A new era dawns for the Grammy Awards. After repeated controversies and the boycott of The Weeknd, snubbed last year, the Recording Academy unveiled on Tuesday the nominations for the 64th edition, which will be held in Los Angeles on January 31, 2022. Exit the secret committees accused of conflicts of interest ; place, in theory, for transparency. With these new rules, and two additional categories, it is the jazz pianist and soul singer Jon Batiste who leads the race with 11 nominations, ahead of Justin Bieber, Doja Cat and HER (8) and the youngest Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo (7). Adele, she will have to wait for the next edition to be eligible.
At 35, Jon Batiste had a prosperous 2020-2021 year. Big band leader of Late Show by Stephen Colbert since 2015, he released a 5th album, WE ARE, unanimously acclaimed by critics, and composed the jazz half of the soundtrack of the Pixar animated film Drunk. It is notably named in the album and song of the year categories.
King of Spotify with 82 million monthly listeners, the “Bieb” hopes to leave with some trophies, perhaps the song of the year with the heady Peaches. The battle promises to be fierce against the tornado Doja Cat and his duo Kiss me more with SZA.
New generation
Unsurprisingly, the new generation is hitting hard, with Billie Eilish (19) and Olivia Rodrigo (18) racing for album of the year (Happier Than Ever and sour) and song of the year (Happier Than Ever and Licensed drivers).
Olivia Rodrigo, who has exploded around the world, is also a contender for the title of revelation of the year, against the Australian phenomenon The Kid Laroi (18). The most Francophile of Britons, Arlo Parks, winner of the prestigious Mercury Prize, and Billie Eilish’s brother, FINNEAS, can hope to surprise.
On the hip-hop side, Jay-Z surpassed Quicy Jones and Paul McCartney’s record with 83 nominations, and Drake and Kanye West will battle it out in the best rap album category. With Donda, “Ye” is also up for album of the year against Evermore by Taylor Swift. 13 years after having roughly interrupted the speech of the young singer at the VMAs, the opportunity to redeem herself?