The Recording Academy announced the nominees for the 66th Grammy Awards on Friday, and three female artists stood out among the pack: SZA, Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo.
SZA, the R&B singer and songwriter behind the hit “Kill Bill”, leads the nominations with nine nods, including record of the year, album of the year, song of the year and best new artist. She also scored nominations in the R&B, rap and pop categories, showcasing her versatility and influence.
Swift, who already has 11 Grammys to her name, added six more nominations to her impressive resume, making history as the first songwriter to score seven nominations in the song of the year category with her hit “Anti-Hero”. She also tied with Barbra Streisand for the most all-time nominations by a female artist with her album of the year nod with “Midnights”.
Rodrigo, the 19-year-old breakout star of 2023, received five nominations for her debut album “Guts” and its lead single “Vampire”, which became a viral sensation on social media. She is up for record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, best new artist and best pop solo performance.
Other notable nominees include Phoebe Bridgers, who followed SZA with seven nominations, including album of the year for her indie rock masterpiece “The Record”, which she recorded with her supergroup boygenius. Boygenius also received a record of the year nomination for their song “Not Strong Enough”.
Miley Cyrus, who reinvented herself as a pop rock star with her album “Endless Summer Vacation”, earned six nominations, including album of the year, record of the year for “Flowers” and best pop duo/group performance for her collaboration with Brandi Carlile on “Thousand Miles”.
Jon Batiste, the bandleader of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and the co-composer of the Oscar-winning film “Soul”, also received six nominations, including album of the year for his eclectic project “World Music Radio” and record of the year for “Worship”.
Some of the snubs and surprises of the nominations include:
- Pink, Sam Smith, the Jonas Brothers and several K-pop acts, such as BTS, Blackpink and Monsta X, received no nominations despite releasing popular and critically acclaimed music in 2023.
- Lana Del Rey, who has never won a Grammy, scored her first album of the year nomination for her surprise release “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd”, which she recorded with Jon Batiste. She also received a song of the year nomination for “A&W”.
- Janelle Monáe, who was shut out of the major categories in 2019 for her acclaimed album “Dirty Computer”, made a comeback with her nomination for album of the year for “The Age of Pleasure”, a futuristic funk odyssey.
- Billie Eilish, who swept the four main categories in 2020, received only one nomination this year for her song “What Was I Made For?”, which she recorded for the animated film “Barbie”.
- Nas, who won his first Grammy in 2021 for his album “King’s Disease”, received another nomination for best rap album for its sequel, “King’s Disease III”.
- Travis Scott, who was expected to dominate the rap categories with his highly anticipated album “Utopia”, received only one nomination for best rap album, while his singles “Franchise” and “Highest in the Room” were snubbed.
The 2024 Grammy Awards will take place on Feb. 4 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+. The host and performers have not been announced yet.
