (S)

      • Never Grow Up (Niall Horan) (S)

      • Start Nowhere (Sam Hunt) (S)

      • Walmart (Sam Hunt) (S)

      • We Don’t Fight Anymore (Carly Pearce & Chris Stapleton) (S)

Theron Thomas*

      • All My Life (Lil Durk Featuring J. Cole) (S)

      • Been Thinking (Tyla) (S)

      • Cheatback (Chlöe & Future) (T)

      • How We Roll (Ciara & Chris Brown) (S)

      • Make Up Your Mind (Cordae) (S)

      • Pretty Girls Walk (Big Boss Vette) (S)

      • Seven (Jung Kook & Latto) (S)

      • Told Ya (Chlöe & Missy Elliot) (T)

      • You And I (Sekou) (T)

Justin Tranter

      • Gemini Moon (Reneé Rapp) (T)

      • Honey! (Are U Coming?) (Måneskin) (S)

      • I Want More (Marisa Davila & Cast Of Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies) (S)

      • Jersey (Baby Tate) (S)

      • A Little Bit Happy (TALK) (S)

      • Pretty Girls (Reneé Rapp) (S)

      • River (Miley Cyrus) (S)

Field 1: Pop & Dance/Electronic Music

7. Best Pop Solo Performance

For new vocal or instrumental pop recordings. Singles or Tracks only.

Flowers*
Miley Cyrus

Paint The Town Red
Doja Cat

What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture “Barbie”]
Billie Eilish

Vampire
Olivia Rodrigo

Anti-Hero
Taylor Swift

8. Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

For new vocal or instrumental duo/group or collaborative pop recordings. Singles or Tracks only.

Thousand Miles
Miley Cyrus Featuring Brandi Carlile

Candy Necklace
Lana Del Rey Featuring Jon Batiste

Never Felt So Alone
Labrinth Featuring Billie Eilish

Karma
Taylor Swift Featuring Ice Spice

Ghost In The Machine*
SZA Featuring Phoebe Bridgers

9. Best Pop Vocal Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new pop vocal recordings.

Chemistry
Kelly Clarkson

Endless Summer Vacation
Miley Cyrus

GUTS
Olivia Rodrigo

– (Subtract)
Ed Sheeran

Midnights*
Taylor Swift

10. Best Dance/Electronic Recording

For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances. Vocal or Instrumental. Singles or tracks only.

Blackbox Life Recorder 21F
Aphex Twin
Richard D James, producer; Richard D James, mixer

Loading
James Blake
James Blake & Dom Maker, producers; James Blake, mixer

Higher Than Ever Before
Disclosure
Cirkut, Guy Lawrence & Howard Lawrence, producers; Guy Lawrence, mixer

Strong
Romy & Fred again..
Fred again.., Stuart Price & Romy, producers; Fred again.. & Stuart Price, mixers

Rumble*
Skrillex, Fred again.. & Flowdan
Fred again.. & Skrillex, producers; Skrillex, mixer

11. Best Pop Dance Recording

For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances. Vocal or Instrumental. Singles or tracks only.

Baby Don’t Hurt Me
David Guetta, Anne-Marie & Coi Leray
Johnny Goldstein, Toby Green, David Guetta & Mike Hawkins, producers; Serban    Ghenea, mixer

Miracle
Calvin Harris Featuring Ellie Goulding
Burns & Calvin Harris, producers; Calvin Harris, mixer

Padam Padam*
Kylie Minogue
Lostboy, producer; Guy Massey, mixer

One In A Million
Bebe Rexha & David Guetta
Burns & David Guetta, producers; Serban Ghenea, mixer

Rush
Troye Sivan
Styalz Fuego, Novodor & Zhone, producers; Alex Ghenea, mixer

12. Best Dance/Electronic Music Album

For vocal or instrumental albums. Albums only.

Playing Robots Into Heaven
James Blake

For That Beautiful Feeling
The Chemical Brothers

Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022)*
Fred again..

Kx5
Kx5

Quest For Fire
Skrillex

Field 2: Rock, Metal & Alternative Music

13. Best Rock Performance

For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative rock recordings.

Sculptures Of Anything Goes
Arctic Monkeys

More Than A Love Song
Black Pumas

Not Strong Enough*
Boygenius

Rescued
Foo Fighters

Lux Æterna
Metallica

14. Best Metal Performance

For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative metal recordings.

Bad Man
Disturbed

Phantom Of The Opera
Ghost

72 Seasons*
Metallica

Hive Mind
Slipknot

Jaded
Spiritbox

15. Best Rock Song

A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Rock, Hard Rock and Metal songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Angry
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards & Andrew Watt, songwriters (The Rolling Stones)

Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl
Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)

Emotion Sickness
Dean Fertita, Joshua Homme, Michael Shuman, Jon Theodore & Troy Van Leeuwen, songwriters (Queens Of The Stone Age)

Not Strong Enough*
Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers & Lucy Dacus, songwriters (boygenius)

Rescued
Dave Grohl, Rami Jaffee, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett & Pat Smear, songwriters (Foo Fighters)

16. Best Rock Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new rock, hard rock or metal recordings.

But Here We Are
Foo Fighters

Starcatcher
Greta Van Fleet

72 Seasons
Metallica

This Is Why*
Paramore

In Times New Roman…
Queens Of The Stone Age

17. Best Alternative Music Performance

For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative Alternative music recordings.

Belinda Says
Alvvays

Body Paint
Arctic Monkeys

Cool About It
boygenius

A&W
Lana Del Rey

This Is Why*
Paramore

18. Best Alternative Music Album

Vocal or Instrumental.

The Car
Arctic Monkeys

The Record*
boygenius

Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Lana Del Rey

Cracker Island
Gorillaz

I Inside The Old Year Dying
PJ Harvey

Field 3: R&B, Rap & Spoken Word Poetry

19. Best R&B Performance

For new vocal or instrumental R&B recordings.

Summer Too Hot
Chris Brown

Back To Love
Robert Glasper Featuring SiR & Alex Isley

ICU*
Coco Jones

How Does It Make You Feel
Victoria Monét

Kill Bill
SZA

20. Best Traditional R&B Performance

For new vocal or instrumental traditional R&B recordings.

Simple
Babyface Featuring Coco Jones

Lucky
Kenyon Dixon

Hollywood
Victoria Monét Featuring Earth, Wind & Fire & Hazel Monét

Good Morning*
PJ Morton Featuring Susan Carol

Love Language
SZA

21. Best R&B Song

A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Angel
Halle Bailey, Theron Feemster & Coleridge Tillman, songwriters (Halle)

Back To Love
Darryl Andrew Farris, Robert Glasper & Alexandra Isley, songwriters (Robert Glasper Featuring SiR & Alex Isley)

ICU
Darhyl Camper Jr., Courtney Jones, Raymond Komba & Roy Keisha Rockette, songwriters (Coco Jones)

On My Mama
Dernst Emile II, Jeff Gitelman, Victoria Monét, Kyla Moscovich, Jamil Pierre & Charles Williams, songwriters (Victoria Monét)

Snooze*
Kenny B. Edmonds, Blair Ferguson, Khris Riddick-Tynes, Solána Rowe & Leon Thomas, songwriters (SZA)

22. Best Progressive R&B Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded progressive vocal tracks derivative of R&B.

Since I Have A Lover
6LACK

The Love Album: Off The Grid
Diddy

Nova
Terrace Martin And James Fauntleroy

The Age Of Pleasure
Janelle Monáe

SOS*
SZA

23. Best R&B Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new R&B recordings.

Girls Night Out
Babyface

What I Didn’t Tell You (Deluxe)
Coco Jones

Special Occasion
Emily King

JAGUAR II*
Victoria Monét

CLEAR 2: SOFT LIFE EP
Summer Walker

24. Best Rap Performance

For a Rap performance. Singles or Tracks only.

The Hillbillies
Baby Keem Featuring Kendrick Lamar

Love Letter
Black Thought

Rich Flex
Drake & 21 Savage

SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS*
Killer Mike Featuring André 3000, Future And Eryn Allen Kane

Players
Coi Leray

25. Best Melodic Rap Performance

For a solo or collaborative performance containing both elements of R&B melodies and Rap.

Sittin’ On Top Of The World
Burna Boy Featuring 21 Savage

Attention
Doja Cat

Spin Bout U
Drake & 21 Savage

All My Life*
Lil Durk Featuring J. Cole

Low
SZA

26. Best Rap Song

A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Attention
Rogét Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini & Ari Starace, songwriters (Doja Cat)

Barbie World [From Barbie The Album]
Isis Naija Gaston, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr. & Onika Maraj, songwriters (Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice Featuring Aqua)

Just Wanna Rock
Mohamad Camara, Symere Woods & Javier Mercado, songwriters (Lil Uzi Vert)

Rich Flex
Brytavious Chambers, Isaac “Zac” De Boni, Aubrey Graham, J. Gwin, Anderson Hernandez, Michael “Finatik” Mule & Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, songwriters (Drake & 21 Savage)

SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS*
Andre Benjamin, Paul Beauregard, James Blake, Michael Render, Tim Moore & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Killer Mike Featuring André 3000, Future And Eryn Allen Kane)

27. Best Rap Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new rap recordings.

Her Loss
Drake & 21 Savage

MICHAEL*
Killer Mike

HEROES & VILLIANS
Metro Boomin

King’s Disease III
Nas

UTOPIA
Travis Scott

28. Best Spoken Word Poetry Album

For albums containing greater than 50% playing time of new spoken word poetry recordings.

A-You’re Not Wrong B-They’re Not Either: The Fukc-It Pill Revisited
Queen Sheba

For Your Consideration’24 -The Album
Prentice Powell and Shawn William

Grocery Shopping With My Mother
Kevin Powell

The Light Inside*
J. Ivy

When The Poems Do What They Do
Aja Monet

Field 4: Jazz, Traditional Pop, Contemporary Instrumental & Musical Theater

29. Best Jazz Performance

For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative jazz recordings.

Movement 18′ (Heroes)
Jon Batiste

Basquiat
Lakecia Benjamin

Vulnerable (Live)
Adam Blackstone Featuring The Baylor Project & Russell Ferranté

But Not For Me
Fred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding

Tight*
Samara Joy

30. Best Jazz Vocal Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal jazz recordings.

For Ella 2
Patti Austin Featuring Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band

Alive At The Village Vanguard
Fred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding

Lean In
Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke

Mélusine
Cécile McLorin Salvant

How Love Begins*
Nicole Zuraitis

31. Best Jazz Instrumental Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new instrumental jazz recordings.

The Source
Kenny Barron

Phoenix
Lakecia Benjamin

Legacy: The Instrumental Jawn*
Adam Blackstone

The Winds Of Change*
Billy Childs

Dream Box
Pat Metheny

32. Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new ensemble jazz recordings.

The Chick Corea Symphony Tribute – Ritmo
ADDA Simfònica, Josep Vicent, Emilio Solla

Dynamic Maximum Tension
Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society

Basie Swings The Blues*
The Count Basie Orchestra Directed By Scotty Barnhart

Olympians
Vince Mendoza & Metropole Orkest

The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions
Mingus Big Band

33. Best Latin Jazz Album

For vocal or instrumental albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded material. The intent of this category is to recognize recordings that represent the blending of jazz with Latin, Iberian-American, Brazilian, and Argentinian tango music.

Quietude
Eliane Elias

My Heart Speaks
Ivan Lins With The Tblisi Symphony Orchestra

Vox Humana
Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band

Cometa
Luciana Souza & Trio Corrente

El Arte Del Bolero Vol. 2*
Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo

34. Best Alternative Jazz Album

For vocal or instrumental albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Alternative jazz recordings.

Love In Exile
Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily

Quality Over Opinion
Louis Cole

SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree
Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter, SuperBlue

Live At The Piano
Cory Henry

The Omnichord Real Book*
Meshell Ndegeocello

35. Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new traditional pop recordings.

To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim
Liz Callaway

Pieces Of Treasure
Rickie Lee Jones

Bewitched*
Laufey

Holidays Around The World
Pentatonix

Only The Strong Survive
Bruce Springsteen

Sondheim Unplugged (The NYC Sessions), Vol. 3
(Various Artists)

36. Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new contemporary instrumental recordings.

As We Speak*
Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer, Featuring Rakesh Chaurasia

On Becoming
House Of Waters

Jazz Hands
Bob James

The Layers
Julian Lage

All One
Ben Wendel

37. Best Musical Theater Album

For albums containing greater than 51% playing time of new recordings. Award to the principal vocalist(s), and the album producer(s) of 50% or more playing time of the album. The lyricist(s) and composer(s) of 50 % or more of a score of a new recording are eligible for an Award if any previous recording of said score has not been nominated in this category.

Kimberly Akimbo
John Clancy, David Stone & Jeanine Tesori, producers; Jeanine Tesori, composer; David Lindsay-Abaire, lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)

Parade
Micaela Diamond, Alex Joseph Grayson, Jake Pedersen & Ben Platt, principal vocalists; Jason Robert Brown & Jeffrey Lesser, producers; Jason Robert Brown, composer & lyricist (2023 Broadway Cast)

Shucked
Brandy Clark, Jason Howland, Shane McAnally & Billy Jay Stein, producers; Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast)

Some Like It Hot*
Christian Borle, J. Harrison Ghee, Adrianna Hicks & NaTasha Yvette Williams, principal vocalists; Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Bryan Carter, Scott M. Riesett, Charlie Rosen & Marc Shaiman, producers; Scott Wittman, lyricist; Marc Shaiman, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
Annaleigh Ashford & Josh Groban, principal vocalists; Thomas Kail & Alex Lacamoire, producers (Stephen Sondheim, composer & lyricist) (2023 Broadway Cast)

Field 5: Country & American Roots Music

38. Best Country Solo Performance

For new vocal or instrumental solo country recordings.

In Your Love
Tyler Childers

Buried
Brandy Clark

Fast Car
Luke Combs

The Last Thing On My Mind
Dolly Parton

White Horse*
Chris Stapleton

39. Best Country Duo/Group Performance

For new vocal or instrumental duo/group or collaborative country recordings.

High Note
Dierks Bentley Featuring Billy Strings

Nobody’s Nobody
Brothers Osborne

I Remember Everything*
Zach Bryan Featuring Kacey Musgraves

Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)
Vince Gill & Paul Franklin

Save Me
Jelly Roll With Lainey Wilson

We Don’t Fight Anymore
Carly Pearce Featuring Chris Stapleton

40. Best Country Song

A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Buried
Brandy Clark & Jessie Jo Dillon, songwriters (Brandy Clark)

I Remember Everything
Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves, songwriters (Zach Bryan Featuring Kacey Musgraves)

In Your Love
Tyler Childers & Geno Seale, songwriters (Tyler Childers)

Last Night
John Byron, Ashley Gorley, Jacob Kasher Hindlin & Ryan Vojtesak, songwriters (Morgan Wallen)

White Horse*
Chris Stapleton & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Chris Stapleton)

41. Best Country Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new country recordings.

Rolling Up The Welcome Mat
Kelsea Ballerini

Brothers Osborne
Brothers Osborne

Zach Bryan
Zach Bryan

Rustin’ In The Rain
Tyler Childers

Bell Bottom Country*
Lainey Wilson

42. Best American Roots Performance

For new vocal or instrumental American Roots recordings.  This is for performances in the style of any of the subgenres encompassed in the American Roots Music field including bluegrass, blues, folk or regional roots. Award to the artist(s).

Butterfly
Jon Batiste

Heaven Help Us All
The Blind Boys Of Alabama

Inventing The Wheel
Madison Cunningham

You Louisiana Man
Rhiannon Giddens

Eve Was Black*
Allison Russell

43. Best Americana Performance

For new vocal or instrumental Americana performance. Award to the artist(s).

Friendship
The Blind Boys Of Alabama

Help Me Make It Through The Night
Tyler Childers

Dear Insecurity*
Brandy Clark Featuring Brandi Carlile

King Of Oklahoma
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit

The Returner
Allison Russell

44. Best American Roots Song

A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Americana, bluegrass, traditional blues, contemporary blues, folk or regional roots songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Blank Page
Michael Trotter Jr. & Tanya Trotter, songwriters (The War And Treaty)

California Sober
Aaron Allen, William Apostol & Jon Weisberger, songwriters (Billy Strings Featuring Willie Nelson)

Cast Iron Skillet*
Jason Isbell, songwriter (Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit)

Dear Insecurity
Brandy Clark & Michael Pollack, songwriters (Brandy Clark Featuring Brandi Carlile)

The Returner
Drew Lindsay, JT Nero & Allison Russell, songwriters (Allison Russell)

45. Best Americana Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental Americana recordings.

Brandy Clark
Brandy Clark

The Chicago Sessions
Rodney Crowell

You’re The One
Rhiannon Giddens

Weathervanes*
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit

The Returner
Allison Russell

46. Best Bluegrass Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental bluegrass recordings.

Radio John: Songs of John Hartford
Sam Bush

Lovin’ Of The Game
Michael Cleveland

Mighty Poplar
Mighty Poplar

Bluegrass
Willie Nelson

Me/And/Dad
Billy Strings

City Of Gold*
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

47. Best Traditional Blues Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental traditional blues recordings.

Ridin’
Eric Bibb

The Soul Side Of Sipp
Mr. Sipp

Life Don’t Miss Nobody
Tracy Nelson

Teardrops For Magic Slim Live At Rosa’s Lounge
John Primer

All My Love For You*
Bobby Rush

48. Best Contemporary Blues Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental contemporary blues recordings.

Death Wish Blues
Samantha Fish And Jesse Dayton

Healing Time
Ruthie Foster

Live In London
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

Blood Harmony*
Larkin Poe

LaVette!
Bettye LaVette

49. Best Folk Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental folk recordings.

Traveling Wildfire
Dom Flemons

I Only See The Moon
The Milk Carton Kids

Joni Mitchell At Newport [Live]*
Joni Mitchell

Celebrants
Nickel Creek

Jubilee
Old Crow Medicine Show

Seven Psalms
Paul Simon

Folkocracy
Rufus Wainwright

50. Best Regional Roots Music Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental regional roots music recordings.

New Beginnings* (tie)
Buckwheat Zydeco Jr. & The Legendary Ils Sont Partis Band

Live At The 2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers

Live: Orpheum Theater Nola
Lost Bayou Ramblers & Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

Made In New Orleans
New Breed Brass Band

Too Much To Hold
New Orleans Nightcrawlers

Live At The Maple Leaf* (tie)
The Rumble Featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.

Field 6: Gospel & Contemporary Christian Music

51. Best Gospel Performance/Song

This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best traditional Christian, roots gospel or contemporary gospel single or track.

God Is Good
Stanley Brown Featuring Hezekiah Walker, Kierra Sheard & Karen Clark Sheard; Stanley Brown, Karen V Clark Sheard, Kaylah Jiavanni Harvey, Rodney Jerkins, Elyse Victoria Johnson, J Drew Sheard II, Kierra Valencia Sheard & Hezekiah Walker, songwriters

Feel Alright (Blessed)
Erica Campbell; Erica Campbell, Warryn Campbell, William Weatherspoon, Juan Winans & Marvin L. Winans, songwriters

Lord Do It For Me (Live)
Zacardi Cortez; Marcus Calyen, Zacardi Cortez & Kerry Douglas, songwriters

God Is
Melvin Crispell III

All Things*
Kirk Franklin; Kirk Franklin, songwriter

52. Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song

This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best contemporary Christian music single or track, (including pop, rap/hip-hop, Latin, or rock.)

Believe
Blessing Offor; Hank Bentley & Blessing Offor, songwriters

Firm Foundation (He Won’t) [Live]
Cody Carnes

Thank God I Do
Lauren Daigle; Lauren Daigle & Jason Ingram, songwriters

Love Me Like I Am
for KING & COUNTRY Featuring Jordin Sparks

Your Power*
Lecrae & Tasha Cobbs Leonard

God Problems
Maverick City Music, Chandler Moore & Naomi Raine; Daniel Bashta, Chris Davenport, Ryan Ellis & Naomi Raine, songwriters

53. Best Gospel Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, traditional or contemporary/R&B gospel music recordings.

I Love You
Erica Campbell

Hymns (Live)
Tasha Cobbs Leonard

The Maverick Way
Maverick City Music

My Truth
Jonathan McReynolds

All Things New: Live In Orlando*
Tye Tribbett

54. Best Contemporary Christian Music Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, contemporary Christian music, including pop, rap/hip hop, Latin, or rock recordings.

My Tribe
Blessing Offor

Emanuel
Da’ T.R.U.T.H.

Lauren Daigle
Lauren Daigle

Church Clothes 4*
Lecrae

I Believe
Phil Wickham

55. Best Roots Gospel Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, traditional/roots gospel music, including country, Southern gospel, bluegrass, and Americana recordings.

Tribute To The King
The Blackwood Brothers Quartet

Echoes Of The South*
Blind Boys Of Alabama

Songs That Pulled Me Through The Tough Times
Becky Isaacs Bowman

Meet Me At The Cross
Brian Free & Assurance

Shine: The Darker The Night The Brighter The Light
Gaither Vocal Band

Field 7: Latin, Global, Reggae & New Age, Ambient, or Chant

56. Best Latin Pop Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin pop recordings.

La Cuarta Hoja
Pablo Alborán

Beautiful Humans, Vol. 1
AleMor

A Ciegas
Paula Arenas

La Neta
Pedro Capó

Don Juan
Maluma

X Mí (Vol. 1)*
Gaby Moreno

57. Best Música Urbana Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Música Urbana recordings.

SATURNO
Rauw Alejandro

MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO*
Karol G

DATA
Tainy

58. Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin rock or alternative recordings.

MARTÍNEZ
Cabra

Leche De Tigre
Diamante Eléctrico

Vida Cotidiana* (tie)
Juanes

De Todas Las Flores* (tie)
Natalia Lafourcade

EADDA9223
Fito Paez

59. Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano)

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new regional Mexican (banda, norteño, corridos, gruperos, mariachi, ranchera and Tejano) recordings.

Bordado A Mano
Ana Bárbara

La Sánchez
Lila Downs

Motherflower
Flor De Toloache

Amor Como En Las Películas De Antes
Lupita Infante

GÉNESIS*
Peso Pluma

60. Best Tropical Latin Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new tropical Latin recordings.

Siembra: 45º Aniversario (En Vivo en el Coliseo de Puerto Rico, 14 de Mayo 2022)*
Rubén Blades Con Roberto Delgado & Orquesta

Voy A Ti
Luis Figueroa

Niche Sinfónico
Grupo Niche Y Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia

VIDA
Omara Portuondo

MIMY & TONY
Tony Succar, Mimy Succar

Escalona Nunca Se Había Grabado Así
Carlos Vives

61. Best Global Music Performance

For new vocal or instrumental Global music recordings.

Shadow Forces
Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily

Alone
Burna Boy

FEEL
Davido

Milagro Y Disastre
Silvana Estrada

Abundance In Millets
Falu & Gaurav Shah (Featuring PM Narendra Modi)

Pashto*
Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer & Zakir Hussain Featuring Rakesh Chaurasia

Todo Colores
Ibrahim Maalouf Featuring Cimafunk & Tank And The Bangas

62. Best African Music Performance

Amapiano
ASAKE & Olamide

City Boys
Burna Boy

UNAVAILABLE
Davido Featuring Musa Keys

Rush
Ayra Starr

Water*
Tyla

63. Best Global Music Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental Global Music recordings.

Epifanías
Susana Baca

History
Bokanté

I Told Them…
Burna Boy

Timeless
Davido

This Moment*
Shakti

64. Best Reggae Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new reggae recordings.

Born For Greatness
Buju Banton

Simma
Beenie Man

Cali Roots Riddim 2023
Collie Buddz

No Destroyer
Burning Spear

Colors Of Royal*
Julian Marley & Antaeus

65. Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental new age recordings.

Aquamarine
Kirsten Agresta-Copely

Moments Of Beauty
Omar Akram

Some Kind Of Peace (Piano Reworks)
Ólafur Arnalds

Ocean Dreaming Ocean
David Darling & Hans Christian

So She Howls*
Carla Patullo Featuring Tonality And The Scorchio Quartet

Field 8: Children’s, Comedy, Audio Books, Visual Media & Music Video/Film

66. Best Children’s Music Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new musical or spoken word recordings that are created and intended specifically for children.

Ahhhhh!
Andrew & Polly

Ancestars
Pierce Freelon & Nnenna Freelon

Hip Hope For Kids!
DJ Willy Wow!

Taste The Sky
Uncle Jumbo

We Grow Together Preschool Songs*
123 Andrés

67. Best Comedy Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new recordings.

I Wish You Would
Trevor Noah

I’m An Entertainer
Wanda Sykes

Selective Outrage
Chris Rock

Someone You Love
Sarah Silverman

What’s In A Name?*
Dave Chappelle

68. Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording

Big Tree
Meryl Streep

Boldly Go: Reflections On A Life Of Awe And Wonder
William Shatner

The Creative Act: A Way Of Being
Rick Rubin

It’s Ok To Be Angry About Capitalism
Senator Bernie Sanders

The Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times*
Michelle Obama

69. Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media

Award to the principal artist(s) and/or ‘in studio’ producer(s) of a majority of the tracks on the album.  In the absence of both, award to the one or two individuals proactively responsible for the concept and musical direction of the album and for the selection of artists, songs and producers, as applicable. Award also goes to appropriately credited music supervisor(s).

AURORA
(Daisy Jones & The Six)

Barbie The Album*
(Various Artists)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Music From And Inspired By
(Various Artists)

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3: Awesome Mix, Vol. 3
(Various Artists)

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Weird Al Yankovic

70. Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media (Includes Film And Television)

Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current legitimate motion picture, television show or series, or other visual media.

Barbie
Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, composers

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever*
Ludwig Göransson, composer

The Fabelmans
John Williams, composer

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
John Williams, composer

Oppenheimer
Ludwig Göransson, composer

71.  Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media

Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, video games and other interactive media.

Call Of Duty®: Modern Warfare II
Sarah Schachner, composer

God Of War Ragnarök
Bear McCreary, composer

Hogwarts Legacy
Peter Murray, J Scott Rakozy & Chuck E. Myers “Sea”, composers

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor*
Stephen Barton & Gordy Haab, composers

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical
Jess Serro, Tripod & Austin Wintory, composers

72. Best Song Written For Visual Media

A Songwriter(s) award. For a song (melody & lyrics) written specifically for a motion picture, television, video games or other visual media, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)

Barbie World [From “Barbie The Album”]
Naija Gaston, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr. & Onika Maraj, songwriters (Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice Featuring Aqua)

Dance The Night [From “Barbie The Album”]
Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Dua Lipa)

I’m Just Ken [From “Barbie The Album”]
Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Ryan Gosling)

Lift Me Up [From “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Music From And Inspired By”]
Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Robyn Fenty & Temilade Openiyi, songwriters (Rihanna)

What Was I Made For? [From “Barbie The Album”]*
Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

73. Best Music Video

Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.

I’m Only Sleeping*
(The Beatles)
Em Cooper, video director; Jonathan Clyde, Sophie Hilton, Sue Loughlin & Laura Thomas, video producers

In Your Love
Tyler Childers
Bryan Schlam, video director; Kacie Barton, Silas House, Nicholas Robespierre, Ian Thornton & Whitney Wolanin, video producers

What Was I Made For
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish, video director; Michelle An, Chelsea Dodson & David Moore, video producers

Count Me Out
Kendrick Lamar
Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar, video directors; Jason Baum & Jamie Rabineau, video producers

Rush
Troye Sivan
Gordon Von Steiner, video director; Kelly McGee, video producer

74. Best Music Film

For concert/performance films or music documentaries. Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.

Moonage Daydream*
(David Bowie)
Brett Morgen, video director; Brett Morgen, video producer

How I’m Feeling Now
Lewis Capaldi
Joe Pearlman, video director; Sam Bridger, Isabel Davis & Alice Rhodes, video producers

Live From Paris, The Big Steppers Tour
Kendrick Lamar
Mike Carson, Dave Free & Mark Ritchie, video directors; Cornell Brown, Debra Davis, Jared Heinke & Jamie Rabineau, video producers

I Am Everything
(Little Richard)
Lisa Cortés, video director; Caryn Capotosto, Lisa Cortés, Robert Friedman & Liz Yale Marsh, video producers

Dear Mama
(Tupac Shakur)
Allen Hughes, video director; Joshua Garcia, Loren Gomez, James Jenkins & Stef Smith, video producers

Field 9: Package, Notes & Historical

75. Best Recording Package

The Art Of Forgetting
Caroline Rose, art director (Caroline Rose)

Cadenza 21′
Hsing-Hui Cheng, art director (Ensemble Cadenza 21′)

Electrophonic Chronic
Perry Shall, art director (The Arcs)

Gravity Falls
Iam8bit, art director (Brad Breeck)

Migration
Yu Wei, art director (Leaf Yeh)

Stumpwork*
Luke Brooks & James Theseus Buck, art directors (Dry Cleaning)

76. Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package

The Collected Works Of Neutral Milk Hotel
Jeff Mangum, Daniel Murphy & Mark Ohe, art directors (Neutral Milk Hotel)

For The Birds: The Birdsong Project*
Jeri Heiden & John Heiden, art directors (Various Artists)

Gieo
Duy Dao, art director (Ngot)

Inside: Deluxe Box Set
Bo Burnham & Daniel Calderwood, art directors (Bo Burnham)

Words & Music, May 1965 – Deluxe Edition
Masaki Koike, art director (Lou Reed)

77. Best Album Notes

Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy (Live)
Ashley Kahn, album notes writer (John Coltrane & Eric Dolphy)

I Can Almost See Houston: The Complete Howdy Glenn
Scott B. Bomar, album notes writer (Howdy Glenn)

Mogadishu’s Finest: The Al Uruba Sessions
Vik Sohonie, album notes writer (Iftin Band)

Playing For The Man At The Door: Field Recordings From The Collection Of Mack McCormick, 1958–1971
Jeff Place & John Troutman, album notes writers (Various Artists)

Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos*
Robert Gordon & Deanie Parker, album notes writers (Various Artists)

78. Best Historical Album

Fragments – Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17
Steve Berkowitz & Jeff Rosen, compilation producers; Steve Addabbo, Greg Calbi, Steve Fallone, Chris Shaw & Mark Wilder, mastering engineers (Bob Dylan)

The Moaninest Moan Of Them All: The Jazz Saxophone of Loren McMurray, 1920-1922 Colin Hancock, Meagan Hennessey & Richard Martin, compilation producers; Richard Martin, mastering engineer; Richard Martin, restoration engineer (Various Artists)

Playing For The Man At The Door: Field Recordings From The Collection Of Mack McCormick, 1958–1971
Jeff Place & John Troutman, compilation producers; Randy LeRoy & Charlie Pilzer, mastering engineers; Mike Petillo & Charlie Pilzer, restoration engineers (Various Artists)

Words & Music, May 1965 – Deluxe Edition
Laurie Anderson, Don Fleming, Jason Stern, Matt Sulllivan & Hal Willner, compilation producers; John Baldwin, mastering engineer; John Baldwin, restoration engineer (Lou Reed)

Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos*
Robert Gordon, Deanie Parker, Cheryl Pawelski, Michele Smith & Mason Williams, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer; Michael Graves, restoration engineer (Various Artists)

Field 10: Production, Engineering, Composition & Arrangement

79. Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

An Engineer’s Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)

Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
Macks Faulkron, Daniel Harle, Caroline Polachek & Geoff Swan, engineers; Mike Bozzi & Chris Gehringer, mastering engineers (Caroline Polachek)

History
Nic Hard, engineer; Dave McNair, mastering engineer (Bokanté)

JAGUAR II*
John Kercy, Kyle Mann, Victoria Monét, Patrizio “Teezio” Pigliapoco, Neal H Pogue & Todd Robinson, engineers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer (Victoria Monét)

Multitudes
Michael Harris, Robbie Lackritz, Joseph Lorge & Blake Mills, engineers (Feist)

The Record
Owen Lantz, Will Maclellan, Catherine Marks, Mike Mogis, Bobby Mota, Kaushlesh “Garry” Purohit & Sarah Tudzin, engineers; Pat Sullivan, mastering engineer (boygenius)

80. Best Engineered Album, Classical

An Engineer’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)

The Blue Hour
Patrick Dillett, Mitchell Graham, Jesse Lewis, Kyle Pyke, Andrew Scheps & John Weston, engineers; Helge Sten, mastering engineer (Shara Nova & A Far Cry)

Contemporary American Composers*
David Frost & Charlie Post, engineers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer (Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra)

Fandango
Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, engineers; Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, mastering engineers (Gustavo Dudamel, Anne Akiko Meyers, Gustavo Castillo & Los Angeles Philharmonic)

Sanlikol: A Gentleman Of Istanbul – Symphony For Strings, Percussion, Piano, Oud, Ney & Tenor
Christopher Moretti & John Weston, engineers; Shauna Barravecchio & Jesse Lewis, mastering engineers (Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, George Lernis & A Far Cry)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces
Mark Donahue, engineer; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)

Field 10: Production, Engineering, Composition & Arrangement

81. Producer Of The Year, Classical

A Producer’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)

David Frost
The American Project (Yuja Wang, Teddy Abrams, Louisville Orchestra) (A)
Arc II – Ravel, Brahms, Shostakovich (Orion Weiss) (A)
Blanchard: Champion (Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Latonia Moore, Ryan Speedo Green, Eric Owens, Stephanie Blythe, Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra) (A)
Contemporary American Composers (Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra) (A)
The Guitar Player (Mattias Schulstad) (A)
Mysterium (Anne Akiko Meyers, Grant Gershon & Los Angeles Master Chorale) (A)
Verdi: Rigoletto (Daniele Rustioni, Piotr Beczala, Quinn Kelsey, Rosa Feola, Varduhi Abrahamyan, Andrea Mastroni, The Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra) (A)

Morten Lindberg
An Old Hall Ladymass (Catalina Vicens & Trio Mediæval) (A)
Thoresen: Lyden Av Arktis – La Terra Meravigliosa (Christian Kluxen & Arktisk Filharmoni) (A)
The Trondheim Concertos (Sigurd Imsen & Baroque Ensemble Of The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra) (A)
Yggdrasil (Tove Ramlo-Ystad & Cantus) (A)

Dmitriy Lipay
Adès: Dante (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic) (A) Fandango (Gustavo Dudamel, Anne Akiko Meyers & Los Angeles Philharmonic) (A)
Price: Symphony No. 4; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony (Yannick Nézet-Séguin & Philadelphia Orchestra) (A)
Rachmaninoff: The Piano Concertos & Paganini Rhapsody (Yuja Wang, Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic) (A)
Walker: Lyric For Strings; Folksongs For Orchestra; Lilacs For Voice & Orchestra; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony (Asher Fisch & Seattle Symphony) (A)

Elaine Martone*
Ascenso (Santiago Cañón-Valencia) (A)
Berg: Three Pieces From Lyric Suite; Strauss: Suite From Der Rosenkavalier (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)
Between Breaths (Third Coast Percussion) (A)
Difficult Grace (Seth Parker Woods) (A)
Man Up / Man Down (Constellation Men’s Ensemble) (A)
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)
Rachmaninoff & Gershwin: Transcriptions By Earl Wild (John Wilson) (A)
Sirventés – Music From The Iranian Female Composers Association (Brian Thornton, Katherine Bormann, Alicia Koelz, Eleisha Nelson, Amahl Arulanadam & Nathan Petipas) (A)
Walker: Antifonys; Lilacs; Sinfonias Nos. 4 & 5 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)

Brian Pidgeon
Fuchs: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 (John Wilson & Sinfonia Of London) (A)
Music For Strings (John Wilson & Sinfonia Of London) (A)
Nielsen: Violin Concerto; Symphony No. 4 (James Ehnes, Edward Gardner & Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra) (A)
Pierre Sancan – A Musical Tribute (Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Yan Pascal Tortelier & BBC Philharmonic) (A)
Poulenc: Orchestral Works (Bramwell Tovey & BBC Concert Orchestra) (A)
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3; Voclaise; The Isle Of The Dead (John Wilson & Sinfonia Of London) (A)
Schubert: Symphonies, Vol. 3 (Edward Gardner & City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) (A)
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 12 & 15 (John Storgårds & BBC Philharmonic) (A)
Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Works (Alpesh Chauhan & BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra) (A)

82. Best Remixed Recording

(A Remixer’s Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses for identification.) Singles or Tracks only.)

Alien Love Call
BADBADNOTGOOD, remixers (Turnstile & BADBADNOTGOOD Featuring Blood Orange)

New Gold (Dom Dolla Remix)
Dom Dolla, remixer (Gorillaz Featuring Tame Impala & Bootie Brown)

Reviver (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix)
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, remixer (Lane 8)

Wagging Tongue (Wet Leg Remix)*
Wet Leg, remixers (Depeche Mode)

Workin’ Hard (Terry Hunter Remix)
Terry Hunter, remixer (Mariah Carey)

83. Best Immersive Audio Album

For vocal or instrumental albums in any genre.  Must be commercially released for physical sale or on an eligible streaming or download service and must provide a new immersive mix of four or more channels.  Award to the immersive mix engineer, immersive producer (if any) and immersive mastering engineer (if any).

Act 3 (Immersive Edition)
Ryan Ulyate, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Ryan Ulyate, immersive producer (Ryan Ulyate)

Blue Clear Sky
Chuck Ainlay, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Chuck Ainlay, immersive producer (George Strait)

The Diary Of Alicia Keys*
George Massenburg & Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineers; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Alicia Keys & Ann Mincieli, immersive producers (Alicia Keys)

God Of War Ragnarök (Original Soundtrack)
Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Kellogg Boynton, Peter Scaturro & Herbert Waltl, immersive producers (Bear McCreary)

Silence Between Songs
Aaron Short, immersive mastering engineer (Madison Beer)

84. Best Instrumental Composition

A Composer’s Award for an original composition (not an adaptation) first released during the Eligibility Year. Singles or Tracks only.

Amerikkan Skin
Lakecia Benjamin, composer (Lakecia Benjamin Featuring Angela Davis)

Can You Hear The Music
Ludwig Göransson, composer (Ludwig Göransson)

Cutey And The Dragon
Gordon Goodwin & Raymond Scott, composers (Quartet San Francisco Featuring Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band)

Helena’s Theme*
John Williams, composer (John Williams)

Motion
Edgar Meyer, composer (Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer & Zakir Hussain Featuring Rakesh Chaurasia)

85. Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella

An Arranger’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Angels We Have Heard On High
Nkosilathi Emmanuel Sibanda, arranger (Just 6)

Can You Hear The Music
Ludwig Göransson, arranger (Ludwig Göransson)

Folsom Prison Blues*
John Carter Cash, Tommy Emmanuel, Markus Illko, Janet Robin & Roberto Luis Rodriguez, arrangers (The String Revolution Featuring Tommy Emmanuel)

I Remember Mingus
Hilario Duran, arranger (Hilario Duran And His Latin Jazz Big Band Featuring Paquito D’Rivera)

Paint It Black
Esin Aydingoz, Chris Bacon & Alana Da Fonseca, arrangers (Wednesday Addams)

86. Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals

An Arranger’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

April In Paris
Gordon Goodwin, arranger (Patti Austin Featuring Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band)

Com Que Voz (Live)
John Beasley & Maria Mendes, arrangers (Maria Mendes Featuring John Beasley & Metropole Orkest)

Fenestra
Godwin Louis, arranger (Cécile McLorin Salvant)

In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning*
Erin Bentlage, Jacob Collier, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (säje Featuring Jacob Collier)

Lush Life
Kendric McCallister, arranger (Samara Joy)

Field 11: Classical

87. Best Orchestral Performance

Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.

Adès: Dante*
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)

Bartók: Concerto For Orchestra; Four Pieces
Karina Canellakis, conductor (Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra)

Price: Symphony No. 4; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)

Scriabin: Symphony No. 2; The Poem Of Ecstasy
JoAnn Falletta, conductor (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)

Stravinsky: The Rite Of Spring
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)

88. Best Opera Recording

Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) of a world premiere Opera recording only.

Blanchard: Champion*
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Ryan Speedo Green, Latonia Moore & Eric Owens; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)

Corigliano: The Lord Of Cries
Gil Rose, conductor; Anthony Roth Costanzo, Kathryn Henry, Jarrett Ott & David Portillo; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project & Odyssey Opera Chorus)

Little: Black Lodge
Timur; Andrew McKenna Lee & David T. Little, producers (The Dime Museum; Isaura String Quartet)

89. Best Choral Performance

Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.

Carols After A Plague
Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)

The House Of Belonging
Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Miró Quartet; Conspirare)

Ligeti: Lux Aeterna
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony Chorus)

Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil
Steven Fox, conductor (The Clarion Choir)

Saariaho: Reconnaissance*
Nils Schweckendiek, conductor (Uusinta Ensemble; Helsinki Chamber Choir)

90. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance

For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (twenty-four or fewer members, not including the conductor). One Award to the ensemble and one Award to the conductor, if applicable.

American Stories
Anthony McGill & Pacifica Quartet

Beethoven For Three: Symphony No. 6, ‘Pastorale’ And Op. 1, No. 3
Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax & Leonidas Kavakos

Between Breaths
Third Coast Percussion

Rough Magic*
Roomful Of Teeth

Uncovered, Vol. 3: Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, William Grant Still & George Walker
Catalyst Quartet

Field 11: Classical

91. Best Classical Instrumental Solo

Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.

Adams, John Luther: Darkness And Scattered Light
Robert Black

Akiho: Cylinders
Andy Akiho

The American Project*
Yuja Wang; Teddy Abrams, conductor (Louisville Orchestra)

Difficult Grace
Seth Parker Woods

Of Love
Curtis Stewart

92. Best Classical Solo Vocal Album

Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with greater than 50% playing time of new material.

Because
Reginald Mobley, soloist; Baptiste Trotignon, pianist

Broken Branches
Karim Sulayman, soloist; Sean Shibe, accompanist

40@40
Laura Strickling, soloist; Daniel Schlosberg, pianist

Rising
Lawrence Brownlee, soloist; Kevin J. Miller, pianist

Walking In The Dark*
Julia Bullock, soloist; Christian Reif, conductor (Philharmonia Orchestra)

93. Best Classical Compendium

Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 50% playing time of the album, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) with over 50% playing time of a world premiere recording only.

Fandango
Anne Akiko Meyers; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Dmitriy Lipay, producer

Julius Eastman, Vol. 3: If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?
Christopher Rountree, conductor; Lewis Pesacov, producer

Mazzoli: Dark With Excessive Bright
Peter Herresthal; Tim Weiss, conductor; Hans Kipfer, producer

Passion For Bach And Coltrane*
Alex Brown, Harlem Quartet, Imani Winds, Edward Perez, Neal Smith & A.B. Spellman; Silas Brown & Mark Dover, producers

Sardinia
Chick Corea; Chick Corea & Bernie Kirsh, producers

Sculptures
Andy Akiho; Andy Akiho & Sean Dixon, producers

Zodiac Suite
Aaron Diehl Trio & The Knights; Eric Jacobsen, conductor; Aaron Diehl & Eric Jacobsen, producers

94. Best Contemporary Classical Composition

A Composer’s Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.

Adès: Dante
Thomas Adès, composer (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic)

Akiho: In That Space, At That Time
Andy Akiho, composer (Andy Akiho, Ankush Kumar Bahl & Omaha Symphony)

Brittelle: Psychedelics
William Brittelle, composer (Roomful Of Teeth)

Mazzoli: Dark With Excessive Bright
Missy Mazzoli, composer (Peter Herresthal, James Gaffigan & Bergen Philharmonic)

Montgomery: Rounds*
Jessie Montgomery, composer (Awadagin Pratt, A Far Cry & Roomful Of Teeth)

2021 MTV Video Music Awards: Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, BTS are the top winners

September 12, 2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RiU2APCzN4

With three awards each, Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo and BTS were the top winners at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), which were held at Barclays Center in New York City on September 12. Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” won the prize for Video of the Year. Foo Fighters received the Global Icon Award, which is a non-competitive prize. The show, which was hosted by Doja Cat, was also simulcast other ViacomCBS-owned channels CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Pop, TV Land, VH1 and The CW Network. The MTV VMAs are voted for online by the public.

Here is the list of artists and songs performed on the show.

  • The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber, “Stay”
  • Justin Bieber, “Ghost”
  • Olivia Rodrigo “Good 4 U”
  • Kacey Musgraves “Star-Crossed”
  • Twenty One Pilots “Saturday”
  • Saint Jhn “Sucks To Be You,” “Trap”
  • Ed Sheeran “Shivers”
  • Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow “Industry Baby”
  • “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” (Lil Nas X only)
  • Camila Cabello, “Don’t Go Yet”
  • Shawn Mendes and Tainy, “Summer of Love”
  • Anitta, “Girl from Rio”
  • Latto, “Big Energy,” “Muwop,” “Bitch from da Souf”
  • Doja Cat, “Been like This,” “You Right”
  • Chlöe, “Have Mercy”
  • Normani, “Wild Side”
  • Ozuna, “La Funka”
  • Foo Fighters medley: “Learn to Fly,” “Shame Shame,” “Everlong”
  • Alicia Keys and Swae Lee “Lala (Unlocked)”
  • Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”
  • Busta Rhymes, “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See,” “Ante Up,” “Scenario,” “Touch It,” “Look at Me Now,” “Pass the Courvoisier”
  • Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker, “Papercuts”

Presenters were Doja Cat, Tinashe, Bretman Rock, Jennifer Lopez, Cyndi Lauper, Saint Jhn, Rita Ora, Billy Porter, Avril Lavigne, Charli XCX, Leslie Grace, Conor McGregor, Halle Bailey, Wyclef Jean, Ciara, Fat Joe, Ashanti, Ja Rule, AJ McLean, Lance Bass, Nick Lachey, Billie Eilish, SZA, Tommy Lee, Swizz Beatz, David Lee Roth, Megan Fox and Kourtney Kardashian.

Bruce Gillmer and Den of Thieves co-founder Jesse Ignjatovic were Executive Producers for the 2021 MTV VMAs. Barb Bialkowski was Co-Executive Producer. Alicia Portugal and Jackie Barba serve as Executives in Charge of Production. Wendy Plaut was Executive in Charge of Celebrity Talent. Lisa Lauricella was Music Talent Executive.

Here is the complete list of nominees and winners:

*=winner

VIDEO OF THE YEAR 

Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP” – Atlantic Records

DJ Khaled featuring Drake – “POPSTAR” (Starring Justin Bieber) – OVO / We The Best / Epic Records

Doja Cat featuring SZA – “Kiss Me More” – Kemosabe Records / RCA Records

Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits” – Atlantic Records

Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records*

The Weeknd – “Save Your Tears” – XO / Republic Records

ARTIST OF THE YEAR 

Ariana Grande – Republic Records

Doja Cat – Kemosabe Records / RCA Records

Justin Bieber – Def Jam*

Megan Thee Stallion – 300 Entertainment

Olivia Rodrigo – Geffen Records

Taylor Swift – Republic Records

SONG OF THE YEAR 

24kGoldn featuring iann dior – “Mood” – Records LLC / Columbia Records

Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open” – Aftermath Entertainment / Atlantic Records

BTS – “Dynamite” – BIGHIT Music

Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP” – Atlantic Records

Dua Lipa – “Levitating” – Warner Records

Olivia Rodrigo – “Drivers License” – Geffen Records*

BEST NEW ARTIST, Presented by Facebook 

24kGoldn – Records LLC / Columbia Records

Giveon – Epic Records / Not So Fast

The Kid Laroi – Columbia Records

Olivia Rodrigo – Geffen Records*

Polo G – Columbia Records

Saweetie – Warner Records

PUSH PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

September 2020: Wallows – “Are You Bored Yet?” – Atlantic Records

October 2020: Ashnikko – “Daisy” – Warner Records

November 2020: Saint Jhn – “Gorgeous” – Godd Complexx / HITCO

December 2020: 24kGoldn – “Coco” – Records LLC / Columbia Records

January 2021: JC Stewart – “Break My Heart” – Elektra Music Group

February 2021: Latto – “Sex Lies” – RCA Records

March 2021: Madison Beer – “Selfish” – Epic Records / Sing It Loud

April 2021: The Kid Laroi – “Without You” – Columbia Records

May 2021: Olivia Rodrigo – “Drivers License” – Geffen Records*

June 2021: Girl in Red “Serotonin” – World in Red / AWAL

July 2021: Fousheé – “My Slime” – RCA Records

August 2021: jxdn – “Think About Me” – DTA Records / Elektra Music Group

BEST COLLABORATION

24kGoldn featuring Iann Dior – “Mood” – Records LLC / Columbia Records

Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP” – Atlantic Records

Doja Cat featuring SZA – “Kiss Me More” – Kemosabe Records / RCA Records*

Drake featuring Lil Durk – “Laugh Now Cry Later” – OVO / Republic Records

Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar, Giveon – “Peaches” – Def Jam

Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa – “Prisoner” – RCA Records

BEST POP

Ariana Grande – “Positions” – Republic Records

Billie Eilish – “Therefore I Am” – Darkroom / Interscope Records

BTS – “Butter” – BIGHIT Music

Harry Styles – “Treat People With Kindness” – Columbia Records

Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar, Giveon – “Peaches” – Def Jam*

Olivia Rodrigo – “Good 4 U” – Geffen Records

Shawn Mendes – “Wonder” – Island Records

Taylor Swift – “Willow” – Republic Records

BEST HIP-HOP

Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP” – Atlantic Records

Drake featuring Lil Durk – “Laugh Now Cry Later” – OVO / Republic Records

Lil Baby featuring Megan Thee Stallion – “On Me (remix)” – Quality Control / Motown

Moneybagg Yo – “Said Sum” – N-Less Entertainment / Interscope Records

Polo G – “Rapstar” – Columbia Records

Travis Scott featuring Young Thug & M.I.A. – “Franchise” – Cactus Jack / Epic Records*

BEST ROCK

Evanescence – “Use My Voice” – BMG

Foo Fighters – “Shame Shame” – Roswell Records / RCA Records

John Mayer – “Last Train Home” – Columbia Records*

The Killers – “My Own Soul’s Warning” – Island

Kings Of Leon – “The Bandit” – RCA Records

Lenny Kravitz – “Raise Vibration” – Roxie Records / BMG

BEST ALTERNATIVE

Bleachers – “Stop Making This Hurt” – RCA Records

Glass Animals – “Heat Waves” – Republic Records

Imagine Dragons – “Follow You” – KidinaKorner / Interscope Records

Machine Gun Kelly featuring blackbear – “My Ex’s Best Friend” – Bad Boy / Interscope Records*

Twenty One Pilots – “Shy Away” – Fueled By Ramen

Willow featuring Travis Barker – “Transparentsoul” – MSFTSMusic / Roc Nation

BEST LATIN

Bad Bunny x Jhay Cortez – “Dákiti” – The Orchard

Billie Eilish & ROSALÍA – “Lo Vas A Olvidar” – Darkroom / Interscope Records*

Black Eyed Peas and Shakira – “Girl Like Me” – Epic Records

Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, Tainy – “Un Dia (One Day)” – Universal Music Latino / NEON16 

Karol G – “Bichota” – Universal Music Latino

Maluma – “Hawái” – Sony Music US Latin

BEST R&B

Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, Saint Jhn WizKid – “Brown Skin Girl – Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records

Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open” – Aftermath Entertainment / Atlantic Records*

Chris Brown and Young Thug – “Go Crazy” – Chris Brown Entertainment/RCA Records

Giveon – “Heartbreak Anniversary” – Epic Records / Not So Fast

H.E.R. featuring Chris Brown – “Come Through” – MBK Entertainment / RCA Records

SZA – “Good Days” – Top Dawg Entertainment / RCA Records

BEST K-POP

(G)I-DLE – “Dumbdi Dumbdi” – Republic Records

Blacpink and Selena Gomez – “Ice Cream” – YG Entertainment / Interscope Records

BTS – “Butter” – BIGHIT Music Monsta X – “Gambler” – Starship Entertainment*

Seventeen – “Ready to Love” – Pledis Entertainment

Twice– “Alcohol-Free” – JYP Entertainment Company

VIDEO FOR GOOD 

Billie Eilish – “Your Power” – Darkroom / Interscope Records*

Demi Lovato – “Dancing With The Devil” – Island

H.E.R. – “Fight For You” – MBK Entertainment / RCA Records

Kane Brown – “Worldwide Beautiful” – Sony Music Nashville / RCA Records

Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records

Pharrell Williams featuring JAY-Z – “Entrepreneur” – Columbia Records

BEST DIRECTION

Billie Eilish – “Your Power” – Darkroom / Interscope Records – Directed by: Billie Eilish

DJ Khaled featuring Drake – “Popstar (Starring Justin Bieber)” – OVO / We The Best / Epic Records – Directed by: Julien Christian Lutz aka Director X

Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records – Directed by: Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino*

Taylor Swift – “Willow” – Republic Records – Directed by: Taylor Swift

Travis Scott featuring Young Thug & M.I.A – “Franchise” – Cactus Jack / Epic Records – Directed by: Travis Scott

Tyler, The Creator – “Lumberjack” – Columbia Records – Directed by: Wolf Haley

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, Saint Jhn, WizKid – “Brown Skin Girl” – Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records – Cinematography by: Benoit Soler, Malik H. Sayeed, Mohammaed Atta Ahmed, Santiago Gonzalez, Ryan Helfant*

Billie Eilish – “Therefore I Am” – Darkroom / Interscope Records – Cinematography by: Rob Witt

Foo Fighters – “Shame Shame” – Roswell Records / RCA Records – Cinematography by: Santiago Gonzalez

Justin Bieber featuring Chance The Rapper – “Holy” – RBMG/Def Jam – Cinematography by: Elias Talbot

Lady Gaga – “911” – Interscope Records – Cinematography by: Jeff Cronenweth

Lorde – “Solar Power” – Republic Records – Cinematography by: Andrew Stroud

BEST ART DIRECTION

Beyoncé, Shatta Wale, Major Lazer – “Already” – Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records – Art Direction by: Susan Linns, Gerard Santos

Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits” – Atlantic Records – Art Direction by: Alison Dominitz

Lady Gaga – “911” – Interscope Records – Art Direction by: Tom Foden, Peter Andrus

Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records – Art Direction by: John Richoux

Saweetie featuring Doja Cat – “Best Friend” – Warner Records – Art Direction by: Alec Contestabile*

Taylor Swift – “willow” – Republic Records – Art Direction by: Ethan Tobman, Regina Fernandez

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Bella Poarch – “Build a Bitch” – Warner Records – Visual Effects by: Andrew Donoho, Denhov Visuals, Denis Strahhov, Rein Jakobson, Vahur Kuusk, Tatjana Pavlik, Yekaterina Vetrova

Coldplay – “Higher Power” – Atlantic Records – Visual Effects by: Mathematic

Doja Cat & The Weeknd – “You Right” – Kemosabe Records / RCA Records – Visual Effects by: La Pac, Anthony Lestremau, Julien Missaire, Petr Shkolniy, Alexi Bailla, Micha Sher, Antoine Hache, Mikros MPC, Nicolas Huget, Guillaume Ho Tsong Fang, Benjamin Lenfant, Stephane Pivron, MPC Bangalore, Chanakya Chander, Raju Ganesh, David Rouxel

Glass Animals – “Tangerine” – Republic Records – Visual Effects by: Ronan Fourreau

Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records – Visual Effects by: Mathematic*

Pink – “All I Know So Far” – RCA Records – Visual Effects by: BUF, VFX Supervisors: Dominique Vidal & Geoffrey Niquet, VFX Producers: Annabelle Zoellin & Camille Gibrat

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Ariana Grande – “34+35” – Republic Records – Choreography by: Brian Nicholson & Scott Nicholson

BTS – “Butter” – BIGHIT Music – Choreography by: Son Sung Deuk With BHM Performance Directing Team

Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits” – Atlantic Records – Choreography by: Natricia Bernard

Foo Fighters – “Shame Shame” – Roswell Records / RCA Records – Choreography by: Nina McNeely

Harry Styles – “Treat People With Kindness” – Columbia Records – Choreography by: Paul Roberts*

Marshmello & Halsey – “Be Kind” – Astralwerks / Capitol Records – Choreography by: Dani Vitale

BEST EDITING

Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open” – Aftermath Entertainment/Atlantic Records – Editing by: Troy Charbonnet*

BTS – “Butter” – BIGHIT Music– Editing by: Yong Seok Choi from Lumpens

Drake – “What’s Next” – OVO/Republic Records – Editing by: Noah Kendal

Harry Styles – “Treat People With Kindness” – Columbia Records  –  Editing by: Claudia Wass

Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar, Giveon – “Peaches” – Def Jam  –  Editing by: Mark Mayr, Vinnie Hobbs

Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa – “Prisoner” – RCA Records

2021 MTV Video Music Awards: Justin Bieber is the top nominee

August 11, 2021

Justin Bieber (Photo courtesy of ABC/CMA)

The following is a press release from MTV:

MTV today unveiled the nominations for the 2021 “VMAs,” featuring artists whose cultural impact and work over the past year has transformed the music industry and created global conversation. Justin Bieber (9), Megan Thee Stallion, BTS and Giveon (7 each) lead this year’s nominations, closely followed by Billie Eilish, Doja Cat, Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo and Cardi B (6 each) and Drake and Dua Lipa (5 each).

The 2021 “VMAs” return to New York City airing LIVE from Barclays Center on Sunday, September 12 at 8PM ET/PT, airing across MTV’s global footprint of linear and digital platforms in 180 countries and territories, reaching nearly 400 million households in nearly 30 different languages. The show will simulcast across CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Pop, TV Land, VH1 and The CW Network, making the show available to an expanded broadcast audience for the second consecutive year.

Beginning today, fans can vote for their favorites across 14 gender-neutral categories, including “Video of the Year,” “Artist of the Year,” “Best Collaboration” and more by visiting vma.mtv.com through Friday, September 3, 2021 – thanks to Burger King®, the presenter of this year’s award voting. Voting for “Best New Artist,” Presented by Facebook, will remain active into the show on Sunday, September 12, 2021. Nominations for social categories including “Best Group” and “Song of Summer” will be announced at a later date.

Today, MTV partnered with Marlene Marmolejos (@motionmami), Aja Walton (@ajackdannie), and Fred Sands IV (@IVormerlyknownas) to announce marquee show categories including “Video of the Year,” “Song of the Year” and “Artist of the Year” through each of their diverse mediums; from digital art to nail art.

The “VMAs” are set to be one of the first fan-filled awards shows in NYC since the city’s reopening. The health and safety of artists, fans, staff and partners remain the number one priority, and MTV and Barclays Center are working closely with state and local officials to implement best practices in order to safely bring together music fans from around the globe. Barclays Center’s current health and safety protocols can be found here. Any additional protocols will be announced closer to the event.

COMPLETE LIST OF 2021 NOMINEES:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR 

Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP” – Atlantic Records

DJ Khaled featuring Drake – “POPSTAR” (Starring Justin Bieber) – OVO / We The Best / Epic Records

Doja Cat featuring SZA – “Kiss Me More” – Kemosabe Records / RCA Records

Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits” – Atlantic Records

Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records

The Weeknd – “Save Your Tears” – XO / Republic Records

ARTIST OF THE YEAR 

Ariana Grande – Republic Records

Doja Cat – Kemosabe Records / RCA Records

Justin Bieber – Def Jam

Megan Thee Stallion – 300 Entertainment

Olivia Rodrigo – Geffen Records

Taylor Swift – Republic Records

SONG OF THE YEAR 

24kGoldn featuring iann dior – “Mood” – Records LLC / Columbia Records

Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open” – Aftermath Entertainment / Atlantic Records

BTS – “Dynamite” – BIGHIT Music

Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP” – Atlantic Records

Dua Lipa – “Levitating” – Warner Records

Olivia Rodrigo – “Drivers License” – Geffen Records

BEST NEW ARTIST, Presented by Facebook 

24kGoldn – Records LLC / Columbia Records

Giveon – Epic Records / Not So Fast

The Kid Laroi – Columbia Records

Olivia Rodrigo – Geffen Records

Polo G – Columbia Records

Saweetie – Warner Records

PUSH PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

September 2020: Wallows – “Are You Bored Yet?” – Atlantic Records

October 2020: Ashnikko – “Daisy” – Warner Records

November 2020: Saint Jhn – “Gorgeous” – Godd Complexx / HITCO

December 2020: 24kGoldn – “Coco” – Records LLC / Columbia Records

January 2021: JC Stewart – “Break My Heart” – Elektra Music Group

February 2021: Latto – “Sex Lies” – RCA Records

March 2021: Madison Beer – “Selfish” – Epic Records / Sing It Loud

April 2021: The Kid Laroi – “Without You” – Columbia Records

May 2021: Olivia Rodrigo – “Drivers License” – Geffen Records

June 2021: Girl in Red “Serotonin” – World in Red / AWAL

July 2021: Fousheé – “My Slime” – RCA Records

August 2021: jxdn – “Think About Me” – DTA Records / Elektra Music Group

BEST COLLABORATION

24kGoldn featuring Iann Dior – “Mood” – Records LLC / Columbia Records

Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP” – Atlantic Records

Doja Cat featuring SZA – “Kiss Me More” – Kemosabe Records / RCA Records

Drake featuring Lil Durk – “Laugh Now Cry Later” – OVO / Republic Records

Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar, Giveon – “Peaches” – Def Jam

Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa – “Prisoner” – RCA Records

BEST POP

Ariana Grande – “Positions” – Republic Records

Billie Eilish – “Therefore I Am” – Darkroom / Interscope Records

BTS – “Butter” – BIGHIT Music

Harry Styles – “Treat People With Kindness” – Columbia Records

Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar, Giveon – “Peaches” – Def Jam

Olivia Rodrigo – “Good 4 U” – Geffen Records

Shawn Mendes – “Wonder” – Island Records

Taylor Swift – “Willow” – Republic Records

BEST HIP-HOP

Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP” – Atlantic Records

Drake featuring Lil Durk – “Laugh Now Cry Later” – OVO / Republic Records

Lil Baby featuring Megan Thee Stallion – “On Me (remix)” – Quality Control / Motown

Moneybagg Yo – “Said Sum” – N-Less Entertainment / Interscope Records

Polo G – “Rapstar” – Columbia Records

Travis Scott featuring Young Thug & M.I.A. – “Franchise” – Cactus Jack / Epic Records

BEST ROCK

Evanescence – “Use My Voice” – BMG

Foo Fighters – “Shame Shame” – Roswell Records / RCA Records

John Mayer – “Last Train Home” – Columbia Records

The Killers – “My Own Soul’s Warning” – Island

Kings Of Leon – “The Bandit” – RCA Records

Lenny Kravitz – “Raise Vibration” – Roxie Records / BMG

BEST ALTERNATIVE

Bleachers – “Stop Making This Hurt” – RCA Records

Glass Animals – “Heat Waves” – Republic Records

Imagine Dragons – “Follow You” – KidinaKorner / Interscope Records

Machine Gun Kelly featuring blackbear – “My Ex’s Best Friend” – Bad Boy / Interscope Records

Twenty One Pilots – “Shy Away” – Fueled By Ramen

Willow featuring Travis Barker – “Transparentsoul” – MSFTSMusic / Roc Nation

BEST LATIN

Bad Bunny x Jhay Cortez – “Dákiti” – The Orchard

Billie Eilish & ROSALÍA – “Lo Vas A Olvidar” – Darkroom / Interscope Records

Black Eyed Peas and Shakira – “Girl Like Me” – Epic Records

Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, Tainy – “Un Dia (One Day)” – Universal Music Latino / NEON16 

Karol G – “Bichota” – Universal Music Latino

Maluma – “Hawái” – Sony Music US Latin

BEST R&B

Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, Saint Jhn WizKid – “Brown Skin Girl – Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records

Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open” – Aftermath Entertainment / Atlantic Records

Chris Brown and Young Thug – “Go Crazy” – Chris Brown Entertainment/RCA Records

Giveon – “Heartbreak Anniversary” – Epic Records / Not So Fast

H.E.R. featuring Chris Brown – “Come Through” – MBK Entertainment / RCA Records

SZA – “Good Days” – Top Dawg Entertainment / RCA Records

BEST K-POP

(G)I-DLE – “Dumbdi Dumbdi” – Republic Records

Blacpink and Selena Gomez – “Ice Cream” – YG Entertainment / Interscope Records

BTS – “Butter” – BIGHIT Music Monsta X – “Gambler” – Starship Entertainment

Seventeen – “Ready to Love” – Pledis Entertainment

Twice– “Alcohol-Free” – JYP Entertainment Company

VIDEO FOR GOOD 

Billie Eilish – “Your Power” – Darkroom / Interscope Records

Demi Lovato – “Dancing With The Devil” – Island

H.E.R. – “Fight For You” – MBK Entertainment / RCA Records

Kane Brown – “Worldwide Beautiful” – Sony Music Nashville / RCA Records

Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records

Pharrell Williams featuring JAY-Z – “Entrepreneur” – Columbia Records

BEST DIRECTION

Billie Eilish – “Your Power” – Darkroom / Interscope Records – Directed by: Billie Eilish

DJ Khaled featuring Drake – “Popstar (Starring Justin Bieber)” – OVO / We The Best / Epic Records – Directed by: Julien Christian Lutz aka Director X

Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records – Directed by: Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino

Taylor Swift – “Willow” – Republic Records – Directed by: Taylor Swift

Travis Scott featuring Young Thug & M.I.A – “Franchise” – Cactus Jack / Epic Records – Directed by: Travis Scott

Tyler, The Creator – “Lumberjack” – Columbia Records – Directed by: Wolf Haley

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, Saint Jhn, WizKid – “Brown Skin Girl” – Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records – Cinematography by: Benoit Soler, Malik H. Sayeed, Mohammaed Atta Ahmed, Santiago Gonzalez, Ryan Helfant

Billie Eilish – “Therefore I Am” – Darkroom / Interscope Records – Cinematography by: Rob Witt

Foo Fighters – “Shame Shame” – Roswell Records / RCA Records – Cinematography by: Santiago Gonzalez

Justin Bieber featuring Chance The Rapper – “Holy” – RBMG/Def Jam – Cinematography by: Elias Talbot

Lady Gaga – “911” – Interscope Records – Cinematography by: Jeff Cronenweth

Lorde – “Solar Power” – Republic Records – Cinematography by: Andrew Stroud

BEST ART DIRECTION

Beyoncé, Shatta Wale, Major Lazer – “Already” – Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records – Art Direction by: Susan Linns, Gerard Santos

Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits” – Atlantic Records – Art Direction by: Alison Dominitz

Lady Gaga – “911” – Interscope Records – Art Direction by: Tom Foden, Peter Andrus

Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records – Art Direction by: John Richoux

Saweetie featuring Doja Cat – “Best Friend” – Warner Records – Art Direction by: Alec Contestabile

Taylor Swift – “willow” – Republic Records – Art Direction by: Ethan Tobman, Regina Fernandez

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Bella Poarch – “Build a Bitch” – Warner Records – Visual Effects by: Andrew Donoho, Denhov Visuals, Denis Strahhov, Rein Jakobson, Vahur Kuusk, Tatjana Pavlik, Yekaterina Vetrova

Coldplay – “Higher Power” – Atlantic Records – Visual Effects by: Mathematic

Doja Cat & The Weeknd – “You Right” – Kemosabe Records / RCA Records – Visual Effects by: La Pac, Anthony Lestremau, Julien Missaire, Petr Shkolniy, Alexi Bailla, Micha Sher, Antoine Hache, Mikros MPC, Nicolas Huget, Guillaume Ho Tsong Fang, Benjamin Lenfant, Stephane Pivron, MPC Bangalore, Chanakya Chander, Raju Ganesh, David Rouxel

Glass Animals – “Tangerine” – Republic Records – Visual Effects by: Ronan Fourreau

Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records – Visual Effects by: Mathematic

Pink – “All I Know So Far” – RCA Records – Visual Effects by: BUF, VFX Supervisors: Dominique Vidal & Geoffrey Niquet, VFX Producers: Annabelle Zoellin & Camille Gibrat

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Ariana Grande – “34+35” – Republic Records – Choreography by: Brian Nicholson & Scott Nicholson

BTS – “Butter” – BIGHIT Music – Choreography by: Son Sung Deuk With BHM Performance Directing Team

Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits” – Atlantic Records – Choreography by: Natricia Bernard

Foo Fighters – “Shame Shame” – Roswell Records / RCA Records – Choreography by: Nina McNeely

Harry Styles – “Treat People With Kindness” – Columbia Records – Choreography by: Paul Roberts

Marshmello & Halsey – “Be Kind” – Astralwerks / Capitol Records – Choreography by: Dani Vitale

BEST EDITING

Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open” – Aftermath Entertainment/Atlantic Records – Editing by: Troy Charbonnet

BTS – “Butter” – BIGHIT Music– Editing by: Yong Seok Choi from Lumpens

Drake – “What’s Next” – OVO/Republic Records – Editing by: Noah Kendal

Harry Styles – “Treat People With Kindness” – Columbia Records  –  Editing by: Claudia Wass

Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar, Giveon – “Peaches” – Def Jam  –  Editing by: Mark Mayr, Vinnie Hobbs

Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa – “Prisoner” – RCA Records

LIST OF NOMINATIONS BY ARTIST 

Justin Bieber – 9 Nominations

Video of the Year: “POPSTAR” (Starring Justin Bieber)

Artist of the Year

Best Pop: “Peaches”

Best Collaboration: “Peaches”

Best Direction: “POPSTAR” (Starring Justin Bieber)

Best Cinematography: “Holy”

Best Editing: “Peaches”

Song of Summer: “Peaches”

Song of Summer: “Stay”

Megan Thee Stallion – 7 Nominations 

Video of the Year: “WAP”

Artist of the Year

Song of the Year: “WAP”

Best Collaboration: “WAP”

Best Hip-Hop: “WAP”

Best Hip-Hop: “On Me (The Remix)”

Song Of Summer: “Thot Shit”

BTS – 7 Nominations 

Song of the Year: “Dynamite”

Best Pop: “Butter”

Best K-Pop: “Butter”

Best Choreography: “Butter”

Best Editing: “Butter”

Group Of The Year

Song Of Summer: “Butter”

Giveon – 7 Nominations 

Best New Artist

Best Collaboration: “Peaches”

Best Pop: “Peaches”

Best R&B: “HEARTBREAK ANNIVERSARY”

Best Editing: “Peaches”

Song Of Summer: “Peaches”

Song of Summer: “HEARTBREAK ANNIVERSARY”

Billie Eilish – 6 Nominations

Best Pop: “Therefore I Am”

Best Latin: “Lo Vas A Olvidar”

Video For Good: “Your Power”

Best Direction: “Your Power”

Best Cinematography: “Therefore I Am”

Song of Summer: “Happier Than Ever”

Doja Cat – 6 Nominations 

Video of the Year: “Kiss Me More”

Artist of the Year

Best Collaboration: “Kiss Me More”

Best Art Direction: “Best Friend”

Best Visual Effects: “Best Friend”

Song of Summer: “Need to Know”

Lil Nas X – 6 Nominations 

Video of the Year: “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”

Video For Good: “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”

Best Direction: “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”

Best Art Direction: “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”

Best Visual Effects: “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”

Song of Summer: “Industry Baby”

Olivia Rodrigo – 6 Nominations 

Artist of the Year

Song of the Year: “drivers license”

Best New Artist Push

Performance of the Year: “drivers license”

Best Pop: “good 4 u”

Song of Summer: “good 4 u”

Cardi B – 6 Nominations

Video of the Year: “WAP”

Song of the Year: “WAP”

Best Collaboration: “WAP”

Best Hip-Hop: “WAP”

Song of Summer: “Rumors”

Song of Summer: “Wild Side”

Drake – 5 Nominations

Video of the Year – “POPSTAR” (Starring Justin Bieber)

Best Collaboration – “Laugh Now Cry Later”

Best Hip-Hop: “Laugh Now Cry Later”

Best Direction: “POPSTAR (Starring Justin Bieber)”

Best Editing: “What’s Next”

Dua Lipa – 5 Nominations 

Song of the Year: “Levitating”

Best Collaboration: “Prisoner”

Best Latin: Una Dia

Best Editing: “Prisoner”

Song of Summer: “Levitating”

24kGoldn – 4 Nominations 

Song of the Year: “Mood”

Best New Artist: “Mood”

Push Performance of the Year: “Coco”

Best Collaboration: “Mood”

Taylor Swift – 4 Nominations 

Artist of the Year

Best Pop: “willow”

Best Direction: “willow”

Best Art Direction: “willow”

Anderson .Paak – 4 Nominations 

Song of the Year: “Leave The Door Open”

Best R&B: “Leave The Door Open”

Best Editing: “Leave The Door Open”

Group of The Year: Silk Sonic

Bruno Mars – 4 Nominations 

Song of the Year: “Leave The Door Open”

Best R&B: “Leave The Door Open”

Best Editing: “Leave The Door Open”

Group of The Year: Silk Sonic

Ed Sheeran – 4 Nominations 

Video of the Year: “Bad Habits”

Best Art Direction: “Bad Habits”

Best Choreography: “Bad Habits”

Song of Summer: “Bad Habits”

Foo Fighters – 4 Nominations 

Best Rock: “Shame Shame”

Best Choreography: “Shame Shame”

Best Cinematography: “Shame Shame”

Best Group

Ariana Grande – 3 Nominations

Artist of the Year

Best Pop: “positions”

Best Choreography: “34+35”

Beyoncé – 3 Nominations 

Best R&B: “BROWN SKIN GIRL”

Best Cinematography: “BROWN SKIN GIRL”

Best Art Direction: “ALREADY”

SZA – 3 Nominations 

Video of the Year: “Kiss Me More”

Best Collaboration: “Kiss Me More”

Best R&B: “Good Days”

As previously announced, MTV is collaborating with 9/11 Day, the nonprofit that began and leads the federally recognized September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, for a series of service-oriented activities during the week leading up to the VMAs, promoting awareness and positive action in observance of the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Additional details to be announced.

Official sponsors of the 2021 MTV VMAs include: Burger King®, Clearblue® Pregnancy Tests, Coors Light, Doritos®, EXTRA® Gum, Facebook and Toyota Motor North America.

Bruce Gillmer and Den of Thieves co-founder Jesse Ignjatovic are Executive Producers for the 2021 “VMAs.” Barb Bialkowski is Co-Executive Producer. Alicia Portugal and Jackie Barba serve as Executives in Charge of Production. Wendy Plaut is Executive in Charge of Celebrity Talent. Lisa Lauricella is Music Talent Executive.

Follow @MTV and @VMAs on social to keep up with all-things #VMAs.

2021 Grammy Awards: Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Beyoncé among the top winners

March 14, 2021

by Carla Hay

Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Beyoncé were among the top winners at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, which were presented in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. The show was originally scheduled to take place at the Staples Center, but due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions, performances were held inside an unnamed alternate building, while the awards were given at an outside location directly across from the Staples Center. Trevor Noah hosted the show, which was televised in the U.S. on CBS and Paramount+.

Swift won Album of the Year for “Folklore,” and she became the first artist in Grammy history to win three Grammys for Album of the Year. It was the only award that she won at the 2021 Grammy ceremony. Swift previously won Grammys for Album of the Year for 2008’s “Fearless” and 2014’s “1989.”

Eilish received two prizes at the 2021 Grammy Awards: Record of the Year (for “Everything I Wanted”) and Best Song Written for Visual Media (for “No Time to Die”). These wins came a year after Eilish swept all four of the General Field categories (Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist) at the 2020 Grammy Awards.

Beyoncé had the most nominations (nine) at the 2021 Grammy Awards. She ended up winning four: “Black Parade” won for Best R&B Performance; “Brown Skin Girl” won for Best Music Video/Film (an award she shares with her daughter Blue Ivy and rapper WizKid); and as a featured artist and co-writer on Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage,” Beyoncé won for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. Beyoncé’s Grammy haul brought her total to 28 Grammys in her career so far. Beyoncé now holds the record as the female artist with the most Grammys, breaking the previous record held by Alison Krauss, who has 27 Grammys.

Other winners in major categories included H.E.R.’s “I Can’t Breathe” (Song of the Year); Megan Thee Stallion (Best New Artist); Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” (Best Pop Vocal Album); Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar” (Best Pop Vocal Performance); and Lady Gaga With Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me” (Best Pop/Duo Vocal Performance).

The performers at the 2021 Grammy Awards included Bad Bunny, Black Pumas, Cardi B, BTS, Brandi Carlile, DaBaby, Doja Cat, Eilish, Mickey Guyton, Haim, Brittany Howard, Miranda Lambert, Lil Baby, Lipa, Chris Martin, John Mayer, Megan Thee Stallion, Maren Morris, Post Malone, Bruno Mars, Roddy Ricch, Styles and Swift.

The Grammy nominations and awards are voted for by the Recording Academy. The 2021 Grammy Awards ceremony was produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy. Ben Winston was executive producer, Jesse Collins and Raj Kapoor were co-executive producers; and Fatima Robinson, Josie Cliff and David Wild were producers, Patrick Menton was talent producer, and Hamish Hamilton was director.

Here is the complete list of winners and nominations for the 2021 Grammy Awards:

*=winner

General Field

Record of the Year

“Black Parade” — Beyoncé — Beyoncé & Derek Dixie, producers; Stuart White, engineer/mixer; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer

“Colors” — Black Pumas — Adrian Quesada, producer; Adrian Quesada, engineer/mixer; JJ Golden, mastering engineer

“Rockstar” —DaBaby Featuring Roddy Ricch — SethinTheKitchen, producer; Derek “MixedByAli” Ali, Chris Dennis & Liz Robson, engineers/mixers; Susan Tabor, mastering engineer

“Say So” — Doja Cat — Tyson Trax, producer; Clint Gibbs, engineer/mixer; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer

“Everything I Wanted” — Billie Eilish — Finneas O’Connell, producer; Rob Kinelski & Finneas O’Connell, engineers/mixers; John Greenham, mastering engineer*

“Don’t Start Now” — Dua Lipa — Caroline Ailin & Ian Kirkpatrick, producers; Josh Gudwin, Drew Jurecka & Ian Kirkpatrick, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer

“Circles” — Post Malone — Louis Bell, Frank Dukes & Post Malone, producers; Louis Bell & Manny Marroquin, engineers/mixers; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer

“Savage” — Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé — Beyoncé & J. White Did It, producers; Stuart White, engineer/mixer; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer

Album of the Year

“Chilombo” — Jhené Aiko — Fisticuffs & Julian-Quán Việt Lê, producers; Fisticuffs, Julian-Quán Việt Lê, Zeke Mishanec, Christian Plata & Gregg Rominiecki, engineers/mixers; Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo, Julian-Quán Việt Lê, Maclean Robinson & Brian Keith Warfield, songwriters; Dave Kutch, mastering engineer

“Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition)” — Black Pumas — Jon Kaplan & Adrian Quesada, producers; Adrian Quesada, Jacob Sciba, Stuart Sikes & Erik Wofford, engineers/mixers; Eric Burton & Adrian Quesada, songwriters; JJ Golden, mastering engineer

“Everyday Life” — Coldplay — Daniel Green, Bill Rahko & Rik Simpson, producers; Mark “Spike” Stent, engineer/mixer; Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion & Chris Martin, songwriters; Emily Lazar, mastering engineer

“Djesse Vol.3” — Jacob Collier — Jacob Collier, producer; Ben Bloomberg & Jacob Collier, engineers/mixers; Jacob Collier, songwriter; Chris Allgood & Emily Lazar, mastering engineers

“Women in Music Pt. III” — HAIM — Rostam Batmanglij, Danielle Haim & Ariel Rechtshaid, producers; Rostam Batmanglij, Jasmine Chen, John DeBold, Matt DiMona, Tom Elmhirst, Joey Messina-Doerning & Ariel Rechtshaid, engineers/mixers; Rostam Batmanglij, Alana Haim, Danielle Haim, Este Haim & Ariel Rechtshaid, songwriters; Emily Lazar, mastering engineer

“Future Nostalgia” — Dua Lipa — Koz, producer; Josh Gudwin & Cameron Gower Poole, engineers/mixers; Clarence Coffee Jr. & Dua Lipa, songwriters; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer

“Hollywood’s Bleeding” — Post Malone — Louis Bell & Frank Dukes, producers; Louis Bell & Manny Marroquin, engineers/mixers; Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Austin Post & Billy Walsh, songwriters; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer

“Folklore” — Taylor Swift — Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, producers; Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner, Serban Ghenea, John Hanes, Jonathan Low & Laura Sisk, engineers/mixers; Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer*

Song of the Year

“Black Parade” — Denisia Andrews, Beyoncé, Stephen Bray, Shawn Carter, Brittany Coney, Derek James Dixie, Akil King, Kim “Kaydence” Krysiuk & Rickie “Caso” Tice, songwriters (Beyoncé)

“The Box” — Samuel Gloade & Rodrick Moore, songwriters (Roddy Ricch)

“Cardigan” — Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

Circles Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Kaan Gunesberk, Austin Post & Billy Walsh, songwriters (Post Malone)

“Don’t Start Now” — Caroline Ailin, Ian Kirkpatrick, Dua Lipa & Emily Warren, songwriters (Dua Lipa)

“Everything I Wanted” — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

“I Can’t Breathe” — Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)*

“If the World Was Ending” — Julia Michaels & JP Saxe, songwriters (JP Saxe Featuring Julia Michaels)

Best New Artist

Ingrid Andress

Phoebe Bridgers

Chika

Noah Cyrus

D Smoke

Doja Cat

Kaytranada

Megan Thee Stallion*

Field 1 – Pop

Best Pop Solo Performance

“Yummy” — Justin Bieber

“Say So” — Doja Cat

“Everything I Wanted” — Billie Eilish

“Don’t Start Now” — Dua Lipa

“Watermelon Sugar” — Harry Styles*

“Cardigan” — Taylor Swift

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

“Un Dia (One Day)” J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny & Tainy

“Intentions” — Justin Bieber Featuring Quavo

“Dynamite” — BTS

“Rain on Me” — Lady Gaga With Ariana Grande*

“Exile” — Taylor Swift Featuring Bon Iver

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

“Blue Umbrella” — Burt Bacharach & Daniel Tashian

“True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter” — Harry Connick, Jr.

“American Standard” — James Taylor*

“Unfollow the Rules” — Rufus Wainwright

“Judy” — Renée Zellweger

Best Pop Vocal Album

“Changes” — Justin Bieber

“Chromatica” — Lady Gaga

“Future Nostalgia” — Dua Lipa*

“Fine Line” — Harry Styles

“Folklore” — Taylor Swift

Field 2 – Dance/Electronic Music

Best Dance Recording

“On My Mind” — Diplo & Sidepiece

“My High” — Disclosure Featuring Aminé & Slowthai

“The Difference” — Flume Featuring Toro Y Moi

“Both of Us” — Jayda G

“10%” — Kaytranada Featuring Kali Uchis*

Best Dance/Electronic Album

“Kick” — I Arca

“Planet’s Mad” — Baauer

“Energy” — Disclosure

“Bubba” — Kaytranada*

“Good Faith” — Madeon

Field 3 – Contemporary Instrumental Music

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

“Axiom” — Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah

“Chronology of a Dream: Live At The Village Vanguard” — Jon Batiste

“Take the Stairs” — Black Violin

“Americana Grégoire” — Maret, Romain Collin & Bill Frisell

“Live at the Royal Albert Hall” — Snarky Puppy*

Field 4 – Rock

Best Rock Performance

“Shameika” — Fiona Apple*

“Not” — Big Thief

“Kyoto” — Phoebe Bridgers

“The Steps” — HAIM

“Stay High” — Brittany Howard

“Daylight” — Grace Potter

Best Metal Performance

“Bum-Rush” — Body Count*

“Underneath” — Code Orange

“The In-Between” — In This Moment

“Bloodmoney” — Poppy

“Executioner’s Tax (Swing Of The Axe) – Live” — Power Trip

Best Rock Album

“A Hero’s Death” — Fontaines D.C.

“Kiwanuka” — Michael Kiwanuka

“Daylight” — Grace Potter

“Sound & Fury” — Sturgill Simpson

“The New Abnormal” — The Strokes*

Best Rock Song

“Kyoto” — Phoebe Bridgers, Morgan Nagler & Marshall Vore, Songwriters (Phoebe Bridgers)

“Lost in Yesterday” — Kevin Parker, Songwriter (Tame Impala)

“Not” — Adrianne Lenker, Songwriter (Big Thief)

“Shameika” — Fiona Apple, Songwriter (Fiona Apple)

“Stay High” — Brittany Howard, songwriter (Brittany Howard)*

Field 5 – Alternative

Best Alternative Music Album

“Fetch the Bolt Cutters” — Fiona Apple*

“Hyperspace” — Beck

“Punisher” — Phoebe Bridgers

“Jaime” — Brittany Howard

“The Slow Rush” — Tame Impala

Field 6 – R&B

Best R&B Performance

“Lightning & Thunder” — Jhené Aiko Featuring John Legend

“Black Parade” — Beyoncé*

“All I Need” — Jacob Collier Featuring Mahalia & Ty Dolla $Ign

“Goat Head” — Brittany Howard

“See Me” — Emily King

Best Traditional R&B Performance

“Sit On Down” — The Baylor Project Featuring Jean Baylor & Marcus Baylor

“Wonder What She Thinks of Me” — Chloe X Halle

“Let Me Go” — Mykal Kilgore

“Anything For You” — Ledisi*

“Distance” — Yebba

Best Progressive R&B Album

“Chilombo” — Jhené Aiko

“Ungodly Hour” — Chloe X Halle

“Free Nationals” — Free Nationals

“F*** Yo Feelings” — Robert Glasper

“It Is What It Is” — Thundercat*

Best R&B Song

“Better Than I Imagine” — Robert Glasper, Meshell Ndegeocello & Gabriella Wilson, songwriters (Robert Glasper Featuring H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello)*

“Black Parade” — Denisia Andrews, Beyoncé, Stephen Bray, Shawn Carter, Brittany Coney, Derek James Dixie, Akil King, Kim “Kaydence” Krysiuk & Rickie “Caso” Tice, songwriters (Beyoncé)

“Collide” — Sam Barsh, Stacey Barthe, Sonyae Elise, Olu Fann, Akil King, Josh Lopez, Kaveh Rastegar & Benedetto Rotondi, songwriters (Tiana Major9 & Earthgang)

“Do It” — Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, Anton Kuhl, Victoria Monét, Scott Storch & Vincent Van Den Ende, songwriters (Chloe X Halle)

“Slow Down” — Nasri Atweh, Badriia Bourelly, Skip Marley, Ryan Williamson & Gabriella Wilson, songwriters (Skip Marley & H.E.R.)

Best R&B Album

“Happy 2 Be Here” — Ant Clemons

“Take Time” — Giveon

“Bigger Love” — John Legend*

“To Feel Love/D” — Luke James

“All Rise” — Gregory Porter

Field 7 – Rap

Best Rap Performance

“Deep Reverence” — Big Sean Featuring Nipsey Hussle

“Bop” — Dababy

“What’s Poppin” — Jack Harlow

“The Bigger Picture” — Lil Baby

“Savage” — Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé*

“Dior” — Pop Smoke

Best Melodic Rap Performance

“Rockstar” — Dababy Featuring Roddy Ricch

“Laugh Now, Cry Later” — Drake Featuring Lil Durk

“Lockdown” — Anderson .Paak*

“The Box” — Roddy Ricch

“Highest in the Room” — Travis Scott

Best Rap Album

“Black Habits” — D Smoke

“Alfredo” — Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist

“A Written Testimony” — Jay Electronica

“King’s Disease” — Nas*

“The Allegory Royce” — Da 5’9″

Best Rap Song

“The Bigger Picture” — Dominique Jones, Noah Pettigrew & Rai’shaun Williams, Songwriters (Lil Baby)

“The Box” — Samuel Gloade & Rodrick Moore, Songwriters (Roddy Ricch)

“Laugh Now, Cry Later” — Durk Banks, Rogét Chahayed, Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Ron Latour & Ryan Martinez, Songwriters (Drake Featuring Lil Durk)

“Rockstar” — Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, Ross Joseph Portaro Iv & Rodrick Moore, Songwriters (Dababy Featuring Roddy Ricch)

“Savage” — Beyoncé, Shawn Carter, Brittany Hazzard, Derrick Milano, Terius Nash, Megan Pete, Bobby Session Jr., Jordan Kyle Lanier Thorpe & Anthony White, songwriters (Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé)*

Field 8 – Country

Best Country Solo Performance

“Stick That In Your Country Song” — Eric Church

“Who You Thought I Was” — Brandy Clark

“When My Amy Prays” — Vince Gill*

“Black Like Me” — Mickey Guyton

“Bluebird” — Miranda Lambert

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

“All Night” — Brothers Osborne

“10,000 Hours” — Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber*

“Ocean” — Lady A

“Sugar Coat” — Little Big Town

“Some People Do” — Old Dominion

Best Country Album

“Lady Like” — Ingrid Andress

“Your Life Is a Record” — Brandy Clark

“Wildcard” — Miranda Lambert*

“Nightfall” — Little Big Town

“Never Will” — Ashley McBryde

Best Country Song

“Bluebird” — Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby & Miranda Lambert, Songwriters (Miranda Lambert)

“The Bones” — Maren Morris, Jimmy Robbins & Laura Veltz, Songwriters (Maren Morris)

“Crowded Table” — Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby & Lori McKenna, Songwriters (The Highwomen)*

“More Hearts Than Mine” — Ingrid Andress, Sam Ellis & Derrick Southerland, Songwriters (Ingrid Andress)

“Some People Do” — Jesse Frasure, Shane McAnally, Matthew Ramsey & Thomas Rhett, songwriters (Old Dominion)

Field 9 – New Age

Best New Age Album

“Songs From the Bardo” — Laurie Anderson, Tenzin Choegyal & Jesse Paris Smith

“Periphery” — Priya Darshini

“Form//Less” — Superposition

“More Guitar Stories” — Jim “Kimo” West*

“Meditations” — Cory Wong & Jon Batiste

Field 10 – Jazz

Best Jazz Vocal Album

“Ona” — Thana Alexa

“Secrets Are the Best Stories” — Kurt Elling Featuring Danilo Pérez*

“Modern Ancestors” — Carmen Lundy

“Holy Room: Live at Alte Oper” — Somi With Frankfurt Radio Big Band

“What’s the Hurry” — Kenny Washington

Best Improvised Jazz Solo

“Guinevere” — Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah, Soloist Track From: Axiom

“Pachamama” — Regina Carter, Soloist Track From: Ona (Thana Alexa)

Celia Gerald Clayton, Soloist

“All Blues” — Chick Corea, Soloist Track From: Trilogy 2 (Chick Corea, Christian Mcbride & Brian Blade)*

“Moe Honk” — Joshua Redman, soloist Track from: RoundAgain (Redman Mehldau McBride Blade)

Best Jazz Instrumental Album

“On The Tender Spot Of Every Calloused Moment” — Ambrose Akinmusire

“Waiting Game” — Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science

“Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard” — Gerald Clayton

“Trilogy 2” — Chick Corea, Christian Mcbride & Brian Blade*

“Roundagain” — Redman Mehldau McBride Blade

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

“Dialogues on Race” — Gregg August

“Monk’estra Plays John Beasley” — John Beasley

“The Intangible Between” — Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band

“Songs You Like a Lot” — John Hollenbeck with Theo Bleckmann, Kate Mcgarry, Gary Versace and the Frankfurt Radio Big Band

“Data Lords” — Maria Schneider Orchestra*

Best Latin Jazz Album

“Tradiciones” — Afro-Peruvian Jazz Orchestra*

“Four Questions” — Arturo O’farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

“City of Dreams” — Chico Pinheiro

“Viento y Tiempo – Live at Blue Note Tokyo” — Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Aymée Nuviola

“Trane’s Delight” — Poncho Sanchez

Field 11 – Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music

Best Gospel Performance/Song

“Wonderful Is Your Name” — Melvin Crispell III

“Release (Live)” — Ricky Dillard Featuring Tiff Joy; David Frazier, songwriter “Come Together” — Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins Presents: The Good News; Lashawn Daniels, Rodney Jerkins, Lecrae Moore & Jazz Nixon, songwriters

“Won’t Let Go” — Travis Greene; Travis Greene, songwriter

“Movin’ On” — Jonathan McReynolds & Mali Music; Darryl L. Howell, Jonathan Caleb McReynolds, Kortney Jamaal Pollard & Terrell Demetrius Wilson, songwriters*

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song

“The Blessing (Live)” — Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes & Elevation Worship; Chris Brown, Cody Carnes, Kari Jobe Carnes & Steven Furtick, songwriters

“Sunday Morning” — Lecrae Featuring Kirk Franklin; Denisia Andrews, Jones Terrence Antonio, Saint Bodhi, Brittany Coney, Kirk Franklin, Lasanna Harris, Shama Joseph, Stuart Lowery, Lecrae Moore & Nathanael Saint-Fleur, songwriters “Holy Water” — We The Kingdom; Andrew Bergthold, Ed Cash, Franni Cash, Martin Cash & Scott Cash, songwriters

“Famous For (I Believe)” — Tauren Wells Featuring Jenn Johnson; Chuck Butler, Krissy Nordhoff, Jordan Sapp, Alexis Slifer & Tauren Wells, songwriters

“There Was Jesus” — Zach Williams & Dolly Parton; Casey Beathard, Jonathan Smith & Zach Williams, songwriters*

Best Gospel Album

“2econd Wind: Ready” — Anthony Brown & Group Therapy

“My Tribute” — Myron Butler

“Choirmaster” — Ricky Dillard

“Gospel According to PJ” — PJ Morton*

“Kierra” — Kierra Sheard

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album

“Run to the Father” — Cody Carnes

All of My Best Friends” — Hillsong Young & Free

“Holy Water” — We the Kingdom

“Citizen of Heaven” — Tauren Wells

“Jesus Is King” — Kanye West*

Best Roots Gospel Album

“Beautiful Day” — Mark Bishop

“20/20” — The Crabb Family

“What Christmas Really Means” — The Erwins

“Celebrating Fisk! (The 150th Anniversary Album)” — Fisk Jubilee Singers*

“Something Beautiful” — Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

Field 12 – Latin

Best Latin Pop or Urban Album

“YHLQMDLG” — Bad Bunny*

“Por Primera Vez” — Camilo

“Mesa Para Dos” — Kany García

“Pausa” — Ricky Martin

“3:33” — Debi Nova

Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album

“Aura” — Bajofondo

“Monstruo” — Cami

“Sobrevolando” — Cultura Profética

“La Conquista Del Espacio” — Fito Paez*

“Miss Colombia” — Lido Pimienta

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)

“Hecho En México” — Alejandro Fernández

“La Serenata” — Lupita Infante

“Un Canto Por México, Vol. 1” — Natalia Lafourcade*

“Bailando Sones Y Huapangos Con Mariachi Sol De Mexico De Jose Hernandez” — Mariachi Sol De Mexico De Jose Hernandez

“Ayayay!” — Christian Nodal

Best Tropical Latin Album

“Mi Tumbao” — José Alberto “El Ruiseñor”

“Infinito” — Edwin Bonilla

“Sigo Cantando Al Amor (Deluxe)” — Jorge Celedon & Sergio Luis

“40” — Grupo Niche*

“Memorias De Navidad” — Víctor Manuelle

Field 13 – American Roots Music

Best American Roots Performance

“Colors” — Black Pumas

“Deep in Love” — Bonny Light Horseman

“Short and Sweet” — Brittany Howard

“I’ll Be Gone” — Norah Jones & Mavis Staples

“I Remember Everything” — John Prine*

Best American Roots Song

“Cabin” — Laura Rogers & Lydia Rogers, songwriters (The Secret Sisters)

“Ceiling to the Floor” — Sierra Hull & Kai Welch, songwriters (Sierra Hull)

“Hometown” — Sarah Jarosz, songwriter (Sarah Jarosz)

“I Remember Everything” — Pat McLaughlin & John Prine, songwriters (John Prine)*

“Man Without a Soul” — Tom Overby & Lucinda Williams, songwriters (Lucinda Williams)

Best Americana Album

“Old Flowers” — Courtney Marie Andrews

“Terms of Surrender” — Hiss Golden Messenger

“World on the Ground” — Sarah Jarosz*

“El Dorado” — Marcus King

“Good Souls Better Angels” — Lucinda Williams

Best Bluegrass Album

“Man on Fire” — Danny Barnes

“To Live in Two Worlds, Vol. 1” — Thomm Jutz

“North Carolina Songbook” — Steep Canyon Rangers

“Home” — Billy Strings*

“The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol. 1” (Various Artists)

Best Traditional Blues Album

“All My Dues Are Paid” — Frank Bey

“You Make Me Feel” — Don Bryant

“That’s What I Heard” — Robert Cray Band

“Cypress Grove” — Jimmy “Duck” Holmes

“Rawer Than Raw” — Bobby Rush*

Best Contemporary Blues Album 

“Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?” — Fantastic Negrito*

“Live at the Paramount” — Ruthie Foster Big Band

“The Juice” — G. Love

“Blackbirds” — Bettye Lavette

“Up and Rolling” — North Mississippi Allstars

Best Folk Album

“Bonny Light Horseman” — Bonny Light Horseman

“Thanks for the Dance” — Leonard Cohen

“Song for Our Daughter” — Laura Marling

“Saturn Return” — The Secret Sisters

“All the Good Times” — Gillian Welch & David Rawlings*

Best Regional Roots Music Album

“My Relatives” — “Nikso Kowaiks” Black Lodge Singers

“Cameron Dupuy and the Cajun Troubadours” — Cameron Dupuy And The Cajun Troubadours

“Lovely Sunrise” — Nā Wai ʽehā

“Atmosphere” — New Orleans Nightcrawlers*

“A Tribute to Al Berard” — Sweet Cecilia

Field 14 – Reggae

Best Reggae Album

“Upside Down 2020” — Buju Banton

“Higher Place” — Skip Marley

“It All Comes Back to Love” — Maxi Priest

“Got to Be Tough” — Toots & the Maytals*

“One World” — The Wailers

Field 15 – Global Music

Best Global Music Album

“Fu Chronicles” — Antibalas

“Twice As Tall” — Burna Boy*

“Agora” — Bebel Gilberto

“Love Letters” — Anoushka Shankar

“Amadjar” — Tinariwen

Field 16 – Children’s

Best Children’s Music Album

“All the Ladies” — Joanie Leeds*

“Be a Pain: An Album for Young (and Old) Leaders” — Alastair Moock And Friends

“I’m an Optimist” — Dog On Fleas

“Songs for Singin’” — The Okee Dokee Brothers

“Wild Life” — Justin Roberts

Field 17 – Spoken Word

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling)

“Acid for the Children: A Memoir” — Flea

“Alex Trebek – The Answer Is…” — Ken Jennings

“Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth” — Rachel Maddow*

“Catch and Kill” — Ronan Farrow

“Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)” — Meryl Streep (& Full cast)

Field 18 – Comedy

Best Comedy Album

“Black Mitzvah” — Tiffany Haddish*

“I Love Everything” — Patton Oswalt

“The Pale Tourist” — Jim Gaffigan

“Paper Tiger” — Bill Burr

“23 Hours to Kill” — Jerry Seinfeld

Field 19 – Musical Theater

Best Musical Theater Album

“Amélie” — Audrey Brisson, Chris Jared, Caolan McCarthy & Jez Unwin, principal soloists; Michael Fentiman, Sean Patrick Flahaven, Barnaby Race & Nathan Tysen, producers; Nathan Tysen, lyricist; Daniel Messe, composer & lyricist (Original London Cast)

“American Utopia on Broadway” — David Byrne, principal soloist; David Byrne, producer (David Byrne, composer & lyricist) (Original Cast)

“Jagged Little Pill” — Kathryn Gallagher, Celia Rose Gooding, Lauren Patten & Elizabeth Stanley, principal soloists; Neal Avron, Pete Ganbarg, Tom Kitt, Michael Parker, Craig Rosen & Vivek J. Tiwary, producers (Glen Ballard & Alanis Morissette, lyricists) (Original Broadway Cast)*

“Little Shop of Horrors” — Tammy Blanchard, Jonathan Groff & Tom Alan Robbins, principal soloists; Will Van Dyke, Michael Mayer, Alan Menken & Frank Wolf, producers (Alan Menken, composer; Howard Ashman, lyricist) (The New Off-Broadway Cast)

“The Prince of Egypt” — Christine Allado, Luke Brady, Alexia Khadime & Liam Tamne, principal soloists; Dominick Amendum & Stephen Schwartz, producers; Stephen Schwartz, composer & lyricist (Original Cast)

“Soft Power” — Francis Jue, Austin Ku, Alyse Alan Louis & Conrad Ricamora, principal soloists; Matt Stine, producer; David Henry Hwang, lyricist; Jeanine Tesori, composer & lyricist (Original Cast)

Field 20 – Music for Visual Media

Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media

“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (Various Artists)

“Bill & Ted Face the Music” (Various Artists)

“Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga” (Various Artists)

“Frozen 2” (Various Artists)

“Jojo Rabbit” (Various Artists)*

Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media

“Ad Astra” — Max Richter, composer

“Becoming” — Kamasi Washington, composer

“Joker” — Hildur Guðnadóttir, composer*

“1917” — Thomas Newman, composer

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” — John Williams, composer

Best Song Written For Visual Media Category

“Beautiful Ghosts” (from “Cats”) — Andrew Lloyd Webber & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

“Carried Me With You” (from “Onward”) — Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)

“Into the Unknown” (from “Frozen 2”) — Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Idina Menzel & Aurora)

“No Time to Die” (from “No Time to Die”) — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas Baird O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)*

“Stand Up” (from “Harriet”) — Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo, songwriters (Cynthia Erivo)

Field 21 – Composing/Arranging

Best Instrumental Composition

“Baby Jack” — Arturo O’Farrill, composer (Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra)

“Be Water II” — Christian Sands, composer (Christian Sands)

“Plumfield” — Alexandre Desplat, composer (Alexandre Desplat)

“Sputnik” — Maria Schneider, composer (Maria Schneider)*

“Strata” — Remy Le Boeuf, composer (Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly Of Shadows Featuring Anna Webber & Eric Miller)

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella

“Bathroom Dance” — Hildur Guðnadóttir, arranger (Hildur Guðnadóttir)

“Donna Lee” — John Beasley, arranger (John Beasley)*

“Honeymooners” — Remy Le Boeuf, arranger (Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly of Shadows)

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” — Alvin Chea & Jarrett Johnson, Arrangers (Jarrett Johnson Featuring Alvin Chea)

“Uranus: The Magician” — Jeremy Levy, arranger (Jeremy Levy Jazz Orchestra)

Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals

“Asas Fechadas” — John Beasley & Maria Mendes, arrangers (Maria Mendes Featuring John Beasley & Orkest Metropole)

“Desert Song” — Erin Bentlage, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (Säje)

“From This Place” — Alan Broadbent & Pat Metheny, arrangers (Pat Metheny Featuring Meshell Ndegeocello)

“He Won’t Hold You” — Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier Featuring Rapsody)*

“Slow Burn” — Talia Billig, Nic Hard & Becca Stevens, arrangers (Becca Stevens Featuring Jacob Collier, Mark Lettieri, Justin Stanton, Jordan Perlson, Nic Hard, Keita Ogawa, Marcelo Woloski & Nate Werth)

Field 22 – Package

Best Recording Package

“Everyday Life” — Pilar Zeta, art director (Coldplay)

“Funeral” — Kyle Goen, art director (Lil Wayne)

“Healer” — Julian Gross & Hannah Hooper, art directors (Grouplove)

“On Circles” — Jordan Butcher, art director (Caspian)

“Vols. 11 & 12” — Doug Cunningham & Jason Noto, art directors (Desert Sessions)*

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package

“Flaming Pie (Collector’s Edition)” — Linn Wie Andersen, Simon Earith, Paul McCartney & James Musgrave, art directors (Paul McCartney)

“Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991” — Lisa Glines & Doran Tyson, art directors (Grateful Dead)

“Mode” — Jeff Schulz, art director (Depeche Mode)

“Ode to Joy” — Lawrence Azerrad & Jeff Tweedy, art directors (Wilco)*

“The Story of Ghostly International” — Michael Cina & Molly Smith, art directors (Various Artists)

Field 23 – Notes

Best Album Notes

“At the Minstrel Show: Minstrel Routines From the Studio, 1894-1926” — Tim Brooks, album notes writer (Various Artists)

“The Bakersfield Sound: Country Music Capital of the West, 1940-1974” — Scott B. Bomar, album notes writer (Various Artists)

“Dead Man’s Pop” — Bob Mehr, album notes writer (The Replacements)*

“The Missing Link: How Gus Haenschen Got Us From Joplin to Jazz and Shaped the Music Business” — Colin Hancock, album notes writer (Various Artists)

“Out of a Clear Blue Sky” — David Sager, album notes writer (Nat Brusiloff)

Field 24 – Historical

Best Historical Album

“Celebrated, 1895-1896” — Meagan Hennessey & Richard Martin, compilation producers; Richard Martin, mastering engineer (Unique Quartette)

“Hittin’ the Ramp: The Early Years (1936 – 1943)” — Zev Feldman, Will Friedwald & George Klabin, compilation producers; Matthew Lutthans, mastering engineer (Nat King Cole)

“It’s Such a Good Feeling: The Best of Mister Rogers” — Lee Lodyga & Cheryl Pawelski, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Mister Rogers)*

“1999 Super Deluxe Edition” — Michael Howe, compilation producer; Bernie Grundman, mastering engineer (Prince)

“Souvenir” — Carolyn Agger, compilation producer; Miles Showell, mastering engineer (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark)

“Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions” — Béla Fleck, compilation producer; Richard Dodd, mastering engineer (Béla Fleck)

Field 25 – Production, Non-Classical

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

“Black Hole Rainbow” — Shawn Everett & Ivan Wayman, engineers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer (Devon Gilfillian)

“Expectations” — Gary Paczosa & Mike Robinson, engineers; Paul Blakemore, mastering engineer (Katie Pruitt)

“Hyperspace” — Drew Brown, Andrew Coleman, Shawn Everett, Serban Ghenea, David Greenbaum, Jaycen Joshua & Mike Larson, engineers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer (Beck)*

“Jaime” — Shawn Everett, engineer; Shawn Everett, mastering engineer (Brittany Howard)

“25 Trips” — Shani Gandhi & Gary Paczosa, engineers; Adam Grover, mastering engineer (Sierra Hull)

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical

Jack Antonoff — “August” (Taylor Swift), “Gaslighter” (The Chicks), “Holy Terrain” (FKA Twigs Featuring Future), “Mirrorball” (Taylor Swift), “This Is Me Trying” (Taylor Swift), “Together” (Sia)

Dan Auerbach — “Cypress Grove” (Jimmy “Duck” Holmes), “El Dorado” (Marcus King), “Is Thomas Callaway” (CeeLo Green), “Singing For My Supper” (Early James), “Solid Gold Sounds” (Kendell Marvel), “Years” (John Anderson)

Dave Cobb — “Backbone” (Kaleo), “The Balladeer” (Lori McKenna), “Boneshaker” (Airbourne), “Down Home Christmas” (Oak Ridge Boys), “The Highwomen” (The Highwomen), “I Remember Everything” (John Prine), “Reunions” (Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit), “The Spark” (William Prince), “You’re Still The One” (Teddy Swims)

Flying Lotus — “It Is What It Is” (Thundercat)

Andrew Watt — “Break My Heart” (Dua Lipa), “Me And My Guitar” (A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie), “Midnight Sky” (Miley Cyrus), “Old Me” (5 Seconds Of Summer), “Ordinary Man” (Ozzy Osbourne Featuring Elton John), “Take What You Want” (Post Malone Featuring Ozzy Osbourne & Travis Scott), “Under The Graveyard” (Ozzy Osbourne)*

Best Remixed Recording

“Do You Ever (Rac Mix)” — Rac, Remixer (Phil Good)

“Imaginary Friends (Morgan Page Remix)” — Morgan Page, Remixer (Deadmau5)

“Praying for You (Louie Vega Main Remix)” — Louie Vega, Remixer (Jasper Street Co.)

“Roses (Imanbek Remix)” — Imanbek Zeikenov, Remixer (Saint Jhn)*

“Young & Alive (Bazzi Vs. Haywyre Remix)” — Haywyre, remixer (Bazzi)

Field 26 – Production, Immersive Audio

Best Immersive Audio Album

N/A: Due 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.”

Field 27 – Production, Classical

Best Engineered Album, Classical

“Danielpour: The Passion Of Yeshua” — Bernd Gottinger, engineer (JoAnn Falletta, James K. Bass, Adam Luebke, UCLA Chamber Singers, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra & Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus)

“Gershwin: Porgy And Bess” — David Frost & John Kerswell, engineers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer (David Robertson, Eric Owens, Angel Blue, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus)

“Hynes: Fields” — Kyle Pyke, engineer; Jesse Lewis & Kyle Pyke, mastering engineers (Devonté Hynes & Third Coast Percussion)

“Ives: Complete Symphonies” — Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, engineers; Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, mastering engineers (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic)

“Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, ‘Babi Yar’” — David Frost & Charlie Post, engineers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer (Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra)*

Producer of the Year, Classical

Blanton Alspaugh

David Frost*

Jesse Lewis

Dmitriy Lipay

Elaine Martone

Field 28 – Classical

Best Orchestral Performance

“Aspects of America – Pulitzer Edition” Carlos Kalmar, conductor (Oregon Symphony)

“Concurrence” — Daníel Bjarnason, conductor (Iceland Symphony Orchestra)

“Copland: Symphony No. 3” — Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)

“Ives: Complete Symphonies” — Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)*

“Lutosławski: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3” — Hannu Lintu, conductor (Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra)

Best Opera Recording

“Dello Joio: The Trial at Rouen” — Gil Rose, conductor; Heather Buck & Stephen Powell; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Odyssey Opera Chorus)

“Floyd, C.: Prince of Players” — William Boggs, conductor; Keith Phares & Kate Royal; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; Florentine Opera Chorus)

“Gershwin: Porgy and Bess” — David Robertson, conductor; Angel Blue & Eric Owens; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)*

“Handel: Agrippina” — Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor; Joyce DiDonato; Daniel Zalay, producer (Il Pomo D’Oro)

“Zemlinsky: Der Zwerg” — Donald Runnicles, conductor; David Butt Philip & Elena Tsallagova; Peter Ghirardini & Erwin Stürzer, producers (Orchestra Of The Deutsche Oper Berlin; Chorus Of The Deutsche Oper Berlin)

Best Choral Performance

“Carthage” — Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)

“Danielpour: The Passion of Yeshua” — JoAnn Falletta, conductor; James K. Bass & Adam Luebke, chorus masters (James K. Bass, J’Nai Bridges, Timothy Fallon, Kenneth Overton, Hila Plitmann & Matthew Worth; Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus & UCLA Chamber Singers)

“Kastalsky: Requiem” — Leonard Slatkin, conductor; Charles Bruffy, Steven Fox & Benedict Sheehan, chorus masters (Joseph Charles Beutel & Anna Dennis; Orchestra Of St. Luke’s; Cathedral Choral Society, The Clarion Choir, Kansas City Chorale & The Saint Tikhon Choir)

“Moravec: Sanctuary Road” — Kent Tritle, conductor (Joshua Blue, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Dashon Burton, Malcolm J. Merriweather & Laquita Mitchell; Oratorio Society Of New York Orchestra; Oratorio Society Of New York Chorus)

“Once Upon a Time” — Matthew Guard, conductor (Sarah Walker; Skylark Vocal Ensemble)

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance

“Contemporary Voices” — Pacifica Quartet*

“Healing Modes” — Brooklyn Rider

“Hearne, T.: Place” — Ted Hearne, Steven Bradshaw, Sophia Byrd, Josephine Lee, Isaiah Robinson, Sol Ruiz, Ayanna Woods & Place Orchestra

“Hynes: Fields” — Devonté Hynes & Third Coast Percussion

“The Schumann Quartets” — Dover Quartet

Best Classical Instrumental Solo

“Adès: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra” — Kirill Gerstein; Thomas Adès, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)

“Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas” — Igor Levit

“Bohemian Tales” — Augustin Hadelich; Jakub Hrůša, conductor (Charles Owen; Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks)

“Destination Rachmaninov – Arrival” Daniil Trifonov; Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)

“Theofanidis: Concerto for Viola and Chamber Orchestra” — Richard O’Neill; David Alan Miller, conductor (Albany Symphony)*

Best Classical Solo Vocal Album

“American Composers at Play” — William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Lori Laitman, John Musto Stephen Powell (Attacca Quartet, William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Lori Laitman, John Musto, Charles Neidich & Jason Vieaux)

“Clairières – Songs by Lili & Nadia Boulanger” — Nicholas Phan; Myra Huang, accompanist

“Farinelli” — Cecilia Bartoli; Giovanni Antonini, conductor (Il Giardino Armonico)  “A Lad’s Love” — Brian Giebler; Steven McGhee, accompanist (Katie Hyun, Michael Katz, Jessica Meyer, Reginald Mobley & Ben Russell)

“Smyth: The Prison” — Sarah Brailey & Dashon Burton; James Blachly, conductor (Experiential Chorus; Experiential Orchestra)*

Best Classical Compendium

“Adès Conducts Adès” — Mark Stone & Christianne Stotijn; Thomas Adès, conductor; Nick Squire, producer

“Saariaho: Graal Théâtre; Circle Map; Neiges; Vers Toi Qui Es Si Loin” — Clément Mao-Takacs, conductor; Hans Kipfer, producer

“Serebrier: Symphonic Bach Variations; Laments And Hallelujahs; Flute Concerto” — José Serebrier, conductor; Jens Braun, producer

“Thomas, M.T.: From The Diary of Anne Frank & Meditations on Rilke” — Isabel Leonard; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Jack Vad, producer*

“Woolf, L.P.: Fire And Flood” — Matt Haimovitz; Julian Wachner, conductor; Blanton Alspaugh, producer

Best Contemporary Classical Composition

“Adès: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra” — Thomas Adès, composer (Kirill Gerstein, Thomas Adès & Boston Symphony Orchestra)

“Danielpour: The Passion of Yeshua” — Richard Danielpour, composer (JoAnn Falletta, James K. Bass, Adam Luebke, UCLA Chamber Singers, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra & Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus)

“Floyd, C.: Prince of Players” — Carlisle Floyd, composer (William Boggs, Kate Royal, Keith Phares, Florentine Opera Chorus & Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra)

“Hearne, T.: Place” — Ted Hearne, composer (Ted Hearne, Steven Bradshaw, Sophia Byrd, Josephine Lee, Isaiah Robinson, Sol Ruiz, Ayanna Woods & Place Orchestra)

“Rouse: Symphony No. 5” — Christopher Rouse, composer (Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)*

Field 29 – Music Video/Film

Best Music Video

“Brown Skin Girl” — Beyoncé, Blue Ivy & WizKid — Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Jenn Nkiru, Video Directors; Lauren Baker, Astrid Edwards, Nathan Scherrer & Erinn Williams, Video Producers*

“Life Is Good” — Future Featuring Drake — Julien Christian Lutz, Video Director; Harv Glazer, Video Producer

“Lockdown” — Anderson .Paak — Dave Meyers, Video Director; Nathan Scherrer, Video Producer

“Adore You” — Harry Styles — Dave Meyers, Video Director; Nathan Scherrer, Video Producer

“Goliath” — Woodkid — Yoann Lemoine, video director

Best Music Film

“Beastie Boys Story” — Beastie Boys — Spike Jonze, video director; Amanda Adelson, Jason Baum & Spike Jonze, video producers

“Black Is King” — Beyoncé

“We Are Freestyle Love Supreme” — Freestyle Love Supreme — Andrew Fried, Video Director; Andrew Fried, Jill Furman, Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sarina Roma, Jenny Steingart & Jon Steingart, video producers

“Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” — Linda Ronstadt — Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman, video directors; Michele Farinola & James Keach, video producers*

“That Little Ol’ Band From Texas” — ZZ Top — Sam Dunn, video director; Scot McFadyen, video producer

2021 Grammy Awards: performers announced

March 7, 2021

The following is a press release from CBS and the Recording Academy:

CBS and the Recording Academy(R) announced the full lineup of performers for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Hosted by Trevor Noah, CBS presents the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards live, Sunday, March 14, (8:00-11:00 PM, live ET/5:00-8:00 PM, live PT) on the CBS Television Network and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

The performers include Bad Bunny, Black Pumas, Cardi B, BTS, Brandi Carlile, DaBaby, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, Mickey Guyton, Haim, Brittany Howard, Miranda Lambert, Lil Baby, Dua Lipa, Chris Martin, John Mayer, Megan Thee Stallion, Maren Morris, Post Malone, Roddy Ricch, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift. Artists will come together, while still safely apart, to play music for each other as a community and celebrate the music that unites us.

Additionally, Music’s Biggest Night will pay tribute to independent venues, that have been greatly impacted by the pandemic. From bartenders to box office managers, the people who work day-to-day at the Troubadour (Los Angeles), Hotel Café (Los Angeles), the Apollo Theater (New York City) and The Station Inn (Nashville) will present awards for various categories throughout the night.

The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards are produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy. Ben Winston is executive producer, Jesse Collins and Raj Kapoor are co-executive producers, Fatima Robinson, Josie Cliff and David Wild are producers, Patrick Menton is talent producer, and Hamish Hamilton is director.

About the Recording Academy

The Recording Academy(R) represents the voices of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and all music professionals. Dedicated to ensuring the recording arts remain a thriving part of our shared cultural heritage, the Academy honors music’s history while investing in its future through the Grammy Museum, advocates on behalf of music creators, supports music people in times of need through MusiCares, and celebrates artistic excellence through the Grammy Awards — music’s only peer-recognized accolade and highest achievement. As the world’s leading society of music professionals, we work year-round to foster a more inspiring world for creators.

2021 Grammy Awards: Beyoncé is the top nominee

November 24, 2020

by Carla Hay

Beyoncé in “Black Is King” (Photo courtesy of Disney+/Parkwood Entertainment)

With nine nominations, Beyoncé is the top nominee for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, which will be presented in Los Angeles on January 31, 2021.* CBS will have the U.S. telecast of the ceremony, which will be hosted by Trevor Noah. The nominations were announced on November 24, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Grammy ceremony is expected to be a combination of pre-recorded content and live appearances. The Grammy Awards are voted for by members of the Record Academy, which presents the annual ceremony.

Following Beyoncé in the highest number of nominations, with six nods each, are Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Roddy Ricch. Beyoncé, Swift, Lipa and Ricch are among the contenders for Song of the Year, an award given to songwriters. In this category, Beyoncé is nominated for “Black Parade,” Swift is nominated for “Cardigan,” Lipa is nominated for “Don’t Start Now” and Ricch is nominated for “The Box.” Megan Thee Stallion, Billie Eilish and DaBaby received four nominations each.

A noticeable and controversial snub is The Weeknd, who was completely shut out of any nominations for the 2021 Grammys, despite getting critical acclaim and other major awards for his eligible album “After Hours” or any of the album’s eligible songs. The Weeknd, who has won three Grammys in the past, responded to the snub by tweeting: “The Grammys are corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency …”

Before the snub, The Weeknd and his representatives had been in tense negotiations with Grammy officials for him to perform at the Grammys, but Grammy officials weren’t too keen on it because The Weeknd would be performing at the Super Bowl halftime show a week after the Grammy ceremony. In the end, The Weeknd’s Grammy nomination snub means that he won’t be performing at the 2021 Grammys after all.

First-time Grammy nominees include Harry Styles, BTS and Doja Cat. Performers and presenters at the 2021 Grammy awards are to be announced.

*January 4, 2021 UPDATE: Due to the increase of COVID-19 infections in Los Angeles County, the Recording Academy has announced that the 63rd Grammy Awards ceremony has been postponed to March 14, 2021. An official statement about the delay can be found here.

Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2021 Grammy Awards:

General Field

Record of the Year

“Black Parade” — Beyoncé — Beyoncé & Derek Dixie, producers; Stuart White, engineer/mixer; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer

“Colors” — Black Pumas — Adrian Quesada, producer; Adrian Quesada, engineer/mixer; JJ Golden, mastering engineer

“Rockstar” —DaBaby Featuring Roddy Ricch — SethinTheKitchen, producer; Derek “MixedByAli” Ali, Chris Dennis & Liz Robson, engineers/mixers; Susan Tabor, mastering engineer

“Say So” — Doja Cat — Tyson Trax, producer; Clint Gibbs, engineer/mixer; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer

“Everything I Wanted” — Billie Eilish — Finneas O’Connell, producer; Rob Kinelski & Finneas O’Connell, engineers/mixers; John Greenham, mastering engineer

“Don’t Start Now” — Dua Lipa — Caroline Ailin & Ian Kirkpatrick, producers; Josh Gudwin, Drew Jurecka & Ian Kirkpatrick, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer

“Circles” — Post Malone — Louis Bell, Frank Dukes & Post Malone, producers; Louis Bell & Manny Marroquin, engineers/mixers; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer

“Savage” — Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé — Beyoncé & J. White Did It, producers; Stuart White, engineer/mixer; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer

Album of the Year

“Chilombo” — Jhené Aiko — Fisticuffs & Julian-Quán Việt Lê, producers; Fisticuffs, Julian-Quán Việt Lê, Zeke Mishanec, Christian Plata & Gregg Rominiecki, engineers/mixers; Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo, Julian-Quán Việt Lê, Maclean Robinson & Brian Keith Warfield, songwriters; Dave Kutch, mastering engineer

“Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition)” — Black Pumas — Jon Kaplan & Adrian Quesada, producers; Adrian Quesada, Jacob Sciba, Stuart Sikes & Erik Wofford, engineers/mixers; Eric Burton & Adrian Quesada, songwriters; JJ Golden, mastering engineer

“Everyday Life” — Coldplay — Daniel Green, Bill Rahko & Rik Simpson, producers; Mark “Spike” Stent, engineer/mixer; Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion & Chris Martin, songwriters; Emily Lazar, mastering engineer

“Djesse Vol.3” — Jacob Collier — Jacob Collier, producer; Ben Bloomberg & Jacob Collier, engineers/mixers; Jacob Collier, songwriter; Chris Allgood & Emily Lazar, mastering engineers

“Women in Music Pt. III” — HAIM — Rostam Batmanglij, Danielle Haim & Ariel Rechtshaid, producers; Rostam Batmanglij, Jasmine Chen, John DeBold, Matt DiMona, Tom Elmhirst, Joey Messina-Doerning & Ariel Rechtshaid, engineers/mixers; Rostam Batmanglij, Alana Haim, Danielle Haim, Este Haim & Ariel Rechtshaid, songwriters; Emily Lazar, mastering engineer

“Future Nostalgia” — Dua Lipa — Koz, producer; Josh Gudwin & Cameron Gower Poole, engineers/mixers; Clarence Coffee Jr. & Dua Lipa, songwriters; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer

“Hollywood’s Bleeding” — Post Malone — Louis Bell & Frank Dukes, producers; Louis Bell & Manny Marroquin, engineers/mixers; Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Austin Post & Billy Walsh, songwriters; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer

“Folklore” — Taylor Swift — Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, producers; Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner, Serban Ghenea, John Hanes, Jonathan Low & Laura Sisk, engineers/mixers; Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer

Song of the Year

“Black Parade” — Denisia Andrews, Beyoncé, Stephen Bray, Shawn Carter, Brittany Coney, Derek James Dixie, Akil King, Kim “Kaydence” Krysiuk & Rickie “Caso” Tice, songwriters (Beyoncé)

“The Box” — Samuel Gloade & Rodrick Moore, songwriters (Roddy Ricch)

“Cardigan” — Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

Circles Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Kaan Gunesberk, Austin Post & Billy Walsh, songwriters (Post Malone)

“Don’t Start Now” — Caroline Ailin, Ian Kirkpatrick, Dua Lipa & Emily Warren, songwriters (Dua Lipa)

“Everything I Wanted” — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

“I Can’t Breathe” — Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)

“If the World Was Ending” — Julia Michaels & JP Saxe, songwriters (JP Saxe Featuring Julia Michaels)

Best New Artist

Ingrid Andress

Phoebe Bridgers

Chika

Noah Cyrus

D Smoke

Doja Cat

Kaytranada

Megan Thee Stallion

Field 1 – Pop

Best Pop Solo Performance

“Yummy” — Justin Bieber

“Say So” — Doja Cat

“Everything I Wanted” — Billie Eilish

“Don’t Start Now” — Dua Lipa

“Watermelon Sugar” — Harry Styles

“Cardigan” — Taylor Swift

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

“Un Dia (One Day)” J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny & Tainy

“Intentions” — Justin Bieber Featuring Quavo

“Dynamite” — BTS

“Rain on Me” — Lady Gaga With Ariana Grande

“Exile” — Taylor Swift Featuring Bon Iver

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

“Blue Umbrella” — Burt Bacharach & Daniel Tashian

“True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter” — Harry Connick, Jr.

“American Standard” — James Taylor

“Unfollow the Rules” — Rufus Wainwright

“Judy” — Renée Zellweger

Best Pop Vocal Album

“Changes” — Justin Bieber

“Chromatica” — Lady Gaga

“Future Nostalgia” — Dua Lipa

“Fine Line” — Harry Styles

“Folklore” — Taylor Swift

Field 2 – Dance/Electronic Music

Best Dance Recording

“On My Mind” — Diplo & Sidepiece

“My High” — Disclosure Featuring Aminé & Slowthai

“The Difference” — Flume Featuring Toro Y Moi

“Both of Us” — Jayda G

“10%” — Kaytranada Featuring Kali Uchis

Best Dance/Electronic Album

“Kick” — I Arca

“Planet’s Mad” — Baauer

“Energy” — Disclosure

“Bubba” — Kaytranada

“Good Faith” — Madeon

Field 3 – Contemporary Instrumental Music

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

“Axiom” — Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah

“Chronology of a Dream: Live At The Village Vanguard” — Jon Batiste

“Take the Stairs” — Black Violin

“Americana Grégoire” — Maret, Romain Collin & Bill Frisell

“Live at the Royal Albert Hall” — Snarky Puppy

Field 4 – Rock

Best Rock Performance

“Shameika” — Fiona Apple

“Not” — Big Thief

“Kyoto” — Phoebe Bridgers

“The Steps” — HAIM

“Stay High” — Brittany Howard

“Daylight” — Grace Potter

Best Metal Performance

“Bum-Rush” — Body Count

“Underneath” — Code Orange

“The In-Between” — In This Moment

“Bloodmoney” — Poppy

“Executioner’s Tax (Swing Of The Axe) – Live” — Power Trip

Best Rock Album

“A Hero’s Death” — Fontaines D.C.

“Kiwanuka” — Michael Kiwanuka

“Daylight” — Grace Potter

“Sound & Fury” — Sturgill Simpson

“The New Abnormal” — The Strokes

Best Rock Song

“Kyoto” — Phoebe Bridgers, Morgan Nagler & Marshall Vore, Songwriters (Phoebe Bridgers)

“Lost in Yesterday” — Kevin Parker, Songwriter (Tame Impala)

“Not” — Adrianne Lenker, Songwriter (Big Thief)

“Shameika” — Fiona Apple, Songwriter (Fiona Apple)

“Stay High” — Brittany Howard, songwriter (Brittany Howard)

Field 5 – Alternative

Best Alternative Music Album

“Fetch the Bolt Cutters” — Fiona Apple

“Hyperspace” — Beck

“Punisher” — Phoebe Bridgers

“Jaime” — Brittany Howard

“The Slow Rush” — Tame Impala

Field 6 – R&B

Best R&B Performance

“Lightning & Thunder” — Jhené Aiko Featuring John Legend

“Black Parade” — Beyoncé

“All I Need” — Jacob Collier Featuring Mahalia & Ty Dolla $Ign

“Goat Head” — Brittany Howard

“See Me” — Emily King

Best Traditional R&B Performance

“Sit On Down” — The Baylor Project Featuring Jean Baylor & Marcus Baylor

“Wonder What She Thinks of Me” — Chloe X Halle

“Let Me Go” — Mykal Kilgore

“Anything For You” — Ledisi

“Distance” — Yebba

Best Progressive R&B Album

“Chilombo” — Jhené Aiko

“Ungodly Hour” — Chloe X Halle

“Free Nationals” — Free Nationals

“F*** Yo Feelings” — Robert Glasper

“It Is What It Is” — Thundercat

Best R&B Song

“Better Than I Imagine” — Robert Glasper, Meshell Ndegeocello & Gabriella Wilson, songwriters (Robert Glasper Featuring H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello)

“Black Parade” — Denisia Andrews, Beyoncé, Stephen Bray, Shawn Carter, Brittany Coney, Derek James Dixie, Akil King, Kim “Kaydence” Krysiuk & Rickie “Caso” Tice, songwriters (Beyoncé)

“Collide” — Sam Barsh, Stacey Barthe, Sonyae Elise, Olu Fann, Akil King, Josh Lopez, Kaveh Rastegar & Benedetto Rotondi, songwriters (Tiana Major9 & Earthgang)

“Do It” — Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, Anton Kuhl, Victoria Monét, Scott Storch & Vincent Van Den Ende, songwriters (Chloe X Halle)

“Slow Down” — Nasri Atweh, Badriia Bourelly, Skip Marley, Ryan Williamson & Gabriella Wilson, songwriters (Skip Marley & H.E.R.)

Best R&B Album

“Happy 2 Be Here” — Ant Clemons

“Take Time” — Giveon

“To Feel Love/D” — Luke James

“Bigger Love” — John Legend

“All Rise” — Gregory Porter

Field 7 – Rap

Best Rap Performance

“Deep Reverence” — Big Sean Featuring Nipsey Hussle

“Bop” — Dababy

“What’s Poppin” — Jack Harlow

“The Bigger Picture” — Lil Baby

“Savage” — Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé

“Dior” — Pop Smoke

Best Melodic Rap Performance

“Rockstar” — Dababy Featuring Roddy Ricch

“Laugh Now, Cry Later” — Drake Featuring Lil Durk

“Lockdown” — Anderson .Paak

“The Box” — Roddy Ricch

“Highest in the Room” — Travis Scott

Best Rap Album

“Black Habits” — D Smoke

“Alfredo” — Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist

“A Written Testimony” — Jay Electronica

“King’s Disease” — Nas

“The Allegory Royce” — Da 5’9″

Best Rap Song

“The Bigger Picture” — Dominique Jones, Noah Pettigrew & Rai’shaun Williams, Songwriters (Lil Baby)

“The Box” — Samuel Gloade & Rodrick Moore, Songwriters (Roddy Ricch)

“Laugh Now, Cry Later” — Durk Banks, Rogét Chahayed, Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Ron Latour & Ryan Martinez, Songwriters (Drake Featuring Lil Durk)

“Rockstar” — Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, Ross Joseph Portaro Iv & Rodrick Moore, Songwriters (Dababy Featuring Roddy Ricch)

“Savage” — Beyoncé, Shawn Carter, Brittany Hazzard, Derrick Milano, Terius Nash, Megan Pete, Bobby Session Jr., Jordan Kyle Lanier Thorpe & Anthony White, songwriters (Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé)

Field 8 – Country

Best Country Solo Performance

“Stick That In Your Country Song” — Eric Church

“Who You Thought I Was” — Brandy Clark

“When My Amy Prays” — Vince Gill

“Black Like Me” — Mickey Guyton

“Bluebird” — Miranda Lambert

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

“All Night” — Brothers Osborne

“10,000 Hours” — Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber

“Ocean” — Lady A

“Sugar Coat” — Little Big Town

“Some People Do” — Old Dominion

Best Country Album

“Lady Like” — Ingrid Andress

“Your Life Is a Record” — Brandy Clark

“Wildcard” — Miranda Lambert

“Nightfall” — Little Big Town

“Never Will” — Ashley McBryde

Best Country Song

“Bluebird” — Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby & Miranda Lambert, Songwriters (Miranda Lambert)

“The Bones” — Maren Morris, Jimmy Robbins & Laura Veltz, Songwriters (Maren Morris)

“Crowded Table” — Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby & Lori McKenna, Songwriters (The Highwomen)

“More Hearts Than Mine” — Ingrid Andress, Sam Ellis & Derrick Southerland, Songwriters (Ingrid Andress)

“Some People Do” — Jesse Frasure, Shane McAnally, Matthew Ramsey & Thomas Rhett, songwriters (Old Dominion)

Field 9 – New Age

Best New Age Album

“Songs From the Bardo” — Laurie Anderson, Tenzin Choegyal & Jesse Paris Smith

“Periphery” — Priya Darshini

“Form//Less” — Superposition

“More Guitar Stories” — Jim “Kimo” West

“Meditations” — Cory Wong & Jon Batiste

Field 10 – Jazz

Best Jazz Vocal Album

“Ona” — Thana Alexa

“Secrets Are the Best Stories” — Kurt Elling Featuring Danilo Pérez

“Modern Ancestors” — Carmen Lundy

“Holy Room: Live at Alte Oper” — Somi With Frankfurt Radio Big Band

“What’s the Hurry” — Kenny Washington

Best Improvised Jazz Solo

“Guinevere” — Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah, Soloist Track From: Axiom

“Pachamama” — Regina Carter, Soloist Track From: Ona (Thana Alexa)

Celia Gerald Clayton, Soloist

“All Blues” — Chick Corea, Soloist Track From: Trilogy 2 (Chick Corea, Christian Mcbride & Brian Blade)

“Moe Honk” — Joshua Redman, soloist Track from: RoundAgain (Redman Mehldau McBride Blade)

Best Jazz Instrumental Album

“On The Tender Spot Of Every Calloused Moment” — Ambrose Akinmusire

“Waiting Game” — Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science

“Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard” — Gerald Clayton

“Trilogy 2” — Chick Corea, Christian Mcbride & Brian Blade

“Roundagain” — Redman Mehldau McBride Blade

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

“Dialogues on Race” — Gregg August

“Monk’estra Plays John Beasley” — John Beasley

“The Intangible Between” — Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band

“Songs You Like a Lot” — John Hollenbeck with Theo Bleckmann, Kate Mcgarry, Gary Versace and the Frankfurt Radio Big Band

“Data Lords” Maria Schneider Orchestra

Best Latin Jazz Album

“Tradiciones” — Afro-Peruvian Jazz Orchestra

“Four Questions” — Arturo O’farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

“City of Dreams” — Chico Pinheiro

“Viento y Tiempo – Live at Blue Note Tokyo” — Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Aymée Nuviola

“Trane’s Delight” — Poncho Sanchez

Field 11 – Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music

Best Gospel Performance/Song

“Wonderful Is Your Name” — Melvin Crispell III

“Release (Live)” — Ricky Dillard Featuring Tiff Joy; David Frazier, songwriter “Come Together” — Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins Presents: The Good News; Lashawn Daniels, Rodney Jerkins, Lecrae Moore & Jazz Nixon, songwriters

“Won’t Let Go” — Travis Greene; Travis Greene, songwriter

“Movin’ On” — Jonathan McReynolds & Mali Music; Darryl L. Howell, Jonathan Caleb McReynolds, Kortney Jamaal Pollard & Terrell Demetrius Wilson, songwriters

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song

“The Blessing (Live)” — Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes & Elevation Worship; Chris Brown, Cody Carnes, Kari Jobe Carnes & Steven Furtick, songwriters

“Sunday Morning” — Lecrae Featuring Kirk Franklin; Denisia Andrews, Jones Terrence Antonio, Saint Bodhi, Brittany Coney, Kirk Franklin, Lasanna Harris, Shama Joseph, Stuart Lowery, Lecrae Moore & Nathanael Saint-Fleur, songwriters “Holy Water” — We The Kingdom; Andrew Bergthold, Ed Cash, Franni Cash, Martin Cash & Scott Cash, songwriters

“Famous For (I Believe)” — Tauren Wells Featuring Jenn Johnson; Chuck Butler, Krissy Nordhoff, Jordan Sapp, Alexis Slifer & Tauren Wells, songwriters

“There Was Jesus” — Zach Williams & Dolly Parton; Casey Beathard, Jonathan Smith & Zach Williams, songwriters

Best Gospel Album

“2econd Wind: Ready” — Anthony Brown & Group Therapy

“My Tribute” — Myron Butler

“Choirmaster” — Ricky Dillard

“Gospel According to PJ” — PJ Morton

“Kierra” — Kierra Sheard

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album

“Run to the Father” — Cody Carnes

All of My Best Friends” — Hillsong Young & Free

“Holy Water” — We the Kingdom

“Citizen of Heaven” — Tauren Wells

“Jesus Is King” — Kanye West

Best Roots Gospel Album

“Beautiful Day” — Mark Bishop

“20/20” — The Crabb Family

“What Christmas Really Means” — The Erwins

“Celebrating Fisk! (The 150th Anniversary Album)” — Fisk Jubilee Singers

“Something Beautiful” — Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

Field 12 – Latin

Best Latin Pop or Urban Album

“YHLQMDLG” — Bad Bunny

“Por Primera Vez” — Camilo

“Mesa Para Dos” — Kany García

“Pausa” — Ricky Martin

“3:33” — Debi Nova

Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album

“Aura” — Bajofondo

“Monstruo” — Cami

“Sobrevolando” — Cultura Profética

“La Conquista Del Espacio” — Fito Paez

“Miss Colombia” — Lido Pimienta

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)

“Hecho En México” — Alejandro Fernández

“La Serenata” — Lupita Infante

“Un Canto Por México, Vol. 1” — Natalia Lafourcade

“Bailando Sones Y Huapangos Con Mariachi Sol De Mexico De Jose Hernandez” — Mariachi Sol De Mexico De Jose Hernandez

“Ayayay!” — Christian Nodal

Best Tropical Latin Album

“Mi Tumbao” — José Alberto “El Ruiseñor”

“Infinito” — Edwin Bonilla

“Sigo Cantando Al Amor (Deluxe)” — Jorge Celedon & Sergio Luis

“40” — Grupo Niche

“Memorias De Navidad” — Víctor Manuelle

Field 13 – American Roots Music

Best American Roots Performance

“Colors” — Black Pumas

“Deep in Love” — Bonny Light Horseman

“Short and Sweet” — Brittany Howard

“I’ll Be Gone” — Norah Jones & Mavis Staples

“I Remember Everything” — John Prine

Best American Roots Song

“Cabin” — Laura Rogers & Lydia Rogers, songwriters (The Secret Sisters)

“Ceiling to the Floor” — Sierra Hull & Kai Welch, songwriters (Sierra Hull)

“Hometown” — Sarah Jarosz, songwriter (Sarah Jarosz)

“I Remember Everything” — Pat McLaughlin & John Prine, songwriters (John Prine)

“Man Without a Soul” — Tom Overby & Lucinda Williams, songwriters (Lucinda Williams)

Best Americana Album

“Old Flowers” — Courtney Marie Andrews

“Terms of Surrender” — Hiss Golden Messenger

“World on the Ground” — Sarah Jarosz

“El Dorado” — Marcus King

“Good Souls Better Angels” — Lucinda Williams

Best Bluegrass Album

“Man on Fire” — Danny Barnes

“To Live in Two Worlds, Vol. 1” — Thomm Jutz

“North Carolina Songbook” — Steep Canyon Rangers

“Home” — Billy Strings

“The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol. 1” (Various Artists)

Best Traditional Blues Album

“All My Dues Are Paid” — Frank Bey

“You Make Me Feel” — Don Bryant

“That’s What I Heard” — Robert Cray Band

“Cypress Grove” — Jimmy “Duck” Holmes

“Rawer Than Raw” — Bobby Rush

Best Contemporary Blues Album 

“Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?” — Fantastic Negrito

“Live at the Paramount” — Ruthie Foster Big Band

“The Juice” — G. Love

“Blackbirds” — Bettye Lavette

“Up and Rolling” — North Mississippi Allstars

Best Folk Album

“Bonny Light Horseman” — Bonny Light Horseman

“Thanks for the Dance” — Leonard Cohen

“Song for Our Daughter” — Laura Marling

“Saturn Return” — The Secret Sisters

“All the Good Times” — Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Best Regional Roots Music Album

“My Relatives” — “Nikso Kowaiks” Black Lodge Singers

“Cameron Dupuy and the Cajun Troubadours” — Cameron Dupuy And The Cajun Troubadours

“Lovely Sunrise” — Nā Wai ʽehā

“Atmosphere” — New Orleans Nightcrawlers

“A Tribute to Al Berard” — Sweet Cecilia

Field 14 – Reggae

Best Reggae Album

“Upside Down 2020” — Buju Banton

“Higher Place” — Skip Marley

“It All Comes Back to Love” — Maxi Priest

“Got to Be Tough” — Toots & the Maytals

“One World” — The Wailers

Field 15 – Global Music

Best Global Music Album

“Fu Chronicles” — Antibalas

“Twice As Tall” — Burna Boy

“Agora” — Bebel Gilberto

“Love Letters” — Anoushka Shankar

“Amadjar” — Tinariwen

Field 16 – Children’s

Best Children’s Music Album

“All the Ladies” — Joanie Leeds

“Be a Pain: An Album for Young (and Old) Leaders” — Alastair Moock And Friends

“I’m an Optimist” — Dog On Fleas

“Songs for Singin’” — The Okee Dokee Brothers

“Wild Life” — Justin Roberts

Field 17 – Spoken Word

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling)

“Acid for the Children: A Memoir” — Flea

“Alex Trebek – The Answer Is…” — Ken Jennings

“Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth” — Rachel Maddow

“Catch and Kill” — Ronan Farrow

“Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)” — Meryl Streep (& Full cast)

Field 18 – Comedy

Best Comedy Album

“Black Mitzvah” — Tiffany Haddish

“I Love Everything” — Patton Oswalt

“The Pale Tourist” — Jim Gaffigan

“Paper Tiger” — Bill Burr

“23 Hours to Kill” — Jerry Seinfeld

Field 19 – Musical Theater

Best Musical Theater Album

“Amélie” — Audrey Brisson, Chris Jared, Caolan McCarthy & Jez Unwin, principal soloists; Michael Fentiman, Sean Patrick Flahaven, Barnaby Race & Nathan Tysen, producers; Nathan Tysen, lyricist; Daniel Messe, composer & lyricist (Original London Cast)

“American Utopia on Broadway” — David Byrne, principal soloist; David Byrne, producer (David Byrne, composer & lyricist) (Original Cast)

“Jagged Little Pill” — Kathryn Gallagher, Celia Rose Gooding, Lauren Patten & Elizabeth Stanley, principal soloists; Neal Avron, Pete Ganbarg, Tom Kitt, Michael Parker, Craig Rosen & Vivek J. Tiwary, producers (Glen Ballard & Alanis Morissette, lyricists) (Original Broadway Cast)

“Little Shop of Horrors” — Tammy Blanchard, Jonathan Groff & Tom Alan Robbins, principal soloists; Will Van Dyke, Michael Mayer, Alan Menken & Frank Wolf, producers (Alan Menken, composer; Howard Ashman, lyricist) (The New Off-Broadway Cast)

“The Prince of Egypt” — Christine Allado, Luke Brady, Alexia Khadime & Liam Tamne, principal soloists; Dominick Amendum & Stephen Schwartz, producers; Stephen Schwartz, composer & lyricist (Original Cast)

“Soft Power” — Francis Jue, Austin Ku, Alyse Alan Louis & Conrad Ricamora, principal soloists; Matt Stine, producer; David Henry Hwang, lyricist; Jeanine Tesori, composer & lyricist (Original Cast)

Field 20 – Music for Visual Media

Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media

“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (Various Artists)

“Bill & Ted Face the Music” (Various Artists)

“Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga” (Various Artists)

“Frozen 2” (Various Artists)

“Jojo Rabbit” (Various Artists)

Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media

“Ad Astra” — Max Richter, composer

“Becoming” — Kamasi Washington, composer

“Joker” — Hildur Guðnadóttir, composer

“1917” — Thomas Newman, composer

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” — John Williams, composer

Best Song Written For Visual Media Category

“Beautiful Ghosts” (from “Cats”) — Andrew Lloyd Webber & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

“Carried Me With You” (from “Onward”) — Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)

“Into the Unknown” (from “Frozen 2”) — Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Idina Menzel & Aurora)

“No Time to Die” (from “No Time to Die”) — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas Baird O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

“Stand Up” (from “Harriet”) — Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo, songwriters (Cynthia Erivo)

Field 21 – Composing/Arranging

Best Instrumental Composition

“Baby Jack” — Arturo O’Farrill, composer (Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra)

“Be Water II” — Christian Sands, composer (Christian Sands)

“Plumfield” — Alexandre Desplat, composer (Alexandre Desplat)

“Sputnik” — Maria Schneider, composer (Maria Schneider)

“Strata” — Remy Le Boeuf, composer (Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly Of Shadows Featuring Anna Webber & Eric Miller)

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella

“Bathroom Dance” — Hildur Guðnadóttir, arranger (Hildur Guðnadóttir)

“Donna Lee” — John Beasley, arranger (John Beasley)

“Honeymooners” — Remy Le Boeuf, arranger (Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly of Shadows)

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” — Alvin Chea & Jarrett Johnson, Arrangers (Jarrett Johnson Featuring Alvin Chea)

“Uranus: The Magician” — Jeremy Levy, arranger (Jeremy Levy Jazz Orchestra)

Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals

“Asas Fechadas” — John Beasley & Maria Mendes, arrangers (Maria Mendes Featuring John Beasley & Orkest Metropole)

“Desert Song” — Erin Bentlage, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (Säje)

“From This Place” — Alan Broadbent & Pat Metheny, arrangers (Pat Metheny Featuring Meshell Ndegeocello)

“He Won’t Hold You” — Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier Featuring Rapsody)

“Slow Burn” — Talia Billig, Nic Hard & Becca Stevens, arrangers (Becca Stevens Featuring Jacob Collier, Mark Lettieri, Justin Stanton, Jordan Perlson, Nic Hard, Keita Ogawa, Marcelo Woloski & Nate Werth)

Field 22 – Package

Best Recording Package

“Everyday Life” — Pilar Zeta, art director (Coldplay)

“Funeral” — Kyle Goen, art director (Lil Wayne)

“Healer” — Julian Gross & Hannah Hooper, art directors (Grouplove)

“On Circles” — Jordan Butcher, art director (Caspian)

“Vols. 11 & 12” — Doug Cunningham & Jason Noto, art directors (Desert Sessions)

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package

“Flaming Pie (Collector’s Edition)” — Linn Wie Andersen, Simon Earith, Paul McCartney & James Musgrave, art directors (Paul McCartney)

“Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991” — Lisa Glines & Doran Tyson, art directors (Grateful Dead)

“Mode” — Jeff Schulz, art director (Depeche Mode)

“Ode to Joy” — Lawrence Azerrad & Jeff Tweedy, art directors (Wilco)

“The Story of Ghostly International” — Michael Cina & Molly Smith, art directors (Various Artists)

Field 23 – Notes

Best Album Notes

“At the Minstrel Show: Minstrel Routines From the Studio, 1894-1926” — Tim Brooks, album notes writer (Various Artists)

“The Bakersfield Sound: Country Music Capital of the West, 1940-1974” — Scott B. Bomar, album notes writer (Various Artists)

“Dead Man’s Pop” — Bob Mehr, album notes writer (The Replacements)

“The Missing Link: How Gus Haenschen Got Us From Joplin to Jazz and Shaped the Music Business” — Colin Hancock, album notes writer (Various Artists)

“Out of a Clear Blue Sky” — David Sager, album notes writer (Nat Brusiloff)

Field 24 – Historical

Best Historical Album

“Celebrated, 1895-1896” — Meagan Hennessey & Richard Martin, compilation producers; Richard Martin, mastering engineer (Unique Quartette)

“Hittin’ the Ramp: The Early Years (1936 – 1943)” — Zev Feldman, Will Friedwald & George Klabin, compilation producers; Matthew Lutthans, mastering engineer (Nat King Cole)

“It’s Such a Good Feeling: The Best of Mister Rogers” — Lee Lodyga & Cheryl Pawelski, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Mister Rogers)

“1999 Super Deluxe Edition” — Michael Howe, compilation producer; Bernie Grundman, mastering engineer (Prince)

“Souvenir” — Carolyn Agger, compilation producer; Miles Showell, mastering engineer (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark)

“Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions” — Béla Fleck, compilation producer; Richard Dodd, mastering engineer (Béla Fleck)

Field 25 – Production, Non-Classical

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

“Black Hole Rainbow” — Shawn Everett & Ivan Wayman, engineers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer (Devon Gilfillian)

“Expectations” — Gary Paczosa & Mike Robinson, engineers; Paul Blakemore, mastering engineer (Katie Pruitt)

“Hyperspace” — Drew Brown, Andrew Coleman, Shawn Everett, Serban Ghenea, David Greenbaum, Jaycen Joshua & Mike Larson, engineers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer (Beck)

“Jaime” — Shawn Everett, engineer; Shawn Everett, mastering engineer (Brittany Howard)

“25 Trips” — Shani Gandhi & Gary Paczosa, engineers; Adam Grover, mastering engineer (Sierra Hull)

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical

Jack Antonoff — “August” (Taylor Swift), “Gaslighter” (The Chicks), “Holy Terrain” (FKA Twigs Featuring Future), “Mirrorball” (Taylor Swift), “This Is Me Trying” (Taylor Swift), “Together” (Sia)

Dan Auerbach — “Cypress Grove” (Jimmy “Duck” Holmes), “El Dorado” (Marcus King), “Is Thomas Callaway” (CeeLo Green), “Singing For My Supper” (Early James), “Solid Gold Sounds” (Kendell Marvel), “Years” (John Anderson)

Dave Cobb — “Backbone” (Kaleo), “The Balladeer” (Lori McKenna), “Boneshaker” (Airbourne), “Down Home Christmas” (Oak Ridge Boys), “The Highwomen” (The Highwomen), “I Remember Everything” (John Prine), “Reunions” (Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit), “The Spark” (William Prince), “You’re Still The One” (Teddy Swims)

Flying Lotus — “It Is What It Is” (Thundercat)

Andrew Watt — “Break My Heart” (Dua Lipa), “Me And My Guitar” (A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie), “Midnight Sky” (Miley Cyrus), “Old Me” (5 Seconds Of Summer), “Ordinary Man” (Ozzy Osbourne Featuring Elton John), “Take What You Want” (Post Malone Featuring Ozzy Osbourne & Travis Scott), “Under The Graveyard” (Ozzy Osbourne)

Best Remixed Recording

“Do You Ever (Rac Mix)” — Rac, Remixer (Phil Good)

“Imaginary Friends (Morgan Page Remix)” — Morgan Page, Remixer (Deadmau5)

“Praying for You (Louie Vega Main Remix)” — Louie Vega, Remixer (Jasper Street Co.)

“Roses (Imanbek Remix)” — Imanbek Zeikenov, Remixer (Saint Jhn)

“Young & Alive (Bazzi Vs. Haywyre Remix)” — Haywyre, remixer (Bazzi)

Field 26 – Production, Immersive Audio

Best Immersive Audio Album

N/A: Due 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.”

Field 27 – Production, Classical

Best Engineered Album, Classical

“Danielpour: The Passion Of Yeshua” — Bernd Gottinger, engineer (JoAnn Falletta, James K. Bass, Adam Luebke, UCLA Chamber Singers, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra & Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus)

“Gershwin: Porgy And Bess” — David Frost & John Kerswell, engineers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer (David Robertson, Eric Owens, Angel Blue, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus)

“Hynes: Fields” — Kyle Pyke, engineer; Jesse Lewis & Kyle Pyke, mastering engineers (Devonté Hynes & Third Coast Percussion)

“Ives: Complete Symphonies” — Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, engineers; Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, mastering engineers (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic)

“Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, ‘Babi Yar’” — David Frost & Charlie Post, engineers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer (Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra)

Producer of the Year, Classical

Blanton Alspaugh

David Frost

Jesse Lewis

Dmitriy Lipay

Elaine Martone

Field 28 – Classical

Best Orchestral Performance

“Aspects of America – Pulitzer Edition” Carlos Kalmar, conductor (Oregon Symphony)

“Concurrence” — Daníel Bjarnason, conductor (Iceland Symphony Orchestra)

“Copland: Symphony No. 3” — Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)

“Ives: Complete Symphonies” — Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)

“Lutosławski: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3” — Hannu Lintu, conductor (Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra)

Best Opera Recording

“Dello Joio: The Trial at Rouen” — Gil Rose, conductor; Heather Buck & Stephen Powell; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Odyssey Opera Chorus)

“Floyd, C.: Prince of Players” — William Boggs, conductor; Keith Phares & Kate Royal; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; Florentine Opera Chorus)

“Gershwin: Porgy and Bess” — David Robertson, conductor; Angel Blue & Eric Owens; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)

“Handel: Agrippina” — Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor; Joyce DiDonato; Daniel Zalay, producer (Il Pomo D’Oro)

“Zemlinsky: Der Zwerg” — Donald Runnicles, conductor; David Butt Philip & Elena Tsallagova; Peter Ghirardini & Erwin Stürzer, producers (Orchestra Of The Deutsche Oper Berlin; Chorus Of The Deutsche Oper Berlin)

Best Choral Performance

“Carthage” — Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)

“Danielpour: The Passion of Yeshua” — JoAnn Falletta, conductor; James K. Bass & Adam Luebke, chorus masters (James K. Bass, J’Nai Bridges, Timothy Fallon, Kenneth Overton, Hila Plitmann & Matthew Worth; Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus & UCLA Chamber Singers)

“Kastalsky: Requiem” — Leonard Slatkin, conductor; Charles Bruffy, Steven Fox & Benedict Sheehan, chorus masters (Joseph Charles Beutel & Anna Dennis; Orchestra Of St. Luke’s; Cathedral Choral Society, The Clarion Choir, Kansas City Chorale & The Saint Tikhon Choir)

“Moravec: Sanctuary Road” — Kent Tritle, conductor (Joshua Blue, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Dashon Burton, Malcolm J. Merriweather & Laquita Mitchell; Oratorio Society Of New York Orchestra; Oratorio Society Of New York Chorus)

“Once Upon a Time” — Matthew Guard, conductor (Sarah Walker; Skylark Vocal Ensemble)

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance

“Contemporary Voices” — Pacifica Quartet

“Healing Modes” — Brooklyn Rider

“Hearne, T.: Place” — Ted Hearne, Steven Bradshaw, Sophia Byrd, Josephine Lee, Isaiah Robinson, Sol Ruiz, Ayanna Woods & Place Orchestra

“Hynes: Fields” — Devonté Hynes & Third Coast Percussion

“The Schumann Quartets” — Dover Quartet

Best Classical Instrumental Solo

“Adès: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra” — Kirill Gerstein; Thomas Adès, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)

“Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas” — Igor Levit

“Bohemian Tales” — Augustin Hadelich; Jakub Hrůša, conductor (Charles Owen; Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks)

“Destination Rachmaninov – Arrival” Daniil Trifonov; Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)

“Theofanidis: Concerto for Viola and Chamber Orchestra” — Richard O’Neill; David Alan Miller, conductor (Albany Symphony)

Best Classical Solo Vocal Album

“American Composers at Play” — William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Lori Laitman, John Musto Stephen Powell (Attacca Quartet, William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Lori Laitman, John Musto, Charles Neidich & Jason Vieaux)

“Clairières – Songs by Lili & Nadia Boulanger” — Nicholas Phan; Myra Huang, accompanist

“Farinelli” — Cecilia Bartoli; Giovanni Antonini, conductor (Il Giardino Armonico)  “A Lad’s Love” — Brian Giebler; Steven McGhee, accompanist (Katie Hyun, Michael Katz, Jessica Meyer, Reginald Mobley & Ben Russell)

“Smyth: The Prison” — Sarah Brailey & Dashon Burton; James Blachly, conductor (Experiential Chorus; Experiential Orchestra)

Best Classical Compendium

“Adès Conducts Adès” — Mark Stone & Christianne Stotijn; Thomas Adès, conductor; Nick Squire, producer

“Saariaho: Graal Théâtre; Circle Map; Neiges; Vers Toi Qui Es Si Loin” — Clément Mao-Takacs, conductor; Hans Kipfer, producer

“Serebrier: Symphonic Bach Variations; Laments And Hallelujahs; Flute Concerto” — José Serebrier, conductor; Jens Braun, producer

“Thomas, M.T.: From The Diary of Anne Frank & Meditations on Rilke” — Isabel Leonard; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Jack Vad, producer

“Woolf, L.P.: Fire And Flood” — Matt Haimovitz; Julian Wachner, conductor; Blanton Alspaugh, producer

Best Contemporary Classical Composition

“Adès: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra” — Thomas Adès, composer (Kirill Gerstein, Thomas Adès & Boston Symphony Orchestra)

“Danielpour: The Passion of Yeshua” — Richard Danielpour, composer (JoAnn Falletta, James K. Bass, Adam Luebke, UCLA Chamber Singers, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra & Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus)

“Floyd, C.: Prince of Players” — Carlisle Floyd, composer (William Boggs, Kate Royal, Keith Phares, Florentine Opera Chorus & Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra)

“Hearne, T.: Place” — Ted Hearne, composer (Ted Hearne, Steven Bradshaw, Sophia Byrd, Josephine Lee, Isaiah Robinson, Sol Ruiz, Ayanna Woods & Place Orchestra)

“Rouse: Symphony No. 5” — Christopher Rouse, composer (Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)

Field 29 – Music Video/Film

Best Music Video

“Brown Skin Girl” — Beyoncé, Blue Ivy & WizKid — Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Jenn Nkiru, Video Directors; Lauren Baker, Astrid Edwards, Nathan Scherrer & Erinn Williams, Video Producers

“Life Is Good” — Future Featuring Drake — Julien Christian Lutz, Video Director; Harv Glazer, Video Producer

“Lockdown” — Anderson .Paak — Dave Meyers, Video Director; Nathan Scherrer, Video Producer

“Adore You” — Harry Styles — Dave Meyers, Video Director; Nathan Scherrer, Video Producer

“Goliath” — Woodkid — Yoann Lemoine, video director

Best Music Film

“Beastie Boys Story” — Beastie Boys — Spike Jonze, video director; Amanda Adelson, Jason Baum & Spike Jonze, video producers

“Black Is King” — Beyoncé

“We Are Freestyle Love Supreme” — Freestyle Love Supreme — Andrew Fried, Video Director; Andrew Fried, Jill Furman, Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sarina Roma, Jenny Steingart & Jon Steingart, video producers

“Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” — Linda Ronstadt — Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman, video directors; Michele Farinola & James Keach, video producers

“That Little Ol’ Band From Texas” — ZZ Top — Sam Dunn, video director; Scot McFadyen, video producer

2020 Billboard Music Awards: Post Malone is the top winner

October 14, 2020

Post Malone at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles (Photo by Todd Williamson/NBC)

The following is a press release from Dick Clark Productions and NBC:

Post Malone swept the “2020 Billboard Music Awards” (BBMAs), winning a total of nine awards, including Top Artist and Top Male Artist – the most of the evening – bringing his total number of BBMA wins to 10. Echoing the theme of “Music Unites All’ throughout the night Malone said “music can bring everyone together, it’s absolutely incredible.” Airing tonight from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, the BBMAs opened with an unforgettable performance by three-time host Kelly Clarkson, who brought down the house with Whitney Houston’s version of “Higher Love,” joined by two-time BBMA nominees Pentatonix and queen of percussion Sheila E. 

Khalid followed Post Malone for the most wins of the night with five, including Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Album, and Top R&B Song. Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus tied for the third most wins, with both artists recognized for their hit “Old Town Road” in the Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Selling Song, and Top Rap Song categories. Billie Eilish took home three awards including Top New Artist and Top Female Artist. Winners in the fan-voted categories were: BTS (Top Social Artist), Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s “Señorita” (Top Collaboration) and Harry Styles (Billboard Chart Achievement Award).

Rapper and social activist Killer Mike was honored with the inaugural Billboard Change Maker Award from the historic APEX (African American Panoramic Experience) Museum in Atlanta, GA. The award, which honors an artist or group that speaks truth to power through music, celebrity, and community and is active in their community and charitable with time, money, or influence to improve the lives of others, was presented by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. NBC and MRC teamed up to deposit $1M to Killer Mike’s recently established digital bank, Greenwood.  

Cher made an appearance on the star-studded night to present Garth Brooks with the elite ICON Award, followed by his incredible performance of multiple chart-topping hits that was nothing short of iconic.

The night was full of spectacular performances: 

  • All the way from South Korea, K-Pop supergroup BTS gave an electrifying performance of “Dynamite,” their first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100
  • Demi Lovato gave a chills inducing world premiere performance of her timely and powerful new song “Commander in Chief” 
  • Post Malone delivered a soaring performance of his hits “Circles” and “Tommy Lee” featuring Tyla Yahweh, showing everyone why he took home nine awards
  • Alicia Keys made a long-awaited return to the BBMA stage for a dazzling perform of her latest single “Love Looks Better” 
  • Brandy made her BBMA performance debut and treated fans to her hit “Borderline” along with her new single “No Tomorrow” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, and “Almost Doesn’t Count” 
  • Bad Bunny was joined by surprise guests Nesi and Ivy Queen for “Yo Perreo Sola” for his dynamic and exciting BBMA performance debut
  • In her first BBMA performance, Doja Cat set the stage aflame with a dramatic medley of “Juicy,” “Say So,” and “Like That” 
  • EGOT-winner and multi-platinum singer-songwriter John Legend gave an emotional performance of “Never Break” 
  • Kane Brown, Khalid and Swae Lee tore up the stage with an energetic performance of their hit “Be Like That” 
  • In a rare appearance, Sia delivered a powerful moment with her song “Courage to Change” 
  • On the heels of one of his three wins, Luke Combs gave a moving performance of “Better Together” 
  • Breakout artist SAINt JHN, in his television debut, performed his global smash hit “Roses” 
  • And in this year’s Billboard throwback, iconic group En Vogue closed the evening with an empowering performance of their huge hit “Free Your Mind,” which first stormed the charts 30 years ago

In a tribute to legendary guitarist, musician, and songwriter Eddie Van Halen, the show featured a clip from the 2015 BBMAs when his son Wolfgang took the stage with him for a rare live tv performance. Presenters throughout the evening included Addison Rae, Cher, Garcelle Beauvais, Jane Lynch, Jay Ellis, Jharrel Jerome, Julia Michaels, Lilly Singh, Nicole Richie, Spencer X, Taraji P. Henson, TwinsthenewTrend (Fred & Tim Williams), and tWitch.

“Billboard Music Awards” nominees and winners are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring and social engagement, tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including MRC Data/Nielsen Music. The awards are based on the chart period of March 23, 2019, through March 14, 2020. Since 1940, the Billboard charts have been the go-to guide for ranking the popularity of artists, songs and albums, and are the ultimate measure of success in music.

The “2020 Billboard Music Awards” are sponsored by TikTok and Xfinity. The “2020 Billboard Music Awards” are produced by dick clark productions. Amy Thurlow, Mark Bracco, Barry Adelman, Linda Gierahn, Kelly Clarkson, and Robert Deaton are executive producers.

For the latest news on the Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs) visit billboardmusicawards.com and  www.billboard.com/bbma. For exclusive content and more, be sure to follow the BBMAs on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube) and join the conversation by using the official hashtag for the show, #BBMAs.

About Dick Clark Productions:
Dick Clark Productions (DCP) is the world’s largest producer and proprietor of televised live event entertainment programming with the “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “American Music Awards,” “Billboard Music Awards,” “Golden Globe Awards,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest,” and the “Streamy Awards.” Weekly television programming includes “So You Think You Can Dance” from 19 Entertainment and DCP. DCP also owns one of the world’s most extensive and unique entertainment archive libraries with more than 60 years of award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances, and legendary programming. DCP is part of MRC Live & Alternative, a division of diversified global entertainment company MRC. For additional information, visit www.mrcentertainment.com


Here is the complete list of nominations and winners:

*=winner

ARTIST AWARDS

Top Artist:
Billie Eilish
Jonas Brothers
Khalid
Post Malone*
Taylor Swift

Top New Artist:
DaBaby
Billie Eilish*
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
Roddy Ricch

Billboard Chart Achievement Award (Fan Voted):
Mariah Carey
Luke Combs
Lil Nas X
Harry Styles*
Taylor Swift

Top Male Artist:
DaBaby
Khalid
Lil Nas X
Post Malone*
Ed Sheeran

Top Female Artist:
Billie Eilish*
Ariana Grande
Halsey
Lizzo
Taylor Swift

Top Duo/Group:
BTS
Dan + Shay
Jonas Brothers*
Maroon 5
Panic! At The Disco

Top Billboard 200 Artist:
Drake
Billie Eilish
Khalid
Post Malone*
Taylor Swift

Top Hot 100 Artist:
DaBaby
Billie Eilish
Khalid
Lil Nas X
Post Malone*

Top Streaming Songs Artist:
DaBaby
Billie Eilish
Lil Nas X
Post Malone*
Travis Scott

Top Song Sales Artist:
Billie Eilish
Lil Nas X
Lizzo*
Post Malone
Taylor Swift

Top Radio Songs Artist:
Jonas Brothers*
Khalid
Lizzo
Shawn Mendes
Post Malone

Top Social Artist (Fan Voted):
BTS*
Billie Eilish
EXO
GOT7
Ariana Grande

Top Touring Artist:
Elton John
Metallica
P!nk*
The Rolling Stones
Ed Sheeran

Top R&B Artist:
Chris Brown
Khalid*
Lizzo
Summer Walker
The Weeknd

Top R&B Male Artist:
Chris Brown
Khalid*
The Weeknd

Top R&B Female Artist:
Beyoncé
Lizzo
Summer Walker*

Top R&B Tour:
B2K
Janet Jackson
Khalid*

Top Rap Artist:
DaBaby
Juice WRLD
Lil Nas X
Post Malone*
Roddy Ricch

Top Rap Male Artist:
DaBaby
Lil Nas X
Post Malone*

Top Rap Female Artist:
Cardi B*
City Girls
Megan Thee Stallion

Top Rap Tour:
Drake
Post Malone*
Travis Scott

Top Country Artist:
Kane Brown
Luke Combs*
Dan + Shay
Maren Morris
Thomas Rhett

Top Country Male Artist:
Kane Brown
Luke Combs*
Thomas Rhett

Top Country Female Artist:
Maren Morris*
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood

Top Country Duo/Group:
Dan + Shay*
Florida Georgia Line
Old Dominion

Top Country Tour:
Eric Church
Florida Georgia Line
George Strait*

Top Rock Artist:
Imagine Dragons
Panic! At The Disco*
Tame Impala
Tool
twenty one pilots

Top Rock Tour:
Elton John*
Metallica
The Rolling Stones

Top Latin Artist:
Anuel AA
Bad Bunny*
J Balvin
Ozuna
Romeo Santos

Top Dance/Electronic Artist:
Avicii
The Chainsmokers*
DJ Snake
Illenium
Marshmello

Top Christian Artist:
Lauren Daigle*
Elevation Worship
for KING & COUNTRY
Hillsong UNITED
Kanye West

Top Gospel Artist:
Kirk Franklin
Koryn Hawthorne
Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Sunday Service Choir
Kanye West*

ALBUM AWARDS

Top Billboard 200 Album:
Billie Eilish “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”*
Ariana Grande “thank u, next”
Khalid “Free Spirit”
Post Malone “Hollywood’s Bleeding”
Taylor Swift “Lover”

Top Soundtrack:
“Aladdin”
“Descendants 3”
“Frozen II”*
“K-12” by Melanie Martinez 
“The Dirt” by Mötley Crüe

Top R&B Album:
Beyoncé “Homecoming: The Live Album”
Justin Bieber “Changes”
Chris Brown “Indigo”
Khalid “Free Spirit”*
Summer Walker “Over It”

Top Rap Album:
DaBaby “KIRK”
Juice WRLD “Death Race For Love”
Post Malone “Hollywood’s Bleeding”*
Roddy Ricch “Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial”
Young Thug “So Much Fun”

Top Country Album:
Kane Brown “Experiment”
Luke Combs “What You See Is What You Get”*
Maren Morris “GIRL”
Thomas Rhett “Center Point Road”
Morgan Wallen “If I Know Me”

Top Rock Album:
The Lumineers “III”
Slipknot “We Are Not Your Kind”
Tame Impala “The Slow Rush”
Tool “Fear Inoculum”*
Vampire Weekend “Father of the Bride”

Top Latin Album:
J Balvin & Bad Bunny “Oasis”*
Farruko “Gangalee”
Maluma “11:11”
Romeo Santos “Utopía”
Sech “Sueños”

Top Dance/Electronic Album:
Avicii “TIM”
The Chainsmokers “World War Joy”
Illenium “Ascend”
Marshmello “Marshmello: Fortnite Extended Set”*
Alan Walker “Different World”

Top Christian Album:
Bethel Music “Victory: Recorded Live”
Casting Crowns “Only Jesus”
Hillsong UNITED “People”
Skillet “Victorious”
Kanye West “Jesus is King”*

Top Gospel AlbumL
Kirk Franklin “Long Live Love”
Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers “Goshen”
William McDowell “The Cry: A Live Worship Experience”
Sunday Service Choir “Jesus Is Born”
Kanye West “Jesus is King”*

SONG AWARDS

Top Hot 100 Song:
Lewis Capaldi “Someone You Loved”
Billie Eilish “bad guy”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”*
Lizzo “Truth Hurts”
Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello “Señorita”

Top Streaming Song:
Chris Brown ft. Drake “No Guidance”
Billie Eilish “bad guy”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”*
Lil Tecca “Ran$om”
Post Malone & Swae Lee “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)”

Top Selling Song:
Lewis Capaldi “Someone You Loved”
Billie Eilish “bad guy”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”*
Lizzo “Truth Hurts”
Blake Shelton “God’s Country”

Top Radio Song:
Lewis Capaldi “Someone You Loved”
Jonas Brothers “Sucker”*
Khalid “Talk”
Lizzo “Truth Hurts”
Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber “I Don’t Care”

Top Collaboration (Fan Voted):
Chris Brown ft. Drake “No Guidance”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello “Señorita”*
Post Malone & Swae Lee “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)”
Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber “I Don’t Care”

Top R&B Song:
Chris Brown ft. Drake “No Guidance”
Doja Cat & Tyga “Juicy”
Khalid “Talk”*
Lizzo “Good As Hell”
The Weeknd “Heartless”

Top Rap Song:
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”*
Lil Tecca “Ran$om”
Lizzo “Truth Hurts”
Post Malone & Swae Lee “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)”
Post Malone “Wow.”

Top Country Song:
Dan + Shay with Justin Bieber “10,000 Hours”*
Maren Morris “The Bones”
Old Dominion “One Man Band”
Blake Shelton “God’s Country”
Morgan Wallen “Whiskey Glasses”

Top Rock Song:
Imagine Dragons “Bad Liar”
Machine Gun Kelly x YUNGBLUD x Travis Barker “I Think I’m Okay”
Panic! At The Disco “Hey Look Ma, I Made It”*
twenty one pilots “Chlorine”
twenty one pilots “The Hype”

Top Latin Song:
Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee, Karol G, Ozuna & J Balvin “China”
Bad Bunny & Tainy “Callaita”
Daddy Yankee ft. Snow “Con Calma”*
Jhay Cortez, J Balvin, & Bad Bunny “No Me Conoce”
Sech ft. Darell, Nicky Jam, Ozuna, Anuel AA “Otro Trago”

Top Dance/Electronic Song:
Black Eyed Peas x J Balvin “Ritmo (Bad Boys For Life)”
Ellie Goulding x Diplo ft. Swae Lee “Close To Me”*
Illenium & Jon Bellion “Good Things Fall Apart”
Kygo x Whitney Houston “Higher Love”
Marshmello ft. CHVRCHES “Here With Me”

Top Christian Song:
Bethel Music, Jonathan David Helser & Melissa Helser “Raise A Hallelujah”
Casting Crowns ft. Matthew West “Nobody”
Lauren Daigle “Rescue”
for KING & COUNTRY “God Only Knows”*
Kanye West “Follow God”

Top Gospel Song:
Kirk Franklin “Love Theory”
Kanye West “Closed on Sunday”
Kanye West “Follow God”*
Kanye West “On God”
Kanye West “Selah”

2020 Billboard Music Awards: Post Malone is the top nominee

September 22, 2020

Post Malone (Photo courtesy of ABC/Image Group LA) 

The following is a press release from Dick Clark Productions and NBC:

Dick Clark Productions and NBC today announced the nominees for the “2020 Billboard Music Awards,” which honor the year’s most successful artists in 55 categories across all genres of music. Rapper Post Malone leads the pack with 16 Billboard Music Award (BBMA) nods, followed by first-time nominees Lil Nas X with 13 and Billie Eilish with 12. BBMA winner Khalid ties Eilish with 12 nominations. Other nominees and possible record-breakers include first-time nominee Lizzo (11), KanyeWest (9), TaylorSwift (6), and JustinBieber (4).

The “2020 Billboard Music Awards,” hosted by Kelly Clarkson, will broadcast live from The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

This year’s awards are based on the chart period of March 23, 2019 through March 14, 2020, set for the originally scheduled April 29, 2020 show, which was postponed due to the pandemic. The original eligibility period will remain intact to recognize and honor the chart-topping artists and musical successes achieved and to maintain consistent tracking periods for future shows. 

Post Malone earned nominations in coveted categories including Top Artist, Top Male Artist and Top Billboard 200 Artist, notching a total of 16 nods and only narrowly missing his personal record of 17 nominations in 2019. He is also a double nominee in the Top Rap Song category. Lil Nas X received 13 nominations, with nods in many of the same categories, including Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist and Top Hot 100 Artist. Khalid and Billie Eilish are tied for third-most nominations this year with 12 each, marking Eilish’s BBMA nominations debut. Lizzo received a total of 11 nominations, including Top New Artist, and Kanye West follows with 9, including a quadruple nomination in the Top Gospel Song category. 

Fan-voted categories this year include Billboard Chart Achievement Award, Top Social Artist and Top Collaboration. Voting opens on October 1, 2020 and will be available on TikTok, this year’s primary voting platform, reflecting its increasing impact on music and role as a staging ground for chart-topping hits.

2020 TOP FIVE NOMINEE CHART FACTS:

Post Malone (16) Billboard Music Award-winner Post Malone continues to dominate Billboard’s charts, thanks in large part to the smash success of his 2019 album Hollywood’s Bleeding. The set debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart and never left the weekly top 20 in its entire first year of release. The album was so hot, it generated more streams than any other album in the U.S. in 2019, with over 3 billion audio on-demand streams earned for its songs that year according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. Hollywood’s Bleeding houses five top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including the No. 1s “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse)” and “Circles,” with both proving to be so popular, they each spent more than a year on the tally. “Circles” was such a sustained hit, while it first hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in November of 2019, it lingered in the weekly top 10 on the Hot 100 until May of 2020, logging a record-setting 39 total weeks in the top 10.

Lil Nas X (13) Lil Nas X made quite an impression with his debut hit “Old Town Road,” as the track broke the record for the most weeks at No. 1 ever on the Hot 100 chart. The tune, enhanced by a remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, shattered the long-standing record for the most weeks atop the chart in its 60-plus-year history, spending 19 weeks at No. 1 in 2019. It surpassed the previous record-holders, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber, and Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day,” each with 16 weeks at No. 1. Lil Nas X followed up his success with two more top 40 hits on the Hot 100: “Panini” and “Rodeo.” He also launched his debut EP 7, which bowed at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Billie Eilish (12) More than a year after Billie Eilish debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with her album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, the album has yet to leave the weekly top 40. The set has spent a total of three nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the list, and spun off Eilish’s first Hot 100 No. 1 single, “Bad Guy.” She closed out 2019 with another top 10 hit, “Everything I Wanted” (peaking at No. 8) and then got 2020 off to a fine start with the latest James Bond film theme song, “No Time to Die” (No. 16), from the upcoming film of the same name. In early 2020, Eilish tied Beck and Alanis Morissette for the most No. 1s on the Alternative Songs airplay chart, when “Everything I Wanted” became her third leader on the tally.  

Khalid (12) 2018’s Billboard Music Award winner for top new artist celebrated his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 in 2019 with Free Spirit, and its top five-charting Hot 100 hit “Talk.” Free Spirit also ruled the Top R&B Albums chart for 12 weeks, and never left the weekly top 10 of the list from its debut in April of 2019 on through the first half of 2020. Further, upon the debut of Free Spirit, Khalid dominated that week’s Hot R&B Songs chart, placing 16 songs on the 25-position tally – including the entire top five.

Lizzo (11 ) In 2019, Lizzo’s barnstorming single “Truth Hurts” ruled the Billboard Hot 100 chart for seven weeks, while it spent 11 weeks atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The success of the track helped its parent album Cuz I Love You reach the top five on the Billboard 200 albums chart. She followed “Truth” with another smash, “Good as Hell,” which topped out at No. 3 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Kanye West (9) Five-time Billboard Music Award winner Kanye West has been a consistent chart topper for years, having earned eight consecutive No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart between 2005 and 2018. In 2019, West garnered yet another No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 with Jesus Is King, and also his first No. 1 on the Top Gospel Albums and Top Christian Albums chart. The effort also snared West a top 10 hit on the Hot 100 with “Follow God,” which has spent 37 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Gospel Songs chart.

“Billboard Music Awards” nominees and winners are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring and social engagement, tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including MRC Data/Nielsen Music. Since 1940, the Billboard charts have been the go-to guide for ranking the popularity of artists, songs and albums, and are the ultimate measure of success in music.

The “2020 Billboard Music Awards” is produced by Dick Clark Productions. Amy Thurlow, Mark Bracco, Barry Adelman, Linda Gierahn, Kelly Clarkson and Robert Deaton are executive producers.

For the latest news on the Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs) visit billboardmusicawards.com and  www.billboard.com/bbma. For exclusive content and more, be sure to follow the BBMAs on social media and join the conversation by using the official hashtag for the show, #BBMAs. 

Twitter:@BBMAs | FacebookFB.com/TheBBMAs | Instagram@bbmas
Snapchatthebbmas | TikTok: @bbmas | YouTubeyoutube.com/bbmas
About dick clark productions:

Dick Clark Productions (DCP) is the world’s largest producer and proprietor of televised live event entertainment programming with the “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “American Music Awards,” “Billboard Music Awards,” “Golden Globe Awards,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” and the “Streamy Awards.” Weekly television programming includes “So You Think You Can Dance” from 19 Entertainment and DCP. DCP also owns one of the world’s most extensive and unique entertainment archive libraries with more than 60 years of award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming. dcp is part of MRC Live & Alternative, a division of diversified global entertainment company MRC. For additional information, visit www.mrcentertainment.com

THE “2020 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS” NOMINEES:

NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY

ARTIST AWARDS

Top Artist:
Billie Eilish
Jonas Brothers
Khalid
Post Malone
Taylor Swift

Top New Artist:
DaBaby
Billie Eilish
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
Roddy Ricch

Billboard Chart Achievement Award (Fan Voted):
Mariah Carey
Luke Combs
Lil Nas X
Harry Styles
Taylor Swift

Top Male Artist:
DaBaby
Khalid
Lil Nas X
Post Malone
Ed Sheeran

Top Female Artist:
Billie Eilish
Ariana Grande
Halsey
Lizzo
Taylor Swift

Top Duo/Group:
BTS
Dan + Shay
Jonas Brothers
Maroon 5
Panic! At The Disco

Top Billboard 200 Artist:
Drake
Billie Eilish
Khalid
Post Malone
Taylor Swift

Top Hot 100 Artist:
DaBaby
Billie Eilish
Khalid
Lil Nas X
Post Malone

Top Streaming Songs Artist:
DaBaby
Billie Eilish
Lil Nas X
Post Malone
Travis Scott

Top Song Sales Artist:
Billie Eilish
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
Post Malone
Taylor Swift

Top Radio Songs Artist:
Jonas Brothers
Khalid
Lizzo
Shawn Mendes
Post Malone

Top Social Artist (Fan Voted):
BTS
Billie Eilish
EXO
GOT7
Ariana Grande

Top Touring Artist:
Elton John
Metallica
P!nk
The Rolling Stones
Ed Sheeran

Top R&B Artist:
Chris Brown
Khalid
Lizzo
Summer Walker
The Weeknd

Top R&B Male Artist:
Chris Brown
Khalid
The Weeknd

Top R&B Female Artist:
Beyoncé
Lizzo
Summer Walker

Top R&B Tour:
B2K
Janet Jackson
Khalid

Top Rap Artist:
DaBaby
Juice WRLD
Lil Nas X
Post Malone
Roddy Ricch

Top Rap Male Artist:
DaBaby
Lil Nas X
Post Malone

Top Rap Female Artist:
Cardi B
City Girls
Megan Thee Stallion

Top Rap Tour:
Drake
Post Malone
Travis Scott

Top Country Artist:
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Dan + Shay
Maren Morris
Thomas Rhett

Top Country Male Artist:
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett

Top Country Female Artist:
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood

Top Country Duo/Group:
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Old Dominion

Top Country Tour:
Eric Church
Florida Georgia Line
George Strait

Top Rock Artist:
Imagine Dragons
Panic! At The Disco
Tame Impala
Tool
twenty one pilots

Top Rock Tour:
Elton John
Metallica
The Rolling Stones

Top Latin Artist:
Anuel AA
Bad Bunny
J Balvin
Ozuna
Romeo Santos

Top Dance/Electronic Artist:
Avicii
The Chainsmokers
DJ Snake
Illenium
Marshmello

Top Christian Artist:
Lauren Daigle
Elevation Worship
for KING & COUNTRY
Hillsong UNITED
Kanye West

Top Gospel Artist:
Kirk Franklin
Koryn Hawthorne
Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Sunday Service Choir
Kanye West

ALBUM AWARDS

Top Billboard 200 Album:
Billie Eilish “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”
Ariana Grande “thank u, next”
Khalid “Free Spirit”
Post Malone “Hollywood’s Bleeding”
Taylor Swift “Lover”

Top Soundtrack:
“Aladdin”
“Descendants 3”
“Frozen II”
“K-12” by Melanie Martinez 
“The Dirt” by Mötley Crüe

Top R&B Album:
Beyoncé “Homecoming: The Live Album”
Justin Bieber “Changes”
Chris Brown “Indigo”
Khalid “Free Spirit”
Summer Walker “Over It”

Top Rap Album:
DaBaby “KIRK”
Juice WRLD “Death Race For Love”
Post Malone “Hollywood’s Bleeding”
Roddy Ricch “Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial”
Young Thug “So Much Fun”

Top Country Album:
Kane Brown “Experiment”
Luke Combs “What You See Is What You Get”
Maren Morris “GIRL”
Thomas Rhett “Center Point Road”
Morgan Wallen “If I Know Me”

Top Rock Album:
The Lumineers “III”
Slipknot “We Are Not Your Kind”
Tame Impala “The Slow Rush”
Tool “Fear Inoculum”
Vampire Weekend “Father of the Bride”

Top Latin Album:
J Balvin & Bad Bunny “Oasis”
Farruko “Gangalee”
Maluma “11:11”
Romeo Santos “Utopía”
Sech “Sueños”

Top Dance/Electronic Album:
Avicii “TIM”
The Chainsmokers “World War Joy”
Illenium “Ascend”
Marshmello “Marshmello: Fortnite Extended Set”
Alan Walker “Different World”

Top Christian Album:
Bethel Music “Victory: Recorded Live”
Casting Crowns “Only Jesus”
Hillsong UNITED “People”
Skillet “Victorious”
Kanye West “Jesus is King”

Top Gospel AlbumL
Kirk Franklin “Long Live Love”
Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers “Goshen”
William McDowell “The Cry: A Live Worship Experience”
Sunday Service Choir “Jesus Is Born”
Kanye West “Jesus is King”

SONG AWARDS

Top Hot 100 Song:
Lewis Capaldi “Someone You Loved”
Billie Eilish “bad guy”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Lizzo “Truth Hurts”
Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello “Señorita”

Top Streaming Song:
Chris Brown ft. Drake “No Guidance”
Billie Eilish “bad guy”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Lil Tecca “Ran$om”
Post Malone & Swae Lee “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)”

Top Selling Song:
Lewis Capaldi “Someone You Loved”
Billie Eilish “bad guy”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Lizzo “Truth Hurts”
Blake Shelton “God’s Country”

Top Radio Song:
Lewis Capaldi “Someone You Loved”
Jonas Brothers “Sucker”
Khalid “Talk”
Lizzo “Truth Hurts”
Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber “I Don’t Care”

Top Collaboration (Fan Voted):
Chris Brown ft. Drake “No Guidance”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello “Señorita”
Post Malone & Swae Lee “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)”
Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber “I Don’t Care”

Top R&B Song:
Chris Brown ft. Drake “No Guidance”
Doja Cat & Tyga “Juicy”
Khalid “Talk”
Lizzo “Good As Hell”
The Weeknd “Heartless”

Top Rap Song:
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Lil Tecca “Ran$om”
Lizzo “Truth Hurts”
Post Malone & Swae Lee “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)”
Post Malone “Wow.”

Top Country Song:
Dan + Shay with Justin Bieber “10,000 Hours”
Maren Morris “The Bones”
Old Dominion “One Man Band”
Blake Shelton “God’s Country”
Morgan Wallen “Whiskey Glasses”

Top Rock Song:
Imagine Dragons “Bad Liar”
Machine Gun Kelly x YUNGBLUD x Travis Barker “I Think I’m Okay”
Panic! At The Disco “Hey Look Ma, I Made It”
twenty one pilots “Chlorine”
twenty one pilots “The Hype”

Top Latin Song:
Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee, Karol G, Ozuna & J Balvin “China”
Bad Bunny & Tainy “Callaita”
Daddy Yankee ft. Snow “Con Calma”
Jhay Cortez, J Balvin, & Bad Bunny “No Me Conoce”
Sech ft. Darell, Nicky Jam, Ozuna, Anuel AA “Otro Trago”

Top Dance/Electronic Song:
Black Eyed Peas x J Balvin “Ritmo (Bad Boys For Life)”
Ellie Goulding x Diplo ft. Swae Lee “Close To Me”
Illenium & Jon Bellion “Good Things Fall Apart”
Kygo x Whitney Houston “Higher Love”
Marshmello ft. CHVRCHES “Here With Me”

Top Christian Song:
Bethel Music, Jonathan David Helser & Melissa Helser “Raise A Hallelujah”
Casting Crowns ft. Matthew West “Nobody”
Lauren Daigle “Rescue”
for KING & COUNTRY “God Only Knows”
Kanye West “Follow God”

Top Gospel Song:
Kirk Franklin “Love Theory”
Kanye West “Closed on Sunday”
Kanye West “Follow God”
Kanye West “On God”
Kanye West “Selah”

NOMINATIONS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER (BY FIRST NAME):

“Aladdin” (1): Top Soundtrack
Alan Walker (1): Top Dance/Electronic Album
Anuel AA (3): Top Latin Artist, Top Latin Song (x2)
Ariana Grande (3): Top Female Artist, Top Social Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album
Avicii (2): Top Dance/Electronic Artist, Top Dance/Electronic Album
B2K (1): Top R&B Tour
Bad Bunny (4): Top Latin Artist, Top Latin Album, Top Latin Song (x2)
Bethel Music (2): Top Christian Album, Top Christian Song
Beyoncé (2): Top R&B Female Artist, Top R&B Album
Billie Eilish (12): Top Artist, Top New Artist, Top Female Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Social Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Selling Song
Billy Ray Cyrus (5): Top Collaboration, Top Rap Song, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Selling Song
Black Eyed Peas (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song
Blake Shelton (2): Top Selling Song, Top Country Song
BTS (2): Top Duo/Group, Top Social Artist
Camila Cabello (2): Top Hot 100 Song, Top Collaboration
Cardi B (1): Top Rap Female Artist
Carrie Underwood (1): Top Country Female Artist
Casting Crowns (2): Top Christian Album, Top Christian Song
Chris Brown (6): Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Male Artist, Top R&B Album, Top Streaming Song, Top Collaboration, Top R&B Song
CHVRCHES (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song
City Girls (1): Top Rap Female Artist
DaBaby (7): Top New Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Male Artist, Top Rap Album
Daddy Yankee (2): Top Latin Song (x2)
Dan + Shay (4): Top Duo/Group, Top Country Artist, Top Country Duo/Group, Top Country Song
Darell (1): Top Latin Song
“Descendants 3” (1): Top Soundtrack
Diplo (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song
DJ Snake (1): Top Dance/Electronic Artist
Doja Cat (1): Top R&B Song
Donald Lawrence (1): Top Gospel Album
Drake (5): Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Rap Tour, Top R&B Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Collaboration
Ed Sheeran (4): Top Male Artist, Top Touring Artist, Top Radio Song, Top Collaboration
Elevation Worship (1): Top Christian Artist
Ellie Goulding (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song
Elton John (2): Top Touring Artist, Top Rock Tour
Eric Church (1): Top Country Tour
EXO (1): Top Social Artist
Farruko (1): Top Latin Album
Florida Georgia Line (2): Top Country Duo/Group, Top Country Tour
for KING & COUNTRY (2): Top Christian Artist, Top Christian Song
“Frozen II” (1): Top Soundtrack
George Strait (1): Top Country Tour
GOT7 (1): Top Social Artist
Halsey (1): Top Female Artist
Harry Styles (1): Billboard Chart Achievement Award
Hillsong UNITED (2): Top Christian Artist, Top Christian Album
Illenium (3): Top Dance/Electronic Artist, Top Dance/Electronic Album, Top Dance/Electronic Song
Imagine Dragons (2): Top Rock Artist, Top Rock Song
J Balvin (5):  Top Latin Artist, Top Latin Album, Top Latin Song (x2), Top Dance/Electronic Song
Janet Jackson (1): Top R&B Tour
Jhay Cortez (1): Top Latin Song
Jon Bellion (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song
Jonas Brothers (4): Top Artist, Top Duo/Group, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top Radio Song
Jonathan David Helser (1): Top Christian Song
Juice WRLD (2): Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Album
Justin Bieber (4): Top R&B Album, Top Radio Song, Top Collaboration, Top Country Song
Kacey Musgraves (1): Top Country Female Artist
Kane Brown (3): Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, Top Country Album
Kanye West (9): Top Christian Artist, Top Gospel Artist, Top Christian Album, Top Gospel Album, Top Christian Song, Top Gospel Song (x4)
Karol G (1): Top Latin Song
Khalid (12): Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Male Artist, Top R&B Tour, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top R&B Album, Top Radio Song, Top R&B Song
Kirk Franklin (3): Top Gospel Artist, Top Gospel Album, Top Gospel Song
Koryn Hawthorne (1): Top Gospel Artist
Kygo (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song
Lauren Daigle (2): Top Christian Artist, Top Christian Song
Lewis Capaldi (3): Top Hot 100 Song, Top Selling Song, Top Radio Song
Lil Nas X (13): Top New Artist, Billboard Chart Achievement Award, Top Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Selling Song, Top Collaboration, Top Rap Song
Lil Tecca (2): Top Streaming Song, Top Rap Song
Lizzo (11): Top New Artist, Top Female Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Female Artist, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Selling Song, Top Radio Song, Top R&B Song, Top Rap Song
Luke Combs (4): Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, Top Country Album, Billboard Chart Achievement Award
Machine Gun Kelly (1): Top Rock Song
Maluma (1): Top Latin Album
Maren Morris (4): Top Country Artist, Top Country Female Artist, Top Country Album, Top Country Song
Mariah Carey (1): Billboard Chart Achievement Award
Maroon 5 (1): Top Duo/Group
Marshmello (3): Top Dance/Electronic Artist, Top Dance/Electronic Album, Top Dance/Electronic Song
Matthew West (1): Top Christian Song
Megan Thee Stallion (1): Top Rap Female Artist
Melanie Martinez (1): Top Soundtrack
Melissa Helser (1): Top Christian Song
Metallica (2): Top Touring Artist, Top Rock Tour
Morgan Wallen (2): Top Country Album, Top Country Song
Mötley Crüe (1): Top Soundtrack
Nicky Jam (1): Top Latin Song
Old Dominion (2): Top Country Duo/Group, Top Country Song
Ozuna (3): Top Latin Artist, Top Latin Song (x2)
P!nk (1): Top Touring Artist
Panic! At The Disco (3): Top Duo/Group, Top Rock Song, Top Rock Artist
Post Malone (16): Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Male Artist, Top Rap Tour, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Rap Album, Top Streaming Song, Top Collaboration, Top Rap Song (x2)
Roddy Ricch (3): Top New Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Album
Romeo Santos (2): Top Latin Artist, Top Latin Album
Sech (2): Top Latin Album, Top Latin Song
Shawn Mendes (3): Top Radio Songs Artist, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Collaboration
Skillet (1): Top Christian Album
Slipknot (1): Top Rock Album
Snow (1): Top Latin Song
Summer Walker (3): Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Female Artist, Top R&B Album
Sunday Service Choir (2): Top Gospel Artist, Top Gospel Album
Swae Lee (4): Top Streaming Song, Top Collaboration, Top Rap Song, Top Dance/Electronic Song
Tame Impala (2): Top Rock Artist, Top Rock Album
Tasha Cobbs Leonard (1): Top Gospel Artist
Tainy (1): Top Latin Song
Taylor Swift (6): Top Artist, Billboard Chart Achievement Award, Top Female Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album           
The Chainsmokers (2): Top Dance/Electronic Artist, Top Dance/Electronic Album
The Lumineers (1): Top Rock Album
The Rolling Stones (2): Top Touring Artist, Top Rock Tour
The Weeknd (3): Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Male Artist, Top R&B Song
Thomas Rhett (3): Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, Top Country Album
Tool (2): Top Rock Artist, Top Rock Album
Travis Barker (1): Top Rock Song
Travis Scott (2): Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Rap Tour
twenty one pilots (3): Top Rock Artist, Top Rock Song (x2)
Tyga (1): Top R&B song
Vampire Weekend (1): Top Rock Album
Whitney Houston (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song
William McDowell (1): Top Gospel Album
Young Thug (1): Top Rap Album
YUNGBLUD (1): Top Rock Song


NOMINATIONS BY NUMERICAL ORDER:

Post Malone (16): Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Male Artist, Top Rap Tour, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Rap Album, Top Streaming Song, Top Collaboration, Top Rap Song (x2)
Lil Nas X (13): Top New Artist, Billboard Chart Achievement Award, Top Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Selling Song, Top Collaboration, Top Rap Song                                             
Billie Eilish (12): Top Artist, Top New Artist, Top Female Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Social Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Selling Song                                                      
Khalid (12): Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Male Artist, Top R&B Tour, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top R&B Album, Top Radio Song, Top R&B Song                                                         
Lizzo (11): Top New Artist, Top Female Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Female Artist, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Selling Song, Top Radio Song, Top R&B Song, Top Rap Son         
Kanye West (9): Top Christian Artist, Top Gospel Artist, Top Christian Album, Top Gospel Album, Top Christian Song, Top Gospel Song (x4)                                  
DaBaby (7): Top New Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Male Artist, Top Rap Album            
Chris Brown (6): Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Male Artist, Top R&B Album, Top Streaming Song, Top Collaboration, Top R&B Song                            
Taylor Swift (6): Top Artist, Billboard Chart Achievement Award, Top Female Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album
Billy Ray Cyrus (5): Top Collaboration, Top Rap Song, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Selling Song   
Drake (5): Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Rap Tour, Top R&B Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Collaboration
J Balvin (5): Top Latin Artist, Top Latin Album, Top Latin Song (x2), Top Dance/Electronic Song    
Bad Bunny (4): Top Latin Artist, Top Latin Album, Top Latin Song (x2)     
Dan + Shay (4): Top Duo/Group, Top Country Artist, Top Country Duo/Group, Top Country Song             
Ed Sheeran (4): Top Male Artist, Top Touring Artist, Top Radio Song, Top Collaboration
Jonas Brothers (4): Top Artist, Top Duo/Group, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top Radio Song  
Justin Bieber (4): Top R&B Album, Top Radio Song, Top Collaboration, Top Country Song
Luke Combs (4): Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, Top Country Album Billboard Chart Achievement Award
Maren Morris   (4): Top Country Artist, Top Country Female Artist, Top Country Album, Top Country Song
Swae Lee (4): Top Streaming Song, Top Collaboration, Top Rap Song, Top Dance/Electronic Song
Anuel AA (3): Top Latin Artist, Top Latin Song (x2)                                         
Ariana Grande (3): Top Female Artist, Top Social Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album           
Illenium (3): Top Dance/Electronic Artist, Top Dance/Electronic Album, Top Dance/Electronic Song
Kane Brown (3): Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, Top Country Album
Kirk Franklin (3): Top Gospel Artist, Top Gospel Album, Top Gospel Song
Lewis Capaldi (3): Top Hot 100 Song, Top Selling Song, Top Radio Song                         
Marshmello (3): Top Dance/Electronic Artist, Top Dance/Electronic Album, Top Dance/Electronic Song 
Ozuna (3): Top Latin Artist, Top Latin Song (x2)                                                 
Panic! At The Disco (3): Top Duo/Group, Top Rock Song, Top Rock Artist
Roddy Ricch (3): Top New Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Album  
Shawn Mendes (3): Top Radio Songs Artist, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Collaboration   
Summer Walker (3): Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Female Artist, Top R&B Album              
The Weeknd (3): Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Male Artist, Top R&B Song
Thomas Rhett (3): Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, Top Country Album          
twenty one pilots (3): Top Rock Artist, Top Rock Song (x2)
Avicii (2): Top Dance/Electronic Artist, Top Dance/Electronic Album
Blake Shelton (2): Top Selling Song, Top Country Song                               
Bethel Music    (2): Top Christian Album, Top Christian Song                         
Beyoncé (2): Top R&B Female Artist, Top R&B Album                                          
BTS (2): Top Duo/Group, Top Social Artist                                                                 
Camila Cabello (2): Top Hot 100 Song, Top Collaboration                                               
Casting Crowns (2): Top Christian Album, Top Christian Song     
Daddy Yankee (2): Top Latin Song (x2)
Elton John (2): Top Touring Artist, Top Rock Tour                                              
Florida Georgia Line (2): Top Country Duo/Group, Top Country Tour
for KING & COUNTRY (2): Top Christian Artist, Top Christian Song                  
Hillsong UNITED (2): Top Christian Artist, Top Christian Album                                       
Imagine Dragons (2): Top Rock Artist, Top Rock Song                
Juice WRLD (2): Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Album             
Lauren Daigle (2): Top Christian Artist, Top Christian Song         
Lil Tecca (2): Top Streaming Song, Top Rap Song                                                
Metallica (2): Top Touring Artist, Top Rock Tour                                                   
Morgan Wallen (2): Top Country Album, Top Country Song                                       
Old Dominion (2): Top Country Duo/Group, Top Country Song                               
Romeo Santos (2): Top Latin Artist, Top Latin Album                 
Sech (2): Top Latin Album, Top Latin Song                                                          
Sunday Service Choir (2): Top Gospel Artist, Top Gospel Album  
Tame Impala (2): Top Rock Artist, Top Rock Album 
The Chainsmokers (2): Top Dance/Electronic Artist, Top Dance/Electronic Album                                    
The Rolling Stones (2): Top Touring Artist, Top Rock Tour
Tool (2): Top Rock Artist, Top Rock Album                                                              
Travis Scott (2): Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Rap Tour                                             
“Aladdin”(1): Top Soundtrack                                                                     
Alan Walker (1): Top Dance/Electronic Album                                                                  
B2K (1): Top R&B Tour                                                                                                 
Black Eyed Peas (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song                                                             
Cardi B (1): Top Rap Female Artist                                                                         
Carrie Underwood (1): Top Country Female Artist                                           
CHVRCHES (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song                                                               
City Girls (1): Top Rap Female Artist                                                 
Darell (1): Top Latin Song                                                                          
“Descendants 3” (1): Top Soundtrack   
Diplo (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song                                                                    
DJ Snake (1): Top Dance/Electronic Artist                                                                
Doja Cat (1): Top R&B Song
Donald Lawrence (1): Top Gospel Album                                                                      
Elevation Worship (1): Top Christian Artist                                                         
Ellie Goulding (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song                                                               
Eric Church (1): Top Country Tour                                                                         
EXO (1): Top Social Artist                                                                                              
Farruko (1): Top Latin Album                                                                        
“Frozen II” (1): Top Soundtrack 
George Strait (1): Top Country Tour                                                                              
GOT7 (1): Top Social Artist                                                                               
Halsey (1): Top Female Artist                                                                                           
Harry Styles (1): Billboard Chart Achievement Award                                               
Janet Jackson (1): Top R&B Tour                                                                          
Jhay Cortez (1): Top Latin Song                                                                                     
Jon Bellion (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song                                                                   
Jonathan David Helser (1): Top Christian Song                                                     
Kacey Musgraves (1): Top Country Female Artist                                                   
Karol G (1): Top Latin Song                                                                                
Koryn Hawthorne (1): Top Gospel Artist                                                                             
Kygo (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song                                                                             
Machine Gun Kelly (1): Top Rock Song                                                                          
Maluma (1): Top Latin Album                                                                              
Mariah Carey (1): Billboard Chart Achievement Award                                                  
Maroon 5 (1): Top Duo/Group                                                                                           
Matthew West (1): Top Christian Song                                                                         
Megan Thee Stallion (1): Top Rap Female Artist                                                            
Melanie Martinez (1): Top Soundtrack                                                                          
Melissa Helser (1): Top Christian Song                                                                          
Mötley Crüe (1): Top Soundtrack                                                                         
Nicky Jam (1): Top Latin Song                                                                                            
P!nk (1): Top Touring Artist                                                          
Skillet (1): Top Christian Album                                                                                     
Slipknot (1): Top Rock Album                                                                                
Snow (1): Top Latin Song                                                                                                   
Tainy (1): Top Latin Song
Tasha Cobbs Leonard (1): Top Gospel Artist      
The Lumineers (1): Top Rock Album                                                                     
Travis Barker (1): Top Rock Song                                                                                 
Tyga (1): Top R&B SongVampire Weekend (1): Top Rock Album                                                                        
Whitney Houston (1): Top Dance/Electronic Song             
William McDowell (1): Top Gospel Album                         
Young Thug (1): Top Rap Album                                                                        
YUNGBLUD (1): Top Rock Song       

2020 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARD NOMINEE STATISTICS 

• 2020 NOMINATIONS FAST FACTS 
• ALL-TIME RECORD HOLDERS BY CATEGORY 
• TOP BBMA WINNERS OF ALL TIME (1990–2019) 


2020 NOMINATIONS FAST FACTS 

“POST MALONE LEADS WITH 16 NOMINATIONS, THE MOST OF ANY ARTIST THIS YEAR” 

  • In addition to receiving the most nominations (16), rapper/singer/songwriter Post Malone is also nominated in more categories than any other artist this year (15), including Top Artist, Top Male Artist and Top Hot 100 Artist. He is nominated twice in the Top Rap Song category with “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” and “Wow.” 

“IF POST MALONE SWEEPS IN ALL HIS CATEGORIES, HE WILL TIE WITH WHITNEY HOUSTON FOR 16 TOTAL WINS AND SURPASS MARIAH CAREY AND BEYONCE” 

  • 2018 Billboard Music Award winner for Top Rap Song, Post Malone, could tie with Whitney Houston for total wins of all time (16) if he takes home the trophies in all his categories this year. Drake still holds the record for most wins of all time (27), followed by Taylor Swift (23). 

“POST MALONE COULD BREAK DRAKE’S RECORD FOR MOST WINS IN A SINGLE NIGHT”

  • Post Malone leads for the most nominations this year (16), followed by Lil Nas X (13). Both artists have the chance to surpass or tie Drake’s 2017 record (13) for the artist with the most wins in a single night.

“TAYLOR SWIFT COULD BREAK DRAKE’S RECORDFOR MOST WINS BY ANY ARTIST OF ALL TIME”

  • Taylor Swift is nominated in six categories this year. If she wins in at least 5 of these categories, she could break Drake’s record for most wins by any artist of all time (27).  

“KANYE WEST COULD WIN HIS FIRST BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARD IN A GOSPEL AND/OR CHRISTIAN CATEGORY. HE ALSO EARNED 4 NOMINATIONS WITHIN A SINGLE CATEGORY — TOP GOSPEL SONG”

  • Kanye West has the sixth-most nominations this year (9) with first-time nominations in the Christian and Gospel categories, including Top Christian Artist, Top Gospel Artist, Top Christian Album, Top Gospel Album, Top Christian Song and 4 nominations within the Top Gospel Song category. He is also up against his own Sunday Service Choir for Top Gospel Artist.

“BILLIE EILISH, LIL NAS X, LIZZO, HARRY STYLES AND JONAS BROTHERS COULD WIN THEIR FIRST-EVER BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARD THIS YEAR AS FIRST-TIME NOMINEES” 

  • Billie Eilish scored the third-most nominations with 12, including Top Artist, Top New Artist, Top Female Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist and Top Selling Song. She could receive her first-ever Billboard Music Award at this year’s show.
  • Lil Nas X is a first-time nominee and racked up the second-most nominations with 13, including Top New Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Rap Artist and Top Hot 100 Song. The “Old Town Road” artist could ride into the sunset with his first-ever Billboard Music Award at this year’s show. 
  • Lizzo is feeling “good as hell” as a first-time nominee, scoring 11 nominations, including Top New Artist, Top Female Artist, Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Song, Top Rap Song and Top Selling Song, among others. She could receive her first-ever Billboard Music Award at this year’s show.
  • Harry Styles is a first-time nominee as a solo artist with a nomination in the Billboard Chart Achievement Award category. He could walk away with his first-ever Billboard Music Award at this year’s show. 
  • Jonas Brothers are first-time nominees with 4 nominations in the categories of Top Artist, Top Duo/Group, Top Radio Songs Artist and Top Radio Song. The brothers could collect their first-ever Billboard Music Award at this year’s show. 

ALL-TIME RECORD HOLDERS BY CATEGORY: 
TOP ARTIST 
50 CentAdele, Drake, Garth BrooksDestiny’s ChildTaylor Swift and Usher are tied for the most wins in this category with 2 wins. Taylor Swift is nominated again this year, giving her the chance to have the most wins in this category should she take home the trophy.

TOP MALE ARTIST 
Justin Bieber and Drake are tied for most wins (2) in this category after Drake took home his second trophy in 2019. Ed Sheeran currently has 1 win for Top Male Artist and is nominated again this year, giving him the chance to tie Bieber and Drake with 2 wins.

TOP FEMALE ARTIST 
Taylor Swift leads with 3 wins in this category.  Taylor is nominated again this year and will become the most decorated Top Female Artist with 4 wins in this category should she take home the award. Ariana Grande took home her first Top Female Artist trophy in 2019 and is nominated again this year. If she wins, she would tie with Adele with 2 awards in this category.

TOP DUO OR GROUP 
BTS won this category for the first time in 2019 and they are nominated again this year. If they win, BTS would tie with Imagine Dragons with 2 wins for Top Duo or Group. Dan + Shay, Jonas Brothers, Maroon 5 and Panic! At The Disco are also nominees this year and could be first-time winners in this category should any take home the trophy.  One Direction currently holds the record with 3 wins in this category. The group previously won in 2013, 2015 and 2016. 

TOP R&B ARTIST 
R. Kelly has the most wins (4) for Top R&B Artist. He won the category in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2001. Usher follows with 3 wins in 1998, 2004 and most recently in 2011. In 2019, XXXTENTACION received a posthumous nomination in this category, where Ella Mai ultimately won. This year, Chris Brown, Khalid, Lizzo, Summer Walker and The Weeknd are nominated in this category.

TOP RAP ARTIST 
Drake took home this award in 2016, 2017, and now leads for most wins in this category with 3, after his 2019 win. Eminem and protégé 50 Cent are tied in this category with 2 wins each. Eminem won Top Rap Artist in 2011 and 2014, while 50 Cent won the award twice, years before his mentor, in 2003 and 2005. This year, it could be the first win in this category for nominees DaBaby, Juice WRLD, Lil Nas X, Post Malone and Roddy Ricch.

TOP COUNTRY ARTIST 
Garth Brooks has won this award three times in 1991, 1993 and 1998. Luke Combs became a first time Top Country Artist winner after taking home the trophy in 2019, and could notch his second win in this category this year. Dan + Shay were nominated in 2019 and again this year, along with Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett and Kane Brown

TOP ROCK ARTIST 
twenty one pilots and Imagine Dragons were tied for the most wins with 2 each, but the latter became the record holder for most wins in this category after their 2019 win. This year, twenty one pilots has the chance to tie again should they win. Also nominated in this category are Panic! At The Disco, Tame Impala and Tool.

TOP LATIN ARTIST 
Currently tied with 2 wins each, Ozuna or Romeo Santos could set a record for most wins for Top Latin Artist, should either receive a trophy this year. Ozuna took home the award for Top Latin Artist in 2018 and again in 2019. Romeo Santos previously won Top Latin Artist back-to-back in 2015 and 2016. Anuel AABad Bunny and J Balvin are also nominated this year.

TOP CHRISTIAN ARTIST 
LaurenDaigle and Chris Tomlin are currently tied with 2 wins each in this category. Tomlin previously won in 2011 and 2014. Daigle took home the award in 2017 and again in 2019. She could be the Top Christian Artist of all time with 3 wins in this category, if she receives a trophy this year. She is up against Kanye West, who is a first-time nominee in this category, as well as Elevation Worshipfor KING & COUNTRY, and Hillsong UNITED

TOP GOSPEL ARTIST 
Kirk Franklin could break his own record, currently leading with 2 wins in this category in 2016 and 2017. Franklin is nominated again this year and will become the most decorated Top Gospel Artist with 3 wins in this category should he take home the award. Tasha Cobbs Leonard won in 2019 and is nominated again this year. If she wins, she will tie with Kirk Franklin with 2 wins for Top Gospel Artist. Kanye West and his Sunday Service Choir are also nominated for the first time in this category.

TOP DANCE/ELECTRONIC ARTIST 
The Chainsmokers held on to their record for most wins in this category. The duo took home their third award and broke their own record after their 2019 win, and could win a fourth trophy this year. Also nominated in this category are Avicii, DJ Snake, Illenium and Marshmello.

TOP BBMA WINNERS OF ALL TIME (1990–2019): 
 1. Drake – 27 wins total; Top Rap Artist (2016); Top Artist (2017); Top Billboard 200 Artist (2017); Top Billboard 200 Album (2017); Top Rap Artist (2017); Top Male Artist (2017); Top Rap Album (2017); Top Hot 100 Artist (2017); Top Song Sales Artist (2017); Top Streaming Songs Artist (2017); Top Rap Tour (2017); Top Streaming Song [Audio] (2017); Top R&B Song (2017), Top R&B Collaboration (2017); Top Billboard 200 Artist (2018), Top Artist (2019), Top Male Artist (2019), Top Billboard 200 Artist (2019), Top Hot 100 Artist (2019), Top Streaming Songs Artist (2019), Top Song Sales Artist (2019), Top Radio Songs Artist (2019), Top Rap Artist (2019), Top Rap Male Artist (2019), Top Billboard 200 Album (2019), Top Rap Album (2019), Top Streaming Song (Video) (2019) 

2. Taylor Swift – 23 wins total; Top Billboard 200 Artist (2011); Top Country Artist (2011); Top Country Album (2011); Woman of the Year (2012); Top Artist (2013); Top Female Artist (2013); Top Billboard 200 Artist (2013); Top Digital Songs Artist (2013); Top Country Artist (2013); Top Billboard 200 Album (2013); Top Country Album (2013); Top Country Song (2013); Top Artist (2015); Top Female Artist (2015); Top Billboard 200 Artist (2015); Top Hot 100 Artist (2015); Top Digital Songs Artist (2015); Top Billboard 200 Album (2015); Top Streaming Song [Video] (2015); Billboard Chart Achievement Award (2015); Top Touring Artist (2016); Top Female Artist (2018); Top Selling Album (2018) 

3. Justin Bieber – 20 wins total; Top New Artist (2011); Top Social Artist (2011); Top Streaming Artist (2011); Top Digital Artist (2011); Top Pop Album (2011); Top Streaming Song, [Video] (2011); Billboard.com Fan Favorite Award (2011); Top Social Artist (2012); Milestone Award (2013); Top Male Artist (2013); Top Social Artist (2013); Top Social Artist (2014); Top Social Artist (2015); Top Male Artist (2016); Top Social Media Artist (2016); Top Hot 100 Song (2018); Top Streaming Song [Video] (2018); Top Selling Song (2018); Top Collaboration (2018); Top Latin Song (2018) 

4. Garth Brooks – 19 wins total; #1 Albums Artist (1991); #1 Country Album (1991); #1 Country Singles Artists (1991); #1 Country Artist (1991); #1 Country Albums Artist (1991); # 1 Pop Artist (1992); #1 Country Artist (1993); #1 Pop Artist (1993); #1 Country Singles Artist (1993); #1 Country Albums Artist (1993); Country Album of the Year (1995); Artist Achievement Award (1997); Country Artist of the Year (1998); Country Album of the Year (1998); Male Album of the Year (1998); Male Albums Artist of the Year (1998); Country Singles Artist of the Year (1998); Country Albums Artist of the Year (1998); Male Artist of the Decade (1999) 

5. Adele – 18 wins total; Top Billboard 200 Album (2012); Top Pop Album (2012); Top Artist (2012); Top Female Artist (2012); Top Billboard 200 Artist (2012); Top Hot 100 Artist (2012); Top Digital Songs Artist (2012); Top Radio Songs Artist (2012); Top Digital Media Artist (2012); Top Pop Artist (2012); Top Streaming Song [Audio] (2012); Top Alternative Song (2012); Top Pop Album (2013); Top Artist (2016); Top Female Artist (2016); Top Billboard 200 Artist (2016); Top Billboard 200 Album (2016); Top Selling Song (2016) 

Usher – 18 wins total; Artist of the Year (1998); R&B Artist of the Year (1998); Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year (1998); Artist of the Year (2004); R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year (2004); Hot 100 Artist of the Year (2004); Hot 100 Single of the Year (2004); Mainstream Top 40 Artist of the Year (2004); Mainstream Top 40 Single of the Year (2004); Billboard 200 Album of the Year (2004); R&B/Hip-Hop Album of the Year (2004); R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Artist of the Year (2004); Billboard 200 Artist of the Year (2004); Hot 100 Airplay Single of the Year (2004); Rap Song of the Year (2005); Top R&B Artist (2011); Top R&B Song (2011); Top R&B Album (2011) 

6. Whitney Houston – 16 wins total; #1 R&B Singles Artist (1991); #1 R&B Albums Artist (1991); #1 R&B Artist (1991); #1 R&B Album (1991); #1 Hot 100 Singles Artist (1993); #1 Hot 100 Single (1993); Single With Most Weeks at #1 (1993); #1 R&B Single (1993); #1 R&B Singles Artist (1993); #1 R&B Album (1993); #1 World Artist (1993); #1 World Single (1993); #1 Album (1993); #1 Soundtrack Album (1993); #1 Album With Most Weeks at No. 1 (1993); Billboard Millennium Award (2012) 

7. Mariah Carey – 15 wins total; #1 Hot 100 Singles Artist (1991); #1 Album (1991); #1 Adult Contemporary Artist (1991); #1 Pop Artist (1991); #1 Female Artist (1994); Special Hot 100 Singles Award – Most Weeks at No. 1 on The Billboard Hot 100 (1996); Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year (1996); Special Billboard Hot 100 Award for the most No.1s ever by a female artist (1998); Female Artist of the Decade (1999); Hot 100 Song of the Year (2005); Hot 100 Airplay of the Year (2005); Female R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year (2005); Female Billboard 200 Album Artist of the Year (2005); Rhythmic Top 40 Title of the Year (2005), ICON Award (2019) 

8. Beyoncé – 13 wins total; Hot 100 Female Artist of the Year (2003); New R&B Artist of the Year (2003); New Female Artist of the Year (2003); Special Hot 100 Award for Most Weeks at No. 1 (2003); Billboard Millennium Award (2011); Top R&B Album (2012); Top Female Artist (2017); Top Touring Artist (2017); Top R&B Artist (2017); Top R&B Tour (2017); Top R&B Album (2017), Top R&B Tour (2019), Top Rap Tour (2019) 

9. R. Kelly – 12 wins total; #1 R&B Artist (1994); R&B Artist of the Year (1996); R&B Artist of the Year (1999); R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year (2001); R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Artist of the Year (2001); R&B/Hip-Hop Album of the Year (2001); R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Artist of the Year (2001); R&B/Hip-Hop Single of the Year (2001); Hot 100 Producer of the Year (2003); R&B Producer of the Year (2003); Hot 100 Songwriter of the Year (2003); R&B Songwriter of the Year (2003) 

Rihanna – 12 wins total; Female Artist of the Year (2006); Female Hot 100 Artist of the Year (2006); Pop 100 Artist of the Year (2006); Top Female Artist (2011); Top Radio Songs Artist (2011); Top Rap Song (2011); Top Streaming Artist (2012); Top Radio Songs Artist (2013); Top R&B Artist (2013); Top R&B Album (2013); Top R&B Song (2013); Billboard Chart Achievement Award (2016) 

10. Janet Jackson – 11 wins total; #1 Hot 100 Singles Artist (1990); #1 R&B Artist (1990); #1 R&B Singles Artist (1990); #1 R&B Albums Artist (1990); #1 Dance Club Play Artist (1990); #1 Hot Dance 12-inch Singles Sales Artist (1990); #1 R&B Album (1990); #1 Pop Album (1990); Artist Achievement Award (1995); Artist Achievement Award (2001); ICON Award (2018) 

Carrie Underwood – 11 wins total; Country Single Sales Artist of the Year (2005), Top-Selling Country Single of the Year (2005), Top-Selling Hot 100 Song of the Year (2005), Album of the Year (2006), Country Album of the Year (2006), Female Billboard 200 Albums Artist of the Year (2006), Female Country Artist of the Year (2006), New Country Artist of the Year (2006), Milestone Award (2014), Top Christian Song (2015), Top Country Female Artist (2019)

Review: ‘Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert,’ starring Paul Tollett, Raymond Roker, Dani Lindstrom, Stacey Vee, Perry Farrell, Ice Cube and Diplo

April 10, 2020

by Carla Hay

Beyoncé in “Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert” (Photo courtesy of YouTube Originals)

“Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert” 

Directed by Chris Perkel

Culture Representation: This official documentary about the first 20 years of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (an annual event in Indio, California) includes interviews with a racially diverse group of Coachella employees, artists and other associates.

Culture Clash: Coachella was a money-losing festival in its first few years and has grown into a major money-making event in pop culture, even though some critics believe Coachella has become too trendy and high-priced.

Culture Audience: “Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert” will primarily appeal to music fans and people who want to learn more about Goldenvoice, the concert-promotion company behind Coachella.

The hologram of Tupac Shakur in “Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert” (Photo courtesy of YouTube Originals)

If you’re looking for shocking behind-the-scenes stories in the documentary “Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert,” then you’ll probably be disappointed. But this feel-good movie, directed by Chris Perkel, is a traditionally made chronicle of one the world’s most famous music festivals. The reason for this family-friendly portrayal of Coachella’s history (besides the fact that it’s available for free viewing on YouTube) is because Goldenvoice, the Los Angeles concert-promotion company behind Coachella, is one of the production companies that made this movie. In other words, this is not really an investigative documentary as much as it is a feature-length promotional video for Coachella.

Although some people in the movie talk about the festival’s early problems, there is absolutely no criticism of Coachella. Pretty much everyone who’s interviewed in the film gives praise to Coachella is some way. The movie’s biggest strengths are the musical performances that are in the film, as well as some interesting tidbits of information that aren’t very surprising, since most of the information in the movie has already been revealed in previous media coverage of Coachella.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, like most pop-culture phenomena, didn’t start out as something that people immediately thought would be a hit. The festival was launched in 1999, the same year that large-scale music festivals got a very bad name because of the disastrous Woodstock ’99 Festival, which ended with riots, arson, assaults and thefts. The first Coachella, which took place in October 1999, was announced the Monday after Woodstock ’99 (which took place in August in upstate New York) got a lot of backlash for ending in such a catastrophe. And the site for Coachella was an unorthodox risk—the Empire Polo Club in the desert city of Indio, California, which is about 128 miles east of Los Angeles.

According to Goldenvoice president/Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett (the person with the most screen time in the movie), Coachella had two things going for it that most other large-scale music festivals did not: The promise of a laid-back California vibe and California’s sunny weather, which made the chances very slim that Coachella would be plagued by the kind of rain that often wreaks havoc on festivals that are east of California.

Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) founder Pasquale Rotella, who says his business models for EDC and his other festivals were heavily influenced by Coachella, had this to say: “Some people who see Coachella now think, ‘Oh, that’s a no-brainer.’ Coachella is beautiful now [but] it was difficult. It took the concert promoter Goldenvoice several years to make it happen. And if it wasn’t for Goldenvoice’s roots, I don’t think Coachella would be what it is today.

“Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert” is divided into five chapters, with two chapters focused on specific music genres: “Chapter One: Origins,” “Chapter Two: The Early Years”; “Chapter Three: The Rise of Robots” (focusing on electronic dance music); “Chapter Four: The New Beats” (focusing on hip-hop); and “Chapter Five: The Next Generation.”

“Chapter One: Origins” has the history of the early years of Goldenvoice, which Gary Tovar launched in 1981 as an independent concert-promotion company whose specialty was booking punk and alternative rock bands at small venues in the Los Angeles area. Tovar says in the documentary: “When I started doing concerts, the punk rock that I did was too wild for some people.” Slamdancing and violence were very common at these shows, so many venues were reluctant to have shows that Goldenvoice was promoting.

By the mid-1980s, Goldenvoice’s influence grew to booking larger venues and helped launch the careers of acts such as Jane’s Addiction, Fishbone and Red Hot Chili Peppers. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, many of those acts had outgrown Goldenvoice, which was still mainly booking nightclubs and small theaters. But the relationships that Goldenvoice had with these artists were the foundation of what would become Coachella.

Tollett got his start booking ska shows in Pomona, California, in the mid-1980s. When he first met Goldenvoice’s Tovar, he thought Tovar would be an unfriendly rival, but “We hit it off instantly,” Tollett remembers. Later, “He gave me a box of flyers to pass out, and that was the first day that I worked at Goldenvoice.”

Dani Lindstrom, a longtime Goldenvoice employee, remembers that back in the late 1980s, the Goldenvoice office, which was located at the time above The Palladium, was “basically about five people booking shows.” Tollett adds that in the early 1990s, it looked like Goldenvoice was doing well, but the reality was that company was struggling financially.

And then, Goldenvoice experienced a major blow when Tovar was busted for what he describes in the documentary as his “side business”—smuggling and selling marijuana. In 1991, he was arrested and later sentenced to seven years in prison. The scandal effectively ended Tovar’s career as a concert promoter, but he refused to let Goldenvoice go bankrupt while he was in prison. Tovar sold the company to Goldenvoice employees Tollett and Rick Van Santen, who became presidents of the company.

The documentary names two events that also planted the seeds of Coachella. First, during Pearl Jam’s feud with Ticketmaster in 1993, the band was looking to do a gig in Southern California at a venue that wasn’t associated with Ticketmaster. Goldenvoice stepped in and booked Pearl Jam at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio. The concert was a sold-out success (25,000 people attended), and it put the concert industry on notice that a show of this size could be done without Ticketmaster.

The other important event that helped give birth to Coachella was Goldenvoice’s involvement in the Organic Festival for rave music. After bands like Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine became too big to book for Goldenvoice in the 1990s, Tollett says that the company began to focus more on booking rave acts. The concept of Coachella was for it to be a combination of a big rock festival and a rave party.

Moby, one of the performers at the first Coachella, says that he was one of the people who thought that bringing a “European-style festival to the U.S.” was an interesting idea, but at the time, he wasn’t sure if it was going to work in the California desert. Meanwhile, sound engineer Dave Rat of Rat Sound admits that he was one of many people who thought even the name Coachella was a bad idea at the time.

The documentary portrays Coachella as a groundbreaking large-scale U.S. music and arts festival for alternative rock and other artists whose careers were helped by college radio, but the movie doesn’t properly acknowledge that Lollapalooza had the same concept and did it years before Coachella existed. Lollapolooza was a touring festival that began in 1991 and continued to 1997, and was resurrected in 2003. Lollapalooza was then revived in 2005 as a non-touring festival, with the U.S. edition taking place in Chicago. It’s obvious from the timeline of when Lollapalooza was on hiatus that Coachella was created to fill the void left by Lollapaolooza.

Jane’s Addiction lead singer Perry Farrell, who co-founded Lollapalooza and performed as a solo artist at the first Coachella, is interviewed in the documentary. As influential as Lollapalooza was in the 1990s, even Farrell acknowledges that Coachella has a much higher profile in the consciousness of the media and pop culture: “You’re going to be judged, man, when you hit the Coachella stage, and it’s going to be talked about for the rest of the year.”

“Chapter Two: The Early Years” is one of the more fascinating parts of the documentary because it covers the years that didn’t get the level of media attention that Coachella does now. The headliners at the first Coachella Festival (which was only a two-day event back then) included Beck, Morrissey (footage of his performance is in the documentary), Rage Against the Machine, the Chemical Brothers, Tool, Farrell and Ben Harper.

Tollett says that Coachella was such a financial disaster in its first year (he estimates the festival lost between $850,000 to $1 million) that he had his bank card taken away and “I got kicked out of a bank.” He adds that Coachella was able to continue because of Goldenvoice’s good relationships with people in the music industry. “The only reason why we were able to keep going was because we had a good reputation,” he says, adding that people such as Lollapalooza co-founders Don Muller and Marc Geiger lent money to Goldenvoice.

The financial losses of the first Coachella caused the festival to go on hiatus in 2000. But then, the financial fortunes of Goldenvoice changed in 2001, when the company was bought by AEG Live (now called AEG Presents) for about $7 million. Goldenvoice then became part of the AEG subsidiary Concerts West, with Tollett and Van Santen retaining their presidential roles at Goldenvoice. AEG had recently constructed the Staples Center arena and wanted to have a major festival as part of its portfolio, so the company gave the go-ahead for Goldenvoice to revive Coachella. And the rest is history.

The documentary then goes over some of the biggest highlights in those early Coachella years. In 2001, there was the reunion of Jane’s Addiction, which Tollett says largely happened because Van Santen convinced the band to get back together. But the festival had a serious garbage-disposal problem that year because, as Tollett says, they didn’t have enough trash cans on the site.

However, the reunion of Jane’s Addiction at Coachella set a precedent for Coachella being a leading festival for bands to stage reunions. Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA says in the documentary that seeing Rage Against the Machine’s 2007 reunion performance at Coachella was when he knew that Wu-Tang Clan would eventually do a reunion show at Coachella, which happened in 2013. Other artists who have done reunion performances at Coachella include N.W.A., Pixies, Guns N’Roses and OutKast.

Coachella in 2002 was “the first year we didn’t make a mistake,” Tollett says. That year, Björk became the first female artist to headline at Coachella. Goldenvoice employee Stacey Vee remembers that the early 2000s were a great time for alternative rock bands, and that only helped Coachella. The documentary includes footage of 2003 headliners the White Stripes.

The year 2004 was the first time that Coachella made a profit, according to Tollett. Radiohead, Pixies and Kraftwerk were among the headliners. In 2005, there was another big alt-rock reunion: Bauhaus, which included lead singer Peter Murphy entering the stage hanging upside down like a bat for the song “Bela Legosi’s Dead.” The movie has footage of this performance. The documentary includes interviews with Bauhaus members Murphy (in an audio interview), Daniel Ash and David J, who remembers that Bauhaus wanted to release live bats during the band’s performance but couldn’t because it was illegal.

It was in the mid-2000s that Coachella became a very hot ticket. Coachella culinary director Nic Adler remembers in the first few years of Coachella, Goldenvoice was literally giving away tickets to him and his co-workers to attend. By the sixth or seventh year of Coachella, he says, those free tickets stopped. “There was that switch in the festival where you literally saw it was something you had to do, something you had to be at,” Adler comments.

Coachella in 2006 was most memorable for Madonna’s performance, which was booked on such relatively short notice that she couldn’t perform on the already-booked main stage. Instead, she performed in the tent for electronic dance music (EDM) artists. The documentary includes footage of Madonna performing “Hung Up” in the tent. Madonna was the first superstar to perform at Coachella, according to Goldenvoice’s Raymond Roker, the former editor-in-chief/publisher of URB magazine.

However, Madonna at Coachella didn’t happen without some criticism, as some of Coachella’s early fans thought that the festival wasn’t supposed to be for major pop acts. But at this point, so many Hollywood celebrities were flocking to Coachella, that it was inevitable that the festival would start having artists with more mainstream appeal. The documentary has some backstage footage from the 2007 Coachella that briefly shows actor Danny DeVito posing for a picture with singer Amy Winehouse—that pretty much says it all. Hollywood actress Rosanna Arquette, who did backstage interviews for Coachella for several years, says in the documentary: “It was the most favorite job I’ve ever had in my life.”

“Chapter Three: The Rise of Robots” covers the importance of Coachella to EDM acts. While many festivals in the 2000s were afraid to have a rave-style atmosphere, Coachella embraced it and helped boost the careers of many EDM acts. Coachella also helped usher in the era of DJs and other EDM artists staging big productions for their shows, with elaborate lighting and stunning visuals.

Two EDM performances at Coachella are singled out as major milestones: Daft Punk in 2006 (when the group performed a very “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”-inspired outer-space-themed set) and Tiësto in 2010, when he became the first EDM artist to perform on Coachella’s main stage. Steve Aoki raves about Daft Punk’s 2006 Coachella performance: “It changed people’s lives, including mine, forever.” Jason Bentley adds, “Nothing was the same after that performance.”

This chapter also mentions that Coachella influenced how EDM acts began to have more high-tech productions. Paul van Dyk says, “I’m not scared of technology. It’s something I use as a tool.” Tiësto says that the rise of EDM also coincided with the rise of social media: “Social media made a big difference. As soon as Facebook and Instagram blew up, EDM blew up. For years [EDM music] was held down by the people who controlled the [mainstream] media.”

But EDM at Coachella isn’t just about elaborate light shows or movie-quality images on big screens. Also included in this chapter are commentaries from actor Idris Elba (who moonlights as a DJ) and Nina Kraviz, who praise the low-tech vibe of Coachella’s Yuma Stage, which doesn’t have any big screens. Meanwhile, Diplo says that even though headlining sets happen at night, “Sunset is the best time to play Coachella.”

“Chapter Four: The New Beats” covers the evolution of rap and hip-hop at Coachella. Goldenvoice’s Roker notes that in Coachella’s early years, the rap acts booked at the festival tended to be those that were played on college radio and had a largely white fan base. (Jurassic 5 is named as one example.) Roker says, “It took a while for the culture to merge.”

Coachella went from booking mostly independent rap acts to acts that had major crossover success on the pop charts. Kanye West (who showed up 20 minutes late for his first Coachella performance in 2006) is cited as one of the first major crossover rap acts to perform at Coachella. Jay-Z had the biggest breakthrough as the first rap act to headline at Coachella, which he did in 2010.

According to Tollett, Jay-Z was selected for the headlining spot after Goldenvoice promoters saw him perform as a replacement for headliner the Beastie Boys at the 2009 All Points West Festival, which was also a Goldenvoice show. When Jay-Z opened the show with the Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” (a rap song with a rock beat), the people at Goldenvoice knew that he could do a show that could appeal to Coachella’s audience, which consisted of mostly rock fans at the time.

As the 2010s became the decade that rap and hip-hop began to have more of a presence at Coachella, so too did social media. It was in this decade that Instagram became the main social-media platform for Coachella attendees to document their experiences and fashion choices. In 2011, YouTube began livestreaming Coachella for the first time.

By 2012, Coachella had become so popular (with the event usually selling out the first day it went on sale) that Goldenvoice did something that was truly groundbreaking at the time: Coachella was extended for a second weekend, with the same acts performing in the same time slots for each weekend. Tollett says that there were many naysayers to this idea at the time, but it turned out to be a major success and catapulted Coachella to become the world’s top-grossing festival, in terms of ticket sales. Although attendance numbers and ticket sales were not mentioned in the documentary, in 2017 (the last year that Coachella publicly reported this information), Coachella was attended by 250,000 people and grossed $114.6 million.

The year 2012 was also a milestone year for Coachella because it featured what Tollett calls “The single most popular thing that ever happened at Coachella.” During Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s performance at Coachella’s first weekend, a surprise hologram of the late Tupac Shakur appeared on stage and performed. The hologram made news worldwide and became a massive sensation on the Internet.

Dylan Brown, who created the hologram, explains in the documentary how precise the movements had to be, even down to raising an eyebrow on the hologram. “We just wanted to do it right. We wanted to be respectful to the [Shakur] family and to the fans.”

Roker adds that after this groundbreaking hologram performance, “The genie was never going back in the bottle. It established the show as part of popular culture.” Ice Cube, who was a peer of Shakur’s in the vital 1990s West Coast rap scene, comments on the Coachella hologram: “I was happy for [Dr. Dre] and happy for Tupac being able to be on stage.”

“Chapter Five: The Next Generation” covers how Coachella has evolved to stay relevant to the mostly young people who flock to the event. Gone are the days when alt-rock artists were the majority of the headliners. Coachella is now more diverse than ever before, with pop, hip-hop, Latino and Asian artists becoming more prevalent at Coachella, compared to the festival’s early years. Some of the artists highlighted via performance clips in this chapter include Ariana Grande, Travis Scott, Rosalía and Blackpink.

Roker comments on Coachella changing to fit trends in music: “That’s been the hardest pill to swallow for some of the older fans.” He notes that many of Coachella’s youngest stars share some common characteristics: “They’re coming with fashion, wealth, bravado and carefree aggression.”

As for the definitive Coachella performance in the late 2010s, people interviewed in the documentary mention Beyoncé’s show-stopping 2018 Coachella extravaganza, which was made into the 2019 Netflix documentary “Homecoming:  A Film by Beyoncé.” (She was also the first black woman to headline at Coachella.) Beyoncé’s performance was such a media sensation that fans affectionately renamed Coachella 2018 as “Beychella.”

Roker says of Beyoncé’s 2018 Coachella performance: “She was a woman on a mission. She came there with a script. The performance was a State of the Union for her, and she was going to deliver it.”

And the high profile of a Coachella performance means that artists often feel the need to surpass each other with elaborate productions. The documentary mentions Kanye West’s 2019 Sunday Service performance at Coachella (with hundreds of choir singers and dancers) as one of those over-the-top productions. Goldenvoice literally built a mountain on the field at his request, since a stage was too small for what West had in mind. Goldenvoice producer Jason Brown says that hundreds of trucks were needed to bring in all the dirt and grass to construct the mountain.

Coachella’s increasing diversity and its ability to evolve with the times (instead of sticking to the same musical formula from the festival’s early years) is ultimately one of the reasons why it will continue to thrive, according to artists interviewed in the documentary. Beck, one of the performers at the first Coachella, says about the festival: “If I’m in town, I usually go as a fan. It’s everything that’s happening in music at the moment.” Shepard Fairey adds that the musical variety of Coachella is its biggest draw: “It’s not one cohesive genre. It’s just more cohesive in the idea that ‘good is good.'”

And although headliners get the majority of the media attention at Coachella, most of the music fans at the festival are also there to discover new music or see lesser-known artists they wouldn’t normally see at a regular concert. Diplo, who’s performed at Coachella several times, comments on Coachella expanding beyond the festival’s original template of rock, EDM and some hip-hop: “It’s always been a festival for discovery anyway, so we’re reaching sort of a global cusp. Every year is a metamorphosis.”

“Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert” does a great job of covering the festival’s variety of music, and the concert footage is well-edited with very good sound mixing. (Try to watch this movie on the biggest screen possible.) But what’s missing from the documentary is any coverage of the “arts” at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. There have been many amazing art installations at Coachella over the years, so it would have made the documentary truly comprehensive if a little bit of time had been devoted to including a behind-the-scenes look at the festival’s art.

And curiously, the documentary doesn’t mention that Coachella co-founder Van Santen died in 2003, until a brief obituary dedication that’s flashed at the very end (“Rick Van Santen, 1961-2003”). In the documentary, the Goldenvoice people don’t talk about how Van Santen’s death (he passed away from flu complications) affected them and Coachella. Maybe it was too much of a downer for this documentary, which clearly wants to present only a positive and upbeat side to Coachella.

Since this is a Goldenvoice-produced documentary, it comes as no surprise that there’s also no mention about Coachella’s controversies, such as complaints of overcrowding and sexual harassment of attendees. Despite Coachella’s ongoing problems that this documentary doesn’t really want to address, the festival has undoubtedly become a major part of pop culture.

As pop star Billie Eilish says in the beginning of the documentary: “Everybody knows what Coachella is. If you don’t care about music, you know [about Coachella].”  Goldenvoice’s Roker has this conclusion about Coachella’s evolution: “The fact that it represents a fuller picture of culture, that’s the bottom line.”

YouTube Originals premiered “Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert” on April 10, 2020.

 

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One World: Together at Home worldwide TV event honoring coronavirus health workers will include appearances by Elton John, Paul McCartney, John Legend, Lady Gaga, Chris Martin, Lizzo and more

April 6, 2020

Updated April 14, 2020

Lady Gaga (Photo by Erik Voake/Coachella)

The following is a press release from ABC:

Building on the success of the digital series “One World: Together at Home,” Global Citizen and the World Health Organization (WHO) are partnering for a special one-night event of the same name to air across NBC, ABC, CBS and other global networks and platforms on  Saturday, April 18, 2020 (8:00-10:00 p.m. PT/ET).

“One World: Together at Home” is not a telethon – but rather a global broad entertainment special to celebrate the heroic efforts of community health workers and support the World Health Organization and the global fight to end COVID-19. The event is curated by Lady Gaga and will feature exclusive appearances by Alanis Morissette, Andrea Bocelli, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Burna Boy, Chris Martin, David Beckham, Eddie Vedder, Elton John, FINNEAS, Idris and Sabrina Elba, Alanis Morissette, Andrea Bocelli, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong, J Balvin, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Kerry Washington, Lang Lang, Lizzo, Maluma, Paul McCartney, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Shah Rukh Khan and Stevie Wonder. Friends of Sesame Street will also be on hand to help unify and inspire people around the world.

The two-hour program will be hosted by a trio of network late-night hosts: Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert and will include performances from the world’s biggest artists with multimillion-dollar pledges to the WHO’s Solidarity Response Fund. Audrey Morrissey (“The Voice,” “Songland”) and Live Animals will produce the special in partnership with Global Citizen.

The show will lift viewer’s spirits with exclusive, special cameos from the worlds of music and arts, sports superstars, and comedic sketches, while always drawing back to its core purpose – to educate and inform on COVID-19 risks, prevention and response. The broadcast will feature interviews with experts from WHO as well as stories of frontline healthcare workers from around the world – their courage and sacrifice a reminder of the urgency of this moment.

The special will connect artists with audiences on a global scale, airing on the following networks and platforms:

· NBCUniversal: NBC, Bravo, E!, MSNBC, MSNBC.com, NBCSN, NBC News, NBCNews.com, NBC News on YouTube, Peacock, SYFY and USA.

· Walt Disney Television: ABC, ABC News, ABC News Live, Freeform and Nat Geo.

· ViacomCBS: CBS, Channel 5 in the UK, Network 10 in Australia, and Telefe in Argentina; BET and MTV globally across 180+ countries; and CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV2, Paramount Network, Pop, TV Land and VH1 in the U.S.

· Bell Media platforms in Canada, MultiChoice, and RTE.

· BBC One will broadcast an edited version of the event for UK audiences on Sunday, April 19.

“One World: Together At Home” will also be a multi-hour digital broadcast streaming online on multiple global platforms, including Alibaba, Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Facebook, Hulu, Instagram, LiveXLive, Tencent, Tencent Music Entertainment Group, TIDAL, TuneIn, Twitch, Twitter, Yahoo and YouTube. This digital special will include additional artists and performances from all over the globe as well as unique stories from the world’s healthcare heroes. For information about how to tune in and take action, visit www.globalcitizen.org/togetherathome.

Commitments from supporters and corporate partners will go to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, powered by the UN Foundation, to support and equip healthcare workers around the world, and to local charities that provide food, shelter, and healthcare to those that need it most. These local groups have been vetted to ensure they are helping communities impacted by COVID-19.

April 14, 2020 UPDATE: International advocacy organization Global Citizen today announced an expanded list of artists that will appear in the “One World: Together at Home” global broadcast special, being held in support of the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic being led by the World Health Organization.

The newly announced artists include Alicia Keys, Amy Poehler, Awkwafina, Camila Cabello, Celine Dion, Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Lopez, LL COOL J, Lupita Nyong’o, Matthew McConaughey, Oprah Winfrey, Pharrell Williams, Sam Smith, Shawn Mendes, Taylor Swift, Usher and Victoria Beckham. Curated in collaboration with Lady Gaga, the artists announced today join a lineup of entertainers who were unveiled last week that includes Andrea Bocelli, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Burna Boy, Chris Martin, David Beckham, Eddie Vedder, Elton John, FINNEAS, Idris and Sabrina Elba, J Balvin, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Kerry Washington, Lang Lang, Lizzo, Maluma, Paul McCartney, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Shah Rukh Khan and Stevie Wonder.

“One World: Together at Home” will be hosted by Jimmy Fallon of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Jimmy Kimmel of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and Stephen Colbert of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Friends from Sesame Street will also be on hand to help unify and inspire people around the world to take meaningful actions that increase support for the global COVID-19 response.

Leading up to the global broadcast special, there will be a six-hour streamed event, curated from around the world, to support brave healthcare workers doing life-saving work on the front lines. The “One World: Together at Home” streamed event will reach millions around the world digitally and will include performances and appearances from Adam Lambert, Andra Day, Angèle, Anitta, Annie Lennox, Becky G, Ben Platt, Billy Ray Cyrus, Black Coffee, Bridget Moynahan, Burna Boy, Cassper Nyovest, Charlie Puth, Christine and the Queens, Common, Connie Britton, Danai Gurira, Delta Goodrem, Don Cheadle, Eason Chan, Ellie Goulding, Erin Richards, FINNEAS, Heidi Klum, Hozier, Hussain Al Jasmi, Jack Black, Jacky Cheung, Jack Johnson, Jameela Jamil, James McAvoy, Jason Segel, Jennifer Hudson, Jess Glynne, Jessie J, Jessie Reyez, John Legend, Juanes, Kesha, Lady Antebellum, Lang Lang, Leslie Odom Jr., Lewis Hamilton, Liam Payne, Lili Reinhart, Lilly Singh, Lindsey Vonn, Lisa Mishra, Lola Lennox, Luis Fonsi, Maren Morris, Matt Bomer, Megan Rapinoe, Michael Bublé, Milky Chance, Naomi Osaka, Natti Natasha, Niall Horan, Nomzamo Mbatha, P.K. Subban, Picture This, Rita Ora, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sebastián Yatra, Sheryl Crow, Sho Madjozi, SOFI TUKKER, SuperM, The Killers, Tim Gunn, Vishal Mishra and Zucchero. The digital stream will be available on Alibaba, Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Facebook, Instagram, LiveXLive, Tencent, Tencent Music Entertainment Group, TIDAL, TuneIn, Twitch, Twitter, Yahoo and YouTube.

As part of the “One World: Together at Home” campaign, brands including Analog Devices, Cisco, Citi, The Coca-Cola Company, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, State Farm(R), Target, Teneo, Verizon, Vodafone and WW International, Inc. have supported the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO and regional charities that are working to meet immediate COVID-19-related needs locally.

“We are grateful to the private sector who have listened to the public’s call for action and come together to support the global response to COVID19. This pandemic is too large for governments to tackle alone,” said Hugh Evans, co-founder and CEO of Global Citizen. “We are also incredibly grateful for the continued support from the artist community to make ‘One World: Together at Home’ a moment of global unity. Our hope for the special is that everyone will come away believing that we, as a shared humanity, can emerge from this moment forever grateful for the work of doctors, nurses, teachers, grocery store workers and all those who are the backbone of our communities.”

“One World: Together at Home” will air on Saturday, April 18, 2020, at 5:00 p.m. PDT/8:00 p.m. EDT, appearing on ABC, NBC, ViacomCBS Networks, The CW, iHeartMedia and Bell Media networks and platforms in Canada. Internationally, BBC One will run the program on Sunday, April 19, 2020. Additional international broadcasters include AXS TV, beIN Media Group, MultiChoice Group and RTE. The digital stream will begin at 11:00 a.m. PDT/2:00 p.m. EDT and will inspire unity among all people who are affected by COVID-19.

At this critical moment in history, Global Citizen is also calling on individuals, governments and philanthropists to join and support immediate COVID-19 response efforts. Changemakers, investors and foundation leaders are being urged to actualize their giving and invest quickly in related efforts, like stronger health systems and vaccine development.

Last month in response to the global pandemic, Global Citizen launched an urgent campaign in support of the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO. Calling on individuals to take action and asking world leaders and corporations to support the response with sufficient resources, Global Citizens from over 150 countries around the world have taken hundreds of thousands of actions in support of the response fund. For information about how to tune in and take action, visit globalcitizen.org/togetherathome.

For more information about Global Citizen and their campaign to support the WHO’s Solidarity Response Fund, please visit globalcitizen.org and follow @GlblCtzn Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using #GlobalCitizen.

To learn more about WHO’s response to the pandemic and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, please go to www.who.int/COVID-19 and follow @WHO on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

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