Kendrick Lamar scored eight nods, including bids for album, record and song of the year.
The pop star’s house effort Renaissance is up for album of the year while her No. 1 hit, “Break My Soul,” earned bids for song and record of the year. She also earned three R&B nominations, one for her Oscar-nominated track “Be Alive” and 2 in the dance category, a first for the singer.
Beyoncé’s career total of 88 nominations sets a new record — one tied by her husband Jay-Z.
He earned 5 nominations this year, including two for his work on Renaissance and three for his guest appearance on DJ Khaled’s “God Did.”
“Seeing Beyoncé with so many nominations — it just blows me away. It’s a testament to who she is, the talent she has (and) the iconic music she’s put out over the years,” Recording Academy president Harvey Mason jr. said.
“To think about that power couple, holy macro,” Mason jr. continued. “I added it up: It’s 176 nominations between the two of them. Can you imagine them sitting at the show together? If one of them wins, the other one’s going to be like, ‘I got to win. I got to get another one.’ It’s going to be fun to watch.”
Beyoncé may make history when the Grammys air on February 5, 2023–she has won 28 awards and could surpass late conductor Georg Solti’s 31-win record.
Kendrick Lamar follows Beyoncé with 8 nominations, including album, record and song of the year. Neither he nor Beyoncé, however, have ever won album of the year.
Top Prize
For the top prize, Renaissance and Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers will battle Adele’s 30, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, Lizzo’s Special, Brandi Carlile’s In These Silent Days, Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres, Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe) and surprise nominee Voyage, ABBA’s final album and first of new music in over 40 years.
ABBA earned a record of the year nomination for “I Still Have Faith In You” — which appears on Voyage and earned the Swedish group their first-ever Grammy nomination.
They scored another record of the year nomination this year with “Don’t Shut Me Down,” pitting the song against No. 1 hits like “Break My Soul,” Styles’ “As It Was,” Lizzo’s “About Damn Time,” Adele’s “Easy on Me” and Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit.” Other nominees include Doja Cat’s “Woman,” Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5,” Carlile and Lucius’ “You and Me on the Rock” and Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous,” which was co-written and co-produced by R&B star H.E.R.
None of the best new artist contenders scored nominations in the top three categories. But this year’s new class includes rapper Latto, Italian rock band Måneskin, R&B singer-songwriter Muni Long, Brazilian performer Anitta, rapper-actor Tobe Nwigwe, Mexican-American singer-songwriter Omar Apollo, British rockers Wet Leg, jazz singer Samara Joy, bluegrass musician Molly Tuttle and virtuosic jazz duo DOMi & JD Beck.
Adele earned seven nominations, including record, album and song of the year nods as well as best pop solo performance, best pop vocal album, best music video and best music film for her Emmy-winning concert Adele One Night Only.
Carlile tied the British diva, earning bids for album and record of the year, along with multiple nods in the American roots and rock categories.
Styles, DJ Khaled, Future, singer-songwriter The-Dream, engineer Randy Merrill and Blige — who earned her first nominations since the 2015 Grammys — scored six nominations each.
Swift, who made history as the only female solo artist to win album of the year 3 times, is hoping for her first-ever song of the year win with the re-release of “All Too Well,” originally part of her 2012 Red album.
The song’s music video, which stars Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien and was directed by Swift, is nominated for best music video. Swift is also up for best country song for “I Bet You Think About Me,” which appears on the re-recorded version of Red, and best song written for visual media for “Carolina,” from the Where the Crawdads Sing soundtrack.
Controversial nominees this year include Dave Chappelle, who is nominated for best comedy album with The Closer, his Emmy-nominated special that drew backlash for his jokes about the trans community.
Louis C.K., who won best comedy album this for his 2020 comedy special in which he joked about the sexual misconduct revelations against him, is competing for the award again with his self-released 2021 comedy special, Sorry.
Lady Gaga scored two nominations for her contributions to the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack, while Viola Davis — who has won an Oscar, an Emmy and two Tonys — gets closer to EGOT status this year with her first Grammy nomination. She’s up for best audiobook, narration and storytelling recording for her memoir, Finding Me.
Other stars who picked up nominations include Jamie Foxx, Mel Brooks, Amanda Gorman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Jim Gaffigan and Patton Oswalt.
Major snubs include Ed Sheeran, who didn’t earn any nominations for his fifth album =. Instead, he’s nominated for best pop duo/group performance for his featured vocals on Camila Cabello’s “Bam Bam.”
Though Bad Bunny made history with the first Latin album to be nominated for album of the year with the best-selling Un Verano Sin Ti, he was shut out of record and song of the year and his massive hits, “Tití Me Preguntó” and “Me Porto Bonito” (with Chencho Corleone), earned zero nominations. His three nominations include best música urbana album and best pop solo performance for “Moscow Mule,” which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
Drake didn’t submit his latest album for Grammy contention, but he earned five nominations thanks to his guest appearances on Future’s “Wait for U,” Beyoncé’s Renaissance and Jack Harlow’s “Churchill Downs.”
Bruno Mars and Anderson. Paak, aka Silk Sonic, didn’t submit their R&B album for the Grammys after winning big earlier this year. Paak still earned two nods for his appearance on Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous.
The 2023 Grammys will air live on CBS from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
First-round voting runs through Oct. 13-Oct. 23, while final-round voting runs through Dec. 14-Jan. 4, 2023. Songs and albums released between Oct. 1, 2021-Sept. 30, 2022 were eligible for nomination.
“It’s really about celebrating music and utilizing music to bring people together. We are going to use Grammy week, and really every week, to make a difference. When you see all these different artists and the different types of people from all different parts of the country, parts of the world, all collectively coming together to spread joy, spread some love and have some fun on Grammy night, this is what music does,” Mason jr. said. “On Grammy night, you’re going to see the miracle of music at work.”
