The Grammy nominations were just announced on Tuesday (Nov. 15) and already people are looking ahead to who might win when the 65th annual Grammy Awards are presented on Feb. 5 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. And not just who might win, but what it would mean in Grammy history.
Some potential winners would truly be groundbreaking:
Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti is vying to become the first Spanish-language album ever to win album of the year.
Adele is vying to become the first three-time winner for song of the year. She is nominated this year for co-writing “Easy on Me” with Greg Kurstin. She previously won for co-writing “Rolling in the Deep” with Paul Epworth and “Hello” with Kurstin.
Kendrick Lamar is vying to become the first male solo rapper to win album of the year. He is nominated for Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. The only other hip-hop artists to win album of the year (as lead artists) are Lauryn Hill (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, 1998) and OutKast (Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, 2003).
If Beyoncé’s Renaissance, Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous or Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers wins album of the year, it would set a new record as the album of the year winner with the most credited producers. A whopping 36 producers worked on Beyoncé’s album; 24 worked on the Blige and Lamar albums. The current record for the album of the year winner with the most credited producers is held by the multi-artist Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, with 16 producers. The current record for an individual artist’s album with the most credited producers is held by Celine Dion’s Falling Into You, which had 14 producers.
Here are more potential record-setters in the Big Four categories:
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Adele
Big Four nominations: album of the year, record of the year, song of the year
Notes: If Adele wins album of the year for 30, she would become just the second artist in Grammy history to win album of the year with three consecutive studio releases. Stevie Wonder was the first, with Innervisions, Fulfillingness’ First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life. Adele previously won the award for 21 and 25.
If Adele wins record of the year for “Easy on Me,” she would become the third three-time winner in the category’s history, following Paul Simon (counting two awards as half of Simon & Garfunkel) and Bruno Mars (counting one award as half of Silk Sonic). -
Beyoncé, Lizzo, Mary J. Blige
Big Four nominations: album of the year, record of the year, song of the year (Beyoncé and Lizzo only in the latter category)
Notes: If Beyoncé’s Renaissance, Lizzo’s Special or the deluxe edition of Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous wins album of the year, it would become the first album by a Black woman to win in that category since Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 24 years ago. Two other Black women had previously won in the category (as lead artists) – Natalie Cole for Unforgettable with Love in 1992 and Whitney Houston for The Bodyguard soundtrack in 1994.
Moreover, if Renaissance wins, it will be the first album classified as dance/electronic by the Grammys to win since Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories nine years ago. The Bee Gees-led Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, the 1978 winner, was also a dance album, though it was called disco back then. -
Kendrick Lamar
Big Four nominations: album of the year, record of the year, song of the year
Notes: If Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers wins album of the year, it would be first rap album to win in that category since OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below 19 years ago.
If “The Heart Part 5” wins record and/or song of the year, it would be the second rap song to win in either or both of these categories, following Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” four years ago (which won both awards). Note: The same would be true if DJ Khaled’s “GOD DID” wins song of the year. -
Brandi Carlile
Big Four nominations: album of the year, record of the year
Notes: If Carlile’s In These Silent Days wins album of the year, it would mark the first time an album classified as Americana by the Grammys won in this category since Mumford & Sons’ Babel 10 years ago. -
Benny Andersson of ABBA
Big Four nominations: album of the year, record of the year
Notes: If ABBA’s Voyage wins album of the year, it would mark the first time in eight years that an artist (or group member, in this case) produced a winning album of the year without a co-producer. This last happened when Beck produced his 2014 winner, Morning Phase.
ABBA would become the first Scandinavian act ever to win album of the year (as a lead artist) and only the second act from continental Europe to win, following Daft Punk. The French duo won the 2013 award for Random Access Memories. -
Taylor Swift & Liz Rose
Big Four nomination: song of the year
Notes: If “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film)” wins song of the year, Swift and Rose would become just the second all-female team to win in this category. Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon won the 1981 award for co-writing “Bette Davis Eyes,” a No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 for Kim Carnes. -
DJ Khaled
Big Four nomination: song of the year
Notes: If “GOD DID,” which has nine credited songwriters, wins song of the year, it would set a new record as the song written by the most songwriters to win the award. The current record is held by the Bruno Mars hit “That’s What I Like,” which was the work of eight songwriters.
DJ Khaled co-wrote the song with the artists who are featured on the hit — Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend and Fridayy – as well as E. Blackmon, Nicholas Warwar and Tarik Azzouz. -
Bonnie Raitt
Big Four nomination: song of the year
Notes: If “Just Like That,” which Raitt wrote by herself, wins, it would be the first song written by a solitary songwriter to win since Amy Winehouse’s “Relax” 15 years ago. -
Latto
Big Four nomination: best new artist
Notes: If Latto wins best new artist, she’d become the third female rapper to win in the category, following Lauryn Hill (1998) and Megan Three Stallion (2019). -
Måneskin, Wet Leg, DOMi & JD Beck
Big Four nomination: best new artist
Notes: Wet Leg or DOMi & JD Beck would become the first duo to win in the category since Macklemore & Ryan Lewis nine years ago. Måneskin would be the first group (meaning, more than a duo) to win in the category since fun. 10 years ago.
Wet Leg would be the first all-female duo to win in the category. The act consists of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers. (There are additional touring members.)