As the music industry’s elite gather in Los Angeles for the Grammys on Sunday, one question remains unanswered: Will Beyonce finally win Album of the Year?
Following the release of “Renaissance,” her rich, layered ode to club music, the 41-year-old has the most chances at Grammy gold, with nine nominations.
She is a strong contender for the night’s major awards, but so is British balladeer Adele, whose introspective ode to the ugly cry, “30,” earned her seven nominations.
The clash has drawn obvious parallels to 2017, when Adele swept the top prizes at the glitzy music industry gala, excluding Queen Bey’s culture-shaking “Lemonade.”
Six years later, Beyonce is still the Grammys’ highest ranked woman; with four more wins on Sunday, she could surpass classical conductor Georg Solti for the most wins by any artist.
But when it comes to the big three awards – best album, best record, and best song – Beyonce is an odd underdog.
She has never won Album of the Year, and despite having the most Record of the Year nominations (eight), she has also never won that award.
She only won Song of the Year once, for “Single Ladies” in 2008.
However, industry observers, including Billboard, predict that this will be Beyonce’s year to win the Grammy for Album of the Year, arguably the night’s most prestigious award.
Aside from the Beyonce-Adele rematch, a slew of contemporary superstars such as Kendrick Lamar, Harry Styles, and Taylor Swift are also strong contenders for the night’s major trophies.
Styles, Bad Bunny, Lizzo, and Mary J. Blige will all perform at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, which will be hosted once again by comedian Trevor Noah.
Bad Bunny, undeniably the world’s biggest commercial artist, has three Grammy nominations for his major release “Un Verano Sin Ti,” which is also a contender for Album of the Year.
It’s the first time an entirely Spanish-language album has been nominated for the coveted award, and it’s also the first time the Puerto Rican reggaeton megastar has received a solo nomination in any of the major Grammy categories.
A win in that category for Bad Bunny “would mean a lot to all Spanish-speaking people and our culture because it really says, ‘Hey, Spanish music is just as respected as music in English, and music truly has no barriers,” Colombian artist Sebastian Yatra told AFP.
Styles, Lizzo, and Doja Cat are among the top contenders, while pop juggernaut Swift could finally win the Song of the Year award, which has eluded her for years.
The superstar, who has been fulfilling a vow to re-record her first six albums in order to regain control of her rights to them, has a chance at the songwriters award for her 10-minute version of “All Too Well.”
Many of the nominees, including Brazil’s Anitta, Eurovision rockers Maneskin, and rapper Latto, have found viral fame on TikTok, and the category has become increasingly eclectic and reflective of the internet age’s impact on popular music.
“It’s cool,” JD Beck said of their eponymous experimental jazz duo, which is up for two Grammys this Sunday, including Best New Artist.
The Academy, which is made up of musicians such as artists, composers, and engineers, also nominated a number of the industry’s most enduring stars for Grammys, with Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, and ABBA each receiving a number of nominations.
No matter who wins, the Recording Academy’s attention has boosted Samara Joy’s career, who, in addition to a nod in the jazz categories, has a shot at Best New Artist.
