February 6, 2019
by Carla Hay
Lady Gaga, Travis Scott, Dua Lipa, St. Vincent, Chloe x Halle and tributes to Aretha Franklin and Dolly Parton have been added to the performing lineup at the 61st Grammy Awards, which will take place at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on February 10, 2019. As previously announced, Alicia Keys is hosting the show, which will have its U.S. telecast on CBS.
Previously announced artists include Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Dan + Shay, Post Malone, Shawn Mendes, Janelle Monáe, Kacey Musgraves, Brandi Carlile, Miley Cyrus, H.E.R., Red Hot Chili Peppers and Diana Ross.
[February 7, 2019 UPDATE: The following entertainers will be presenters at the 61st Grammy Awards: Kelsea Ballerini, Leon Bridges, Luke Combs, Charlie Wilson, Alessia Cara, Julian Edelman, Eve, John Mayer, Bob Newhart, Smokey Robinson, Swizz Beatz, Meghan Trainor, Kane Brown, BTS, Cedric The Entertainer, Nina Dobrev, Anna Kendrick, Jada Pinkett Smith and Wilmer Valderrama.]
Lady Gaga will perform “Shallow” (from the 2018 “A Star is Born” movie soundtrack) with Mark Ronson, who wrote “Shallow” with Lady Gaga, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt. “Shallow” is nominated for four Grammys, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The Grammy Awards take place on the same night as the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards, where Lady Gaga is nominated for Best Actress and Best Music for “A Star Is Born.” By choosing to attend the Grammys instead, it’s clear that Lady Gaga is going to the ceremony where she thinks she has the better chance of winning more awards.
Meanwhile, on-stage collaborations at the 2019 Grammys have been announced: Cabello will be joined by J Balvin, Young Thug, Ricky Martin and Arturo Sandoval for her performance. Female singers Dua Lipa and St. Vincent will team up for their Grammy performance.
One artist who won’t be performing at the Grammys this year is Ariana Grande, who is nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album (“Sweetener”) and Best Pop Solo Performance (“God Is a Woman”). According to Variety, Grande canceled her performance and will not be attending the show because of a dispute over which songs she could sing at the Grammys. She had been set to do a medley of two songs, and reportedly had to fight the show’s producers to perform her current single “7 Rings,” but ultimately quit when the producers would not allow her to choose the second song.
The 61st Grammy Awards show is produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures for the Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich is executive producer, Ben Winston is executive producer, Louis J. Horvitz is director, Chantel Sausedo is the producer, and David Wild and Ehrlich are the writers.
In 2018, the Recording Academy received an enormous amount of backlash for having a male-dominated Grammy ceremony, which led to the social-media hashtag #GrammysSoMale. That year, the overwhelming number of Grammy nominees and winners were male, and the only artist with an Album of the Year nomination who was not invited to perform solo on the show was female singer Lorde. (Lorde attended the ceremony but did not perform.) In 2019, the Recording Academy has taken big steps to have more women on the Grammys stage. Keys is one of the few women who have hosted the Grammy ceremony. And three of the biggest tributes at the 2019 Grammys will be to women, while prominent on-stage collaborations will feature women.
Diva Tributes
Franklin, who died in of pancreatic cancer in August 2018, will have a special tribute at the Grammy Awards with performances by Yolanda Adams, Fantasia and Andra Day. A separate all-star tribute to Franklin (“Aretha! A Grammy Celebration for the Queen of Soul”) will take place on January 13 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Tyler Perry is hosting that separate tribute concert, which will include performances by Adams, Shirley Caesar, Alessia Cara, Kelly Clarkson, Common, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Keys, John Legend, Patti LaBelle, BeBe Winans, Carlile, Chloe x Halle, H.E.R., Monáe and SZA. CBS will televise the concert on March 10, 2019.
Parton, who is MusiCares’ 2019 Person of the Year, will perform a song from the “Dumplin'” movie soundtrack. As part of the Grammy Awards tribute, Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Musgraves and Perry will perform some of Parton’s songs. This will be the second tribute to Parton in two days. On February 8, Parton’s MusiCares Person of the Year concert (which is not televised) will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, with performances by Parton, Cyrus, Perry, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Leon Bridges, Lauren Daigle, Norah Jones, Mendes, Pink, Ronson, Chris Stapleton, Vince Gill, Don Henley, Musgraves, Willie Nelson, Linda Perry and Mavis Staples.
As previously reported, Ross is celebrating her 75th birthday this year with a “Diamond Diana” performance at the Grammys. The performance is expected to be a medley of some of her hit songs. Ross will also be a performer at “Motown 60: A Grammy Celebration,” an all-star concert for Motown’s 60th anniversary that will be filmed for CBS at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on January 12, 2019. Other “Motown 60” performers include Smokey Robinson, Boyz II Men, Chloe x Halle, Ciara, Lamont Dozier, Fantasia, Brian & Eddie Holland, Thelma Houston, Tori Kelly, John Legend, Little Big Town, Ne-Yo, Pentatonix, Martha Reeves, Valerie Simpson, Mickey Stevenson, Meghan Trainor and Stevie Wonder. Cedric the Entertainer is hosting the show, which CBS will premiere on April 21.
Performers Nominated for Grammys This Year
It’s a tradition for most of the artists performing at a Grammy Awards ceremony are those who are nominated for Grammys that year. Most of the aforementioned artists have Grammy nominations in 2019. Cabello, Carlile and Mendes will be performing at the Grammy Awards for the first time.
Balvin is up for Record Of The Year for “I Like It,” his collaboration with Cardi B and Bad Bunny.
Cabello’s Grammy nominations this year are for Best Pop Solo Performance for “Havana [Live]” and Best Pop Vocal Album for her solo debut album, “Camila.” Cabello is a former member of Fifth Harmony.
Cardi B has five Grammy nominations this year. Her debut album, “Invasion of Privacy,” is up for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album; “Girls Like You,” her her hit collaboration with Maroon 5, is nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance; her song “I Like It” is one of the contenders for Record of the Year; and her song “Be Careful” is up for Best Rap Performance.
Carlile is nominated for six Grammys: Her song “The Joke” is up for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song, while her album “By the Way, I Forgive You” is a contender for Album of the Year and Best Americana Album.
Chloe x Halle are nominated for Best New Artist and Best Urban Contemporary Album (for “The Kids Are Alright”).
Dan + Shay’s “Tequila” is nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.
H.E.R. is one of the nominees for Best New Artist, while her self-titled album is up for Album of the Year and Best R&B Album. She also nominated for Best R&B Performance (for “Best Part”) and Best R&B Song (for “Focus”).
Lady Gaga’s “Shallow” is nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media, while her song “Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?)” is nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance.
Lipa is nominated for Best Dance Recording (for “Electricity”) and Best New Artist.
Malone has four Grammy nominations: Album of the Year (for “Beerbongs & Bentleys“); his “Better Now” single is up for Best Pop Solo Performance; and his “Rockstar” collaboration with 21 Savage is nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Performance.
Mendes’ self titled album is nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, while his single “In My Blood” is a contender for Song of the Year.
Monáe has two Grammy nominations this year: “Dirty Computer” is up for Album of the Year, while she has a Best Music Video nod for “PYNK.”
Morris is nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (for “The Middle,” her collaboration with Zedd and Grey); Best Country Solo Performance (for “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters”); and Best Country Duo/Group Performance and Best Country Song (for “Dear Hate,” featuring Vince Gill).
Musgraves received four Grammy nominations this year: “Golden Hour” is up for Album of the Year and Best Country Album; “Butterflies” is nominated for Best Country Solo Performance; and “Space Cowboy” is a contender for Best Country Song.
Ronson has three nominations: Best Dance Recording (for “Electricity,” Dua Lipa’s collaboration with Silk City’s Ronson and Diplo) while “Shallow” is up for Song of the Year and Best Song Written For Visual Media.
Scott is up for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for “Sicko Mode,” as well as Best Rap Album for “Astroworld.”
St. Vincent is nominated for Best Rock Song (for “Masseduction”) and Best Alternative Music Album (for “Masseduction”).
Young Thug is nominated for Song of the Year for “This Is America,” which he co-wrote with Donald Glover (also known as Childish Gambino) and Ludwig Göransson.
