THE 68TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

Last year, the focus was on the fires that devastated Los Angeles and this year during the ceremony of the 68th annual Grammy Awards, was the current administration’s immigration crackdown that has recently turned tragically deadly. "ICE OUT" pins were worn by many in attendance and several artists made subtle yet passionate comments during their acceptance speeches including Billie Eilish who accurately proclaimed that "No one is illegal on stolen land".

For his sixth and final time as host, Trevor Noah largely continued to focus on playfully teasing the starry audience, rattling off Grammy statistics and rousing the crowd to give a performer or winner another round of applause. One notable change is that Noah, no longer feeling constrained with concern about his future on the show, delivered more pointed political jokes with one reference to Trump and the Epstein files which has sent the President into a litigious tizzy.

As always, the Grammys ceremony is less about handing out awards and more about the performances that you won't see anywhere else. And this show did not disappoint. Bruno Mars kicked off the show with a guitar-driven version of "APT", his duet with K-pop star, Rosé before returning later his band, the Hooligans to perform his new single, "I Just Might". Justin Bieber delivered a literally stripped down performance of "Yukon" from his nominated album, "Swag" in just his underwear and socks. Sabrina Carpenter reliably brought her campy style to the show with an airport setting for her performance of "Manchild" while Lady Gaga went darker for a manic version of "Abracadabra". And just like last year, all of the eight nominees for Best New Artist were given a spotlight to perform on the telecast with some (Lola Young, Leon Thomas and the eventual winner, Olivia Dean) faring better than others (Addison Rae, Katseye and Sombr).

But the highlight of the evening turned out to be a lengthy, "In Memoriam" musical tribute. It began with a lovely rendition of "Trailblazer" by country music legend, Reba McEntire, accompanied by Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson, shockingly making her very first appearance on the Grammy stage. Then an all-star rock line-up that included Post Malone, Slash and Duff McKagan from Guns N' Roses, paid tribute to the late heavy metal artist, Ozzy Osbourne by blasting through with a rousing version of Black Sabbath's, "War Pigs". The set concluded with Ms. Lauryn Hill, who had not appeared on the show since 1999, leading a memorable tribute to D'Angelo and Roberta Flack that was incredibly packed with an impressive group of performers that featured Raphael Saadiq, Anthony Hamilton, Leon Thomas, Jon Batiste, Lalah Hathaway, John Legend, Chaka Khan and Wyclef Jean, who reunited with his former Fugees bandmate on stage to close with Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song".

While he was unable to perform due to his contractual commitment for his upcoming half-time show on the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny still made a major impact on the show with him winning Album of the Year for "Debí Tirar Más Fotos", becoming the first winner with a Spanish-language recording. The thirty-one performer also won two more awards for Best Música Urbana Album and Best Global Performance. Kendrick Lamar also scored big by winning five of his nine nominations which included Record of the Year for his musical tribute to the late Luther Vandross that featured SZA. Cher, a recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award this year, made an appearance to present Record of the Year. While it ended up being a bit of a mess with missed cues and the winners unable to decide who would speak, this iconic legend looked incredible and contributed to an unforgettable night. And Billie Eilish along with her brother, Finneas made history by becoming the first artists to win Song of the Year three times.

This is the final year the Grammys will air on CBS after fifty-four years of broadcasting the ceremony. The show will begin a ten-year deal on ABC, Hulu and Disney+ starting next year and taking it through to 2036. Time will tell if this will just be a continuation of the show's traditions or begin an exciting new chapter for the Grammys.

Here is a partial list of winners of the 68th Annual Grammy Awards:

Album of the Year: "Debí Tirar Más Fotos" - Bad Bunny
Record of the Year: "Luther" - Kendrick Lamar with SZA
Song of the Year: "Wildflower" - Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Best New Artist: Olivia Dean
Best Pop Vocal Album: "Mayhem" - Lady Gaga
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "A Matter of Time" - Laufey
Best Pop Solo Performance: "Messy" - Lola Young
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Defying Gravity" - Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
Best Dance/Electronic Album: "Eusexua" - FKA twigs
Best Dance/Electronic Recording: "End of Summer" - Tame Impala
Best Dance Pop Recording: "Abracadabra" - Lady Gaga
Best Remixed Recording: "Abracadabra (Gesaffelstein Remix)" - Gesaffelstein, remixer (Lady Gaga, Gesaffelstein)
Best Rock Album: "Never Enough" - Turnstile
Best Rock Performance: "Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back to the Beginning" - Yungblud featuring Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman and II
Best Rock Song: "As Alive as You Need Me to Be" - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, songwriters (Nine Inch Nails)
Best Alternative Music Album: "Songs of a Lost World" - The Cure
Best Alternative Music Performance: "Alone" - The Cure
Best R&B Album: "Mutt" - Leon Thomas
Best Progressive R&B Album: "Bloom" - Durand Bernarr
Best R&B Performance: "Folded" - Kehlani
Best Traditional R&B Performance: "Vibes Don’t Lie" - Leon Thomas
Best R&B Song:"Folded" - Darius Dixson, Andre Harris, Kehlani Parrish, Donovan Knight, Don Mills, Khris Riddick-Tynes and Dawit Kamal Wilson, songwriters (Kehlani)
Best Rap Album: "GNX" - Kendrick Lamar
Best Rap Performance: "Chains & Whips" - Clipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring Kendrick Lamar and Pharrell Williams
Best Rap Song: "TV Off" - Jack Antonoff, Larry Jayy, Kendrick Lamar, Dijon McFarlane, Sean Momberger, Mark Anthony Spears and Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay)
Best Traditional Country Album: "Ain’t in It for My Health" - Zach Top
Best Contemporary Country Album: "Beautifully Broken" - Jelly Roll
Best Country Solo Performance: "Bad as I Used to Be (from "F1: The Movie")" - Chris Stapleton
Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "Amen" - Shaboozey and Jelly Roll
Best Country Song: "Bitin’ List" - Tyler Childers, songwriter (Tyler Childers)
Best Americana Album: "Big Money" - Jon Batiste
Best American Roots Performance: "Beautiful Strangers" - Mavis Staples
Best Americana Performance: "Godspeed" - Mavis Staples
Best Folk Album: "Wild and Clear and Blue" - I’m With Her
Best Jazz Vocal Album: "Portrait" - Samara Joy
Best Jazz Instrumental Album: "Southern Nights" - Sullivan Fortner featuring Peter Washington and Marcus Gilmore
Best Alternative Jazz Album: "Live-Action" - Nate Smith
Best Jazz Performance: "Windows — Live" - Chick Corea, Christian McBride and Brian Blade
Best Traditional Blues Album: "Ain’t Done With the Blues" - Buddy Guy
Best Contemporary Blues Album: "Preacher Kids" - Robert Randolph
Best Gospel Album: "Heart of Mine" - Darrel Walls and PJ Morton
Best Latin Pop Album: "Cancionera" - Natalia Lafourcade
Best Tropical Latin Album: "Raíces" - Gloria Estefan
Best Reggae Album: "Blxxd & Fyah" - Keznamdi
Best African Music Performance: "Push 2 Start" - Tyla
Best Musical Theater Album: "Buena Vista Social Club" - Marco Paguia, Dean Sharenow and David Yazbek, producers (Original Broadway Cast)
Best Comedy Album: "Your Friend, Nate Bargatze" - Nate Bargatze
Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording: "Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama" - Dalai Lama
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: "Sinners" (Various Artists); Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson and Serena Göransson, compilation producers; Niki Sherrod, music supervisor
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Includes Film and Television): "Sinners" - Ludwig Göransson, composer
Best Song Written for Visual Media: "Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" - Ejae, Park Hong Jun, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (Huntr/x: Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami)
Best Music Video: "Anxiety" - Doechii
Best Music Film: "Music by John Williams" - John Williams
Best Album Cover: "Chromakopia" - Shaun Llewellyn and Luis “Panch” Perez, art directors (Tyler, the Creator)
Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical): Amy Allen
Producer of the Year (Non-Classical): Cirkut

2025 GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS

The nominees have been announced for the 2025 Grammy Awards with Kendrick Lamar leading the nominations with nine, including Record, Song and Album of the Year, for his album, "GNX". The rest of the Album of the Year nominees include Lady Gaga, also one of the most nominated artists for Grammys with seven for her recent studio album "Mayhem"; the Latin music superstar, Bad Bunny is up for three awards in the top categories for his latest album, "Debí Tirar Más Fotos" and a total of six nominations; Sabrina Carpenter also received six nominations for her album, "Man"s Best Friend" as well as fellow actor/musician Leon Thomas for his second studio album, "Mutt"; Justin Bieber has been recognized for his recent pop-soul collection, "Swag"; "Chromakopia", the album from alt-hip-hop artist, Tyler, The Creator, has a total of five nominations and the hip-hop duo, Clispe has been recognized for their fourth recording collaboration, "Let God Sort Em Out".

This year sees the introduction by The Recording Academy of two new categories: Best Album Cover and Best Traditional Country Album. While honoring album cover art seems long overdue, the splitting of the country music album category from "traditional" and "contemporary" seems to be as a direct result of Beyoncé's win in this category last year for her alt-country work, "Cowboy Carter", clearly disturbing some members of the Academy. However from the look of the nominees in these categories it appears to be very arbitrary on the selections with no obvious reasoning on the distinction of what makes an artist modern or traditional country.

The 68th annual Grammy Awards will be revealed on Sunday, February 1, 2026 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. CBS will air the award show and stream it live on Paramount+.

Here is a partial list of the nominations for the 2025 Grammy Awards:

Album Of The Year:

"Debí Tirar Más Fotos" – Bad Bunny
"Swag" – Justin Bieber
"Man’s Best Friend" – Sabrina Carpenter
"Let God Sort Em Out" – Clipse
"Mayhem" – Lady Gaga
"GNX" – Kendrick Lamar
"Mutt" – Leon Thomas
"Chromakopia" – Tyler, The Creator

Record Of The Year:

"Debí Tirar Más Fotos" – Bad Bunny
“Manchild” – Sabrina Carpenter
“Anxiety” – Doechii
“Wild Flower” – Billie Eilish
“Abracadabra” – Lady Gaga
“Luther” – Kendrick Lamar with SZA
“The Subway” – Chappell Roan
“Apt” – Rosé and Bruno Mars

Song Of The Year:

“Abracadabra” – Lady Gaga (Songwriters: Lady Gaga, Henry Walter and Andrew Watt)
“Anxiety” – Doechii (Songwriter: Jaylah Hickmon)
“Apt” – Rosé and Bruno Mars (Songwriters: Amy Allen, Christopher Brody Brown, Rogét Chahayed, Omer Fedi, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Chae Young Park, Theron Thomas and Henry Walter)
“Debí Tirar Más Fotos” – Bad Bunny (Songwriters: Marco Daniel Borrero, Scott Dittrich, Benjamin Falik, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Hugo René Sención Sanabria, Tyler Thomas Spry and Roberto José Rosado Torres)
“Golden” – Huntr/x:  (Songwriters: Ejae and Mark Sonnenblick)
“Luther” – Kendrick Lamar with SZA (Songwriters: Jack Antonof, Roswita Larisha Bacha, Matthew Bernard, Scott Bridgeway, Sam Dew, Ink, Kendrick Lamar, Solána Rowe, Mark Anthony Spears and Kamasi Washington)
“Manchild” – Sabrina Carpenter (Songwriters: Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff and Sabrina Carpenter)
“Wildflower” – Billie Eilish (Songwriters: Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O’Connell)

Best New Artist:

Olivia Dean
Katseye
The Marias
Addison Rae
Sombr
Leon Thomas
Alex Warren
Lola Young

Best Pop Vocal Album:

"Swag" – Justin Bieber
"Man’s Best Friend" – Sabrina Carpenter
"Something Beautiful" – Miley Cyrus
"Mayhem" – Lady Gaga
"I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy" (Part 2) – Teddy Swims

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album:

"Wintersongs" - Laila Biali
"The Gift Of Love" - Jennifer Hudson
"Who Believes In Angels?" - Elton John & Brandi Carlile
"Harlequin" - Lady Gaga
"A Matter Of Time" - Laufey
"The Secret Of Life: Partners, Volume 2" - Barbra Streisand

Best Pop Solo Performance:

“Daisies” – Justin Bieber
“Manchild” – Sabrina Carpenter
“Disease” – Lady Gaga
“The Subway” – Chappell Roan
“Messy” – Lola Young

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:

“Defying Gravity” – Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande
“Golden” – HUNTR/X 
“Gabriela” – KATSEYE
“APT.” – ROSÉ, Bruno Mars
“30 For 30” – SZA With Kendrick Lamar

Best Dance Pop Recording:

“Bluest Flame” – Selena Gomez & benny blanco
“Abracadabra” – Lady Gaga
“Midnight Sun” – Zara Larsson
“Just Keep Watching” – Tate McRae
“Illegal” – PinkPantheress

Best Dance/Electronic Album:

"EUSEXUA" - FKA twigs
"Ten Days" - Fred again..
"Fancy That" - PinkPantheress
"Inhale/Exhale" - RÜFÜS DU SOL
"F— U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!!" - Skrillex

Best R&B Album:

"BELOVED" - GIVĒON
"Why Not More?" - Coco Jones 

"The Crown" - Ledisi
"Escape Room" - Teyana Taylor
"MUTT" - Leon Thomas

Best Progressive R&B Album:

"BLOOM" - Durand Bernarr
"Adjust Brightness" - Bilal
"LOVE ON DIGITAL" - Destin Conrad
"Access All Areas" - FLO
"Come As You Are" - Terrace Martin & Kenyon Dixon

Best R&B Performance:

“YUKON” – Justin Bieber
“It Depends” – Chris Brown Featuring Bryson Tiller
“Folded” – Kehlani
“MUTT (Live From NPR’s Tiny Desk)” – Leon Thomas
“Heart Of A Woman” – Summer Walker

Best Rap Album:

"Let God Sort Em Out" – Clipse
"GLORIOUS" – GloRilla
"God Does Like Ugly" – JID
"GNX" – Kendrick Lamar
"Chromakopia" – Tyler, The Creator

Best Rap Performance:

"Outside" - Cardi B
"Chains & Whips" - Clipse Featuring Kendrick Lamar & Pharrell Williams
"Anxiety" - Doechii
"tv off" - Kendrick Lamar Featuring Lefty Gunplay
"Darling, I" - Tyler, The Creator Featuring Teezo Touchdown

Best Alternative Music Album:

"SABLE, fABLE" – Bon Iver
"Songs Of A Lost World" – The Cure
"DON’T TAP THE GLASS" – Tyler, The Creator
"moisturizer" – Wet Leg
"Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party" – Hayley Williams

Best Traditional Country Album:

"Dollar A Day" – Charley Crockket
"American Romance" – Lukas Nelson
"Oh What a Beautiful World" – Willie Nelson
"Hard Headed Woman" – Margo Price
"Ain’t In It for My Health" – Zach Top

Best Contemporary Country Album:

"Patterns" – Kelsea Ballerini
"Snipe Hunter" – Tyler Childers
"Evangeline vs. The Machine" – Eric Church
"Beautifully Broken" – Jelly Roll
"Postcards from Texas" – Miranda Lambert

Best Country Solo Performance:

“Nose On The Grindstone” – Tyler Childers
“Good News” – Shaboozey
“Bad As I Used To Be” – Chris Stapleton
“I Never Lie” – Zach Top
“Somewhere Over Laredo” – Lainey Wilson

Best Country Duo/Group Performance:

"A Song To Sing" - Miranda Lambert And Chris Stapleton
"Trailblazer" - Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert and Lainey Wilson
"Love Me Like You Used To Do" - Margo Price & Tyler Childers
"Amen" - Shaboozey & Jelly Roll
"Honky Tonk Hall Of Fame" - George Strait & Chris Stapleton

Best Americana Album:

"Big Money" – Jon Batiste
"Bloom" – Larkin Poe
"Last Leaf On The Tree" – Willie Nelson
"So Long Little Miss Sunshine" – Molly Tuttle
"Middle" – Jesse Welles

Best Latin Pop Album:

"Cosa Nuestra" – Rauw Alejandro
"BOGOTÁ" (Deluxe) – Andrés Cepeda
"Tropicoqueta" – KAROL G
"Cancionera" – Natalia Lafourcade
"¿Y ahora qué?" – Alejandro Sanz

Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media (Includes Film And Television):

"How To Train Your Dragon" – John Powell, composer
"Severance: Season 2" – Theodore Shapiro, composer
"Sinners" – Ludwig Göransson, composer
"Wicked" – John Powell & Stephen Schwartz, composers
"The Wild Robot" – Kris Bowers, composer

Best Album Cover:

"Chromakopia" - Shaun Llewellyn & Luis “Panch” Perez, art directors (Tyler, The Creator) 

"The Crux" - William Wesley II, art director (Djo)
"Debí Tirar Más Fotos" - Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, art director (Bad Bunny)
"Glory" - Cody Critcheloe & Andrew J.S., art directors (Perfume Genius)
"moisturizer" - Hester Chambers, Ellis Durand, Henry Holmes, Matt de Jong, Jamie-James Medina, Joshua Mobaraki & Rhian Teasdale, art directors (Wet Leg)

Songwriter Of The Year (Non-Classical):

Amy Allen
Jessie Jo Dillon
Edgar Barrera
Tobias Jesso Jr.

Producer Of The Year (Non-Classical):

Dan Auerbach
Cirkut
Dijon
Blake Mills
Sounwave

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

David Archuleta had seemed to be happy during his time pursuing a music career and getting a jump start by becoming runner-up during the seventh season of "American Idol" back in 2008. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his faith was very important to Archuleta, even putting his rising career as a pop singer on hold while he spent two years as a missionary. But he had also been keeping a secret that he had been struggling with for many years: he was gay. This created a problem for him with the Mormon Church when he finally came out in 2021, eventually feeling he had to leave it behind. Archuleta has continued with his music career, more recently with a desire to perform freely whatever kind of music that personally motivates him and he can have fun with. His latest single, "Crème Brulée" is exactly that, clearly inspired by Sabrina Carpenter's catchy hit, "Espresso" which he had performed live in concert. The music video for this playful song has Archuleta dancing with smooth choreography interchangeably locked with male and female dancers.



Here is a spotlight on some new music: Kendrick Lamar and SZA team up on the single, "Luther" from his album, "GNX" with the video as a short film; "Tonight", the latest from British pop artist, PinkPantheress that is a part of her upcoming mixtape; Lucy Dacus, member of the indie supergroup, Boygenius, has just released her fourth solo album, "Forever is a Feeling" and this is a single from the collection and Kesha is back with new music from her upcoming album, a country/hip-hop hybrid that features T-Pain.

It's not really a great surprise that the romantic relationship between actress/pop singer, Selena Gomez and producer/songwriter, benny blanco would lead to a musical connection between these two. Beginning their love affair a little over two years ago, although they first met working together on music for her second solo album, "Revival" in 2015, this couple, who are engaged, has just released their recent collaboration, "I Said I Love You First", an album filled with songs that focuses on the ending of one relationship and finally finding true love in a new one. Gomez, who stars in the popular series, "Only Murders in the Building" and recently co-starred in the provocative, Oscar-nominated big-screen musical, "Emilia Pérez" and blanco, the pop music creator who has probably worked at some point with every contemporary artist you may know, has brought on board Gracie Abrams, The Marías and J Balvin to appear on their project. Here are a few of my favorite tracks from the album:

THE 67TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

While music was the main focus of the 67th annual Grammy Awards, the wildfires that recently devastated the Los Angeles area was a top priority for the ceremony. Throughout the show, fundraising was being done for the California Fire Relief Fund, asking for donations to help. The evening began with the band, Dawes, an LA based, folk rock duo who lost their homes and recording studio in the fires, performing a version of Randy Newman's "I Love LA" with an all-star backing band that included John Legend, St. Vincent, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley and Brittany Howard. Later in the show, Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga paid tribute to Los Angeles with their take on the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreaming". Comedian, Trevor Noah returned for the fifth consecutive time to serve as host and continued to deliver a feel-good mood and light humor to the show.

As it has been stated before on previous Grammys, some of the highlights on the show were moments you would not see anywhere else. Surprisingly for the very first time, all the nominees for Best New Artist performed live on the show with the psychedelic rock trio, Khruangbin, pop vocalists, Benson Boone, Raye and Teddy Swims, hip-hop country artist, Shaboozey and rising rapper, Doechii (who put on an amazing set and won Best Rap Album, for her mixtape, "Alligator Bites Never Heal" earlier), with each displaying exactly why they were nominated. Fellow nominees in this category, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan had their own big production showcases as they were two of the biggest acts from last year. And Charli XCX brought the rave scene to the Grammys with a kinetic performance of "Von Dutch" and "Guess".

A starry tribute to the late Quincy Jones, who passed away last year at ninety-one, with Will Smith providing commentary of the legendary producer who began in jazz and expanded to pop music with Cynthia Erivo along with Herbie Hancock doing a sensational version of "Fly Me To the Moon"; country singer, Lainey Wilson and jazz musician, Jacob Collier teamed up to perform the jump blues number, "Let the Good Times Roll"; Stevie Wonder played harmonica accompanied by Hancock on "Bluesette" and leads a version of "We Are The World" with backing by Los Angeles students who lost their school in the fires and Janelle Monáe throwing down with a thrilling version of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".

The Recording Academy President, Harvey Mason Jr. came out to speak on the changes the Grammys have done to diversify and expand the group after The Weeknd had publicly criticized the awards for the lack of transparency in the award selection process and stated he would boycott the ceremony. And to prove that he accepted the efforts made to improve the Grammys, The Weeknd came out to perform his new song, "Cry For Me", followed by "Timeless" along with rapper Playboi Carti.

Female artists dominated the nominations this year so it's no surprise that they walked away with a majority of awards handed out. And it was these musicians that made some important and memorable statements about the vulnerable and marginalized during their moment in the spotlight. During her acceptance speech for winning Best New Artist, Chappell Roan took the opportunity to call out record labels to support developing artists with livable wages and health care, explaining the struggles she went through having no skills to fall back on after being dropped from her label. Lady Gaga continued her unwavering support of the trans community when she received Best Pop Duo or Group with Bruno Mars. Alicia Keys was the recipient of this year's Dr. Dre Global Impact Award,  delivering a moving speech that drove home the point of the importance of female creatives being recognized for their contributions (and name checked several) and to fight back against shutting down the diversity in music, proclaiming rightly that DEI is not a threat but a gift.

The only male artist who received a major award was Kendrick Lamar for his popular diss track targeting his former friend, Canadian rapper Drake, "Not Like Us" who took home Song of the Year and Record of the Year and winning a total of five Grammys.

And Beyoncé, presented by members of the Los Angeles Fire Department, finally received Album of the Year for her country music concept album, "Cowboy Carter".  After being snubbed by the Country Music Association, she was visibly stunned to receive the Best Country Album award earlier in the evening. So by the time of the final award of the night, Beyoncé, who became only the fourth Black female to receive this prize, appeared to be a bit overwhelmed yet managed to thank the fire fighters, acknowledge one of the first yet slighted African-American country singers, Linda Martell, slyly implying that the prize was long overdue and encouraged artists to keep pushing forward. And while I wouldn't say that "Cowboy Carter" was my favorite out of her eight solo studio albums to date, Beyoncé continues to boldly experiment, not willing to settle for the expected and unafraid to be a little weird. This alone makes "Cowboy Carter" the album of the year.

Here is a partial list of the winners from the 2025 Grammys:

Album of the Year: "Cowboy Carter" – Beyoncé
Record of the Year: "Not Like Us" — Kendrick Lamar
Song of the Year: "Not Like Us" – Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar)
Best New Artist: Chappell Roan
Best Pop Vocal Album: "Short n' Sweet" — Sabrina Carpenter
Best Pop Solo Performance: "Espresso" — Sabrina Carpenter
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "Visions" — Norah Jones
Best Dance/Electronic Album: "Brat" — Charli XCX
Best Dance/Electronic Recording: "Neverender" — Justice & Tame Impala
Best Dance Pop Recording: "Von Dutch" — Charli XCX
Best Rap Album: "Alligator Bites Never Heal" — Doechii
Best Rap Performance: "Not Like Us" — Kendrick Lamar
Best Melodic Rap Performance: "3" — Rapsody Featuring Erykah Badu
Best Rap Song: "Not Like Us" — Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar)
Best R&B Album: "11:11 (Deluxe)" — Chris Brown
Best Progressive R&B Album: "So Glad to Know You" — Avery*Sunshine and "Why Lawd?" — NxWorries (Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge) (Tie)
Best R&B Performance: "Made For Me (Live On BET)" — Muni Long
Best Traditional R&B Performance: "That's You" — Lucky Daye
Best R&B Song: "Saturn" — Rob Bisel, Cian Ducrot, Carter Lang, Solána Rowe, Jared Solomon & Scott Zhang, songwriters (SZA)
Best Rock Album: "Hackney Diamonds" — The Rolling Stones
Best Rock Performance: "Now and Then" — The Beatles
Best Rock Song: "Broken Man" — Annie Clark, songwriter (St. Vincent)
Best Alternative Music Album: "All Born Screaming" — St. Vincent
Best Alternative Music Performance: "Flea" — St. Vincent
Best Gospel Album: "More Than This" — CeCe Winans
Best Country Album: "Cowboy Carter" — Beyoncé
Best Country Solo Performance: "It Takes A Woman" — Chris Stapleton
Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "II MOST WANTED" — Beyoncé Featuring Miley Cyrus
Best Country Song: "The Architect" — Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
Best Latin Pop Album: "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran" — Shakira
Best Jazz Album: "A Joyful Holiday" — Samara Joy
Best Comedy Album: "The Dreamer" — Dave Chappelle
Best Musical Theater Album: "Hell’s Kitchen (Original Broadway Cast)" 

Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording: "Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration" — Jimmy Carter
Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media: "Maestro: Music By Leonard Bernstein"
Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media (Includes Film And Television): "Dune: Part Two" — Hans Zimmer, composer
Best Song Written For Visual Media: "It Never Went Away" [From "American Symphony"] — Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
Best Music Video: "Not Like Us" — Kendrick Lamar
Best Music Film: "American Symphony" 

Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical): Amy Allen
Producer Of The Year (Non-Classical): Daniel Nigro

2022 GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS

As many had predicted, another rematch has been set-up after the 2022 Grammy Award nominations were announced on November 15th between the pop music superstars, Beyoncé and Adele. Their previous showdown was back in 2017 when Beyoncé's critically acclaimed alt-soul collection, "Lemonade" and Adele's massive hit release, "25" were both vying for the top prize of Album of the Year with the British artist's album taking home the award. Now their latest albums; "Renaissance" which the r&b diva celebrates Black dance music and the fourth studio album by Adele, "30", will both be in competition for several Grammys including once again for Album of the Year. Beyoncé leads the pack with the most nominations this year with nine which also has made her become the most honored artist in Grammy history, tying her with husband, Jay-Z, with a career total to date of eighty-eight. Adele did not do so badly herself this year, receiving a total of seven nominations.

But there are plenty of other musicians up for the top prize. The reunited Swedish pop supergroup, ABBA's first album of new music in forty years, "Voyage" is up for Album of the Year (the first time ever for this band) and the single, "Don't Shut Me Down" receiving Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group recognition, made more surprising since this collection didn't receive much airplay here. Brandi Carlile's "In These Silent Days", Lizzo's "Special'; the commercial comeback for soul vocalist, Mary J. Blige, "Good Morning Gorgeous"; Coldplay's "Music of the Spheres" and the latest from Pulitzer-Prize winning rapper, Kendrick Lamar, "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers" (with a total of eight nominations) are all up for Album of the Year. Bad Bunny with "Un Verano Sim Ti" became the first Spanish-language record ever to receive an Album of the Year nomination. And the artist who might have the best chance to create an upset between the ladies would be Harry Styles and his smash hit album, "Harry's House" which helped him receive a total of six nominations. And "Unholy", the current hit song from Sam Smith and Kim Petras, snuck in to receive a nod for Best Pop Duo/Group, making them become the first openly non-binary and transgender performers up for a Grammy.

The 65th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 5th, 2023 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, airing live on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. Here is a partial list of the nominations for the 2022 Grammys:

Album Of The Year:

"Voyage" - ABBA
"30" - Adele
"Un Verano Sin Ti" — Bad Bunny
"Renaissance" — Beyoncé
"Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe)" — Mary J. Blige
"In These Silent Days" — Brandi Carlile
"Music Of The Spheres" — Coldplay
"Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers" — Kendrick Lamar
"Special" — Lizzo
"Harry’s House" — Harry Styles

Record Of The Year:

"Don’t Shut Me Down" - ABBA
"Easy On Me" - Adele
"Break My Soul" - Beyoncé
"Good Morning Gorgeous" - Mary J. Blige
"You And Me On The Rock" - Brandi Carlile featuring Lucius
"Woman" - Doja Cat
"Bad Habit" - Steve Lacy
"The Heart Part 5" - Kendrick Lamar
"About Damn Time" - Lizzo
"As It Was" - Harry Styles

Song Of The Year:

"abcdefu" — Sara Davis, Gayle & Dave Pittenger, songwriters (Gayle)
"About Damn Time" — Melissa Jefferson, Eric Frederic, Blake Slatkin & Theron Makiel Thomas, songwriters (Lizzo)
"All Too Well" (10 Minute Version) — Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
"As It Was" — Tyler Johnson, Kid Harpoon & Harry Styles, songwriters (Harry Styles)
"Bad Habit" — Matthew Castellanos, Brittany Fousheé, Diana Gordon, John Carroll Kirby & Steve Lacy, songwriters (Steve Lacy)
"Break My Soul" — Beyoncé, S. Carter, Terius "The-Dream" Gesteelde-Diamant & Christopher A. Stewart, songwriters (Beyoncé)
"Easy On Me" — Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin, songwriters (Adele)
"God Did" — Tarik Azzouz, E. Blackmon, Khaled Khaled, F. LeBlanc, Shawn Carter, John Stephens, Dwayne Carter, William Roberts & Nicholas Warwar, songwriters (DJ Khaled Featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend & Fridayy)
"The Heart Part 5" — Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, Kendrick Lamar & Matt Schaeffer, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
"Just Like That" — Bonnie Raitt, songwriter (Bonnie Raitt)

Best New Artist:

Anitta
Omar Apollo
DOMi & JD Beck
Muni Long
Samara Joy
Latto
Måneskin
Tobe Nwigwe
Molly Tuttle
Wet Leg

Best Pop Solo Performance:

"Easy On Me" - Adele
"Moscow Mule" - Bad Bunny
"Woman" -Doja Cat
"Bad Habit" - Steve Lacy
"About Damn Time"- Lizzo
"As It Was" - Harry Styles

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:

"Don’t Shut Me Down" - ABBA
"Bam Bam" - Camila Cabello Featuring Ed Sheeran
"My Universe" - Coldplay & BTS
"I Like You (A Happier Song)" - Post Malone & Doja Cat
"Unholy" - Sam Smith & Kim Petras

Best Pop Vocal Album:

"Voyage" — ABBA
"30" — Adele
"Music Of The Spheres" — Coldplay
"Special" — Lizzo
"Harry’s House" — Harry Styles

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album:

"Higher" — Michael Bublé
"When Christmas Comes Around..." — Kelly Clarkson
"I Dream Of Christmas (Extended)" — Norah Jones
"Evergreen" — Pentatonix
"Thank You" — Diana Ross

Best Dance/Electronic Recording:

"Break My Soul" — Beyoncé 

"Rosewood" — Bonobo
"Don’t Forget My Love" — Diplo & Miguel
"I’m Good (Blue)" — David Guetta & Bebe Rexha
"Intimidated" —  Kaytranada Featuring H.E.R.
"On My Knees" — RÜFÜS DU SOL

Best Dance/Electronic Music Album:

"Renaissance" — Beyoncé
"Fragments” — Bonobo
"Diplo” — Diplo
"The Last Goodbye” — ODESZA
"Surrender” — RÜFÜS DU SOL

Best Rock Performance:

"So Happy It Hurts" — Bryan Adams
"Old Man" — Beck
"Wild Child" — The Black Keys
"Broken Horses" — Brandi Carlile
"Crawl!" — Idles
"Patient Number 9" — Ozzy Osbourne Featuring Jeff Beck
"Holiday" — Turnstile

Best Rock Album:

"Dropout Boogie" — The Black Keys
"The Boy Named If" — Elvis Costello & The Imposters
"Crawler" — Idles
"Mainstream Sellout" — Machine Gun Kelly
"Patient Number 9" — Ozzy Osbourne
"Lucifer On The Sofa" — Spoon

Best Alternative Music Performance:

"There’d Better Be A Mirrorball" — Arctic Monkeys
"Certainty" — Big Thief
"King" — Florence + The Machine
"Chaise Longue" — Wet Leg
"Spitting Off The Edge Of The World" — Yeah Yeah Yeahs featuring Perfume Genius

Best Alternative Music Album:

"WE" — Arcade Fire
"Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You" — Big Thief
"Fossora" — Björk
"Wet Leg" — Wet Leg
"Cool It Down" — Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Best R&B Performance:

"Virgo's Groove" — Beyoncé
"Here With Me" — Mary J. Blige Featuring Anderson .Paak
"Hrs & Hrs" — Muni Long
"Over" — Lucky Daye
"Hurt Me So Good" — Jazmine Sullivan

Best R&B Album:

"Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe)" — Mary J. Blige 

"Breezy (Deluxe)" — Chris Brown
"Black Radio III" — Robert Glasper
"Candydrip” — Lucky Daye
"Watch The Sun" — PJ Morton

Best Progressive R&B Album:

"Operation Funk" — Cory Henry
"Gemini Rights" — Steve Lacy
"Drones" — Terrace Martin
"Starfruit" — Moonchild
"Red Balloon" — Tank And The Bangas

Best Rap Performance:

"God Did" — DJ Khaled Featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend & Fridayy 

"Vegas" — Doja Cat
"pushin P" — Gunna & Future Featuring Young Thug
"F.N.F. (Let’s Go)" — Hitkidd & GloRilla
"The Heart Part 5" — Kendrick Lamar

Best Rap Album:

"God Did" — DJ Khaled
"I Never Liked You” — Future
"Come Home The Kids Miss You” — Jack Harlow
"Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” — Kendrick Lamar
"It’s Almost Dry" — Pusha T

Best Country Solo Performance:

"Heartfirst" — Kelsea Ballerini
"Something In The Orange" — Zach Bryan
"In His Arms" — Miranda Lambert
"Circles Around This Town" — Maren Morris
"Live Forever" — Willie Nelson

Best Country Album:

"Growin’ Up" — Luke Combs
"Palomino" — Miranda Lambert
"Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville" — Ashley McBryde
"Humble Quest" — Maren Morris
"A Beautiful Time" — Willie Nelson

Best Americana Album:

"In These Silent Days" — Brandi Carlile
"Things Happen That Way" — Dr. John
"Good To Be..." — Keb’ Mo’
"Raise The Roof" — Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
"Just Like That..." — Bonnie Raitt

Best Jazz Vocal Album:

"The Evening : Live At APPARATUS" — The Baylor Project 

"Linger Awhile" — Samara Joy 

"Fade To Black" — Carmen Lundy 

"Fifty" — The Manhattan Transfer With The WDR Funkhausorchester 

"Ghost Song" — Cécile McLorin Salvant

Best Latin Pop Album:

"Aguilera" — Christina Aguilera 

"Pasieros" — Rubén Blades & Boca Livre 

"De Adentro Pa Afuera" — Camilo 

"VIAJANTE" — Fonseca 

"Dharma +" — Sebastián Yatra

Best Música Urbana Album:

"Trap Cake, Vol. 2" — Rauw Alejandro
"Un Verano Sin Ti" — Bad Bunny
"Legendaddy" — Daddy Yankee
"La 167" — Farruko
"The Love & Sex Tape” — Maluma

Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording:

"Act Like You Got Some Sense" — Jamie Foxx
"All About Me!: My Remarkable Life In Show Business by Mel Brooks" — Mel Brooks
"Aristotle And Dante Dive Into The Waters Of The World" — Lin-Manuel Miranda
"Finding Me" — Viola Davis
"Music Is History" — Questlove

Best Comedy Album:

"The Closer" — Dave Chappelle
"Comedy Monster" — Jim Gaffigan
"A Little Brains, A Little Talent" — Randy Rainbow
"Sorry" — Louis CK
"We All Scream" — Patton Oswalt

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media:

"Elvis" — (Various Artists)
"Encanto" — (Various Artists)
"Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 4 (Vol 2)" — (Various Artists)
"Top Gun: Maverick" — Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga, Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe
"West Side Story" — (Various Artists)

Best Music Video:

"Easy On Me" — Adele
"Yet To Come" — BTS
"Woman" - Doja Cat
"The Heart Part 5" — Kendrick Lamar
"As It Was" — Harry Styles
"All Too Well: The Short Film" — Taylor Swift

Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical):

Amy Allen
Nija Charles
Tobias Jesso Jr.
The-Dream
Laura Veltz

Producer of the Year (Non-Classical):

Jack Antonoff
Dan Auerbach
Boi-1da
Dahi
Dernst "D’mile" Emile II 

2019 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

With the Kevin Hart hosting scandal creating some unwanted attention to this year’s Oscars, the Academy have found themselves in another mess but this time it appears to be of their own making. A rumor surfaced that the telecast would only invite two of the five Best Original Song nominees to perform (with the two being the pop hits from Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga). The issue intensified when the Academy did not deny this was accurate which created swift backlash. Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted to the Academy his unhappiness with this plan and reminded them the importance of hearing all of the nominees on the program. I agree completely with Mr Miranda that the songs have always been an enjoyable part of the Oscars and feel strongly that you should either invite all or no one. I think it’s rude and disrespectful to the nominees to be picking and choosing who gets to perform on the show.

But it seems the Academy have come to their senses (and apparently with a little nudge from Lady Gaga) and announced that all the five Original Songs will be performed live although in a shorter 90 second format. I’m not sure yet what is worse.

So that means we will see Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper recreating their moment in the movie, "A Star Is Born" with "Shallow"; Jennifer Hudson performing "I'll Fight", the theme song for the smash documentary, "RBG" about Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg which was written by Diane Warren who has received her tenth nomination in this category (and most likely to lose for the tenth time); David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, the writers of the song, "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings" from the Coen Brothers' western comedy, "The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs", will sing their nominated tune and a "Surprise Special Guest" will perform the song from "Mary Poppins Returns", "The Place Where Lost Things Go" since actress, Emily Blunt, who sang the song in the movie, declined. There is no official word yet if Kendrick Lamar and SZA will appear to perform their hit song, "All The Stars" from "Black Panther". As for the winner, I think "Shallow" has a slight edge to take the Oscar but my personal choice would be "All The Stars". But we will see on February 24th when the 91st Annual Academy Awards will be presented. Here are all five Best Original Song nominees for your listening pleasure:

"All The Stars" from "Black Panther": Music by Kendrick Lamar, Mark “Sounwave” Spears and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith; Lyric by Kendrick Lamar, SZA and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith



"I'll Fight" from "RBG": Music and Lyric by Diane Warren



"The Place Where Lost Things Go" from "Mary Poppins Return": Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman



"Shallow" from "A Star Is Born": Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt



"When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings" from "The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs": Music and Lyric by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

2018 GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS

After being delayed a few days due to the funeral of former President, George H. W. Bush, the 2018 Grammy Award nominations have finally been unveiled and it appears that the Recording Academy seems to have caught up to the 21st century. The organization for years has tended to nominate critically-acclaimed, veteran artists who were long past their prime while pretty much ignoring exciting, contemporary musicians for top honors.

Kendrick Lamar, one of the most innovative and accomplished artists creating music today, leads with eight Grammy nominations for his curated soundtrack of what became the top-grossing movie of the year, "Black Panther". Drake, who has been very vocal about feeling that the Grammys have been long out-of-touch, follows with seven noms for his smash album, "Scorpion". And after female artists were barely recognized last year with Lorde as the only woman to receive an Album of The Year nomination, there are five in this category this time with hip-hop breakout, Cardi B (receiving five noms), alt-rocker, Brandi Carlile (with six nominations), country artist, Kacey Musgraves, r&b newcomer, H.E.R (who got five total nominations). and psychedelic soul performer, Janelle Monáe. Rapper, Post Malone and his popular album, "Beerbongs & Bentleys" rounds out the category.

Now if it seems like there are a lot more nominees this time, you are correct. In a call for diversity, the Academy decided to expand the four general fields of Album, Record, Song and Best New Artist of The Year from five to eight. I really don't understand the logic behind this move as there is still only going to be one winner and I think you can be diverse without crowding these categories. Besides, someone deserving is always going to be left out for recognition.

The 61st annual Grammy Awards will be presented on February 10th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Here is a partial list of the 2018 Grammy Award nominations. Please click below to see the complete list of the nominations:

Grammy.com

Album of the Year:

"Invasion Of Privacy" - Cardi B
"By the Way, I Forgive You" - Brandi Carlile
"Scorpion" - Drake
"H.E.R." - H.E.R.
"Beerbongs & Bentleys" - Post Malone
"Dirty Computer" - Janelle Monáe
"Golden Hour" - Kacey Musgraves
"Black Panther: The Album, Music From and Inspired By" - Various Artists

Record of the Year:

"I Like It" - Cardi B
"The Joke" - Brandi Carlile
"This Is America" - Childish Gambino
"God's Plan" - Drake
"Shallow" - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
"All the Stars" - Kendrick Lamar & SZA
"Rockstar" - Post Malone Featuring 21 Savage
"The Middle" - Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey

Song of the Year:

"All the Stars" - Kendrick Duckworth, Solana Rowe, Al Shuckburgh, Mark Spears & Anthony Tiffith, songwriters - (Kendrick Lamar & SZA)
"Boo'd Up" - Larrance Dopson, Joelle James, Ella Mai & Dijon McFarlane, songwriters - (Ella Mai)
"God's Plan" - Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Brock Korsan, Ron LaTour, Matthew Samuels & Noah Shebib, songwriters - (Drake)
"In My Blood" - Teddy Geiger, Scott Harris, Shawn Mendes & Geoffrey Warburton, songwriters - (Shawn Mendes)
"The Joke" - Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters - (Brandi Carlile)
"The Middle" - Sarah Aarons, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Marcus Lomax, Kyle Trewartha, Michael Trewartha & Anton Zaslavski, songwriters - (Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey)
"Shallow" -Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters - (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper)
"This is America" -Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson, songwriters - (Childish Gambino)

Best New Artist:

Chloe x Hale
Luke Combs
Greta van Fleet
H.E.R.
Dua Lipa
Margo Price
Bebe Rexha
Jorja Smith

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album:

"Love Is Here To Stay" - Tony Bennett & Diana Krall
"My Way" - Willie Nelson
"Nat "King" Cole & Me" - Gregory Porter
"Standards" - Seal
"The Music...The Mem'ries...The Magic!" - Barbra Streisand

Best Pop Vocal Album:

"Camila" - Camila Cabello
"Meaning Of Life" - Kelly Clarkson
"Sweetner" - Ariana Grande
"Shawn Mendes" - Shawn Mendes
"Beautiful Trauma" - Pink
"Reputation" - Taylor Swift

Best Pop Solo Performance:

"Colors" - Beck
"Havana (Live)" - Camila Cabello
"God Is A Woman" - Ariana Grande
"Joanne (Where Do You Think You're Goin'?)" - Lady Gaga
"Better Now" - Post Malone

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:

"Fall in Line" - Christina Aguilera Featuring Demi Lovato
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" - Backstreet Boys
"'S Wonderful" - Tony Bennett & Diana Krall
"Shallow" - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
"Girls Like You" - Maroon 5 Featuring Cardi B
"Say Something" - Justin Timberlake Featuring Chris Stapleton
"The Middle" - Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey

Best Rock Album:

"Rainer Fog" - Alice In Chains
"Mania" Fall Out Boy
"Prequelle" - Ghost
"From the Fires" - Greta Van Fleet
"Pacific Daydream" - Weezer

Best Alternative Music Album:

"Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino" - Arctic Monkeys
"Colors" - Beck
"Utopia" - Bjork
"American Utopia" - David Byrne
"Masseduction" - St. Vincent

Best Urban Contemporary Album:

"Everything Is Love" - The Carters
"The Kids Are Alright" - Chloe x Halle
"Chris Dave And The Drumhedz" - Chris Dave And The Drumhedz
"War & Leisure" - Miguel
"Ventriloquism" - Meshell Ndegeocello

Best R&B Album:

"Sex & Cigarettes" - Toni Braxton
"Good Thing" - Leon Bridges
"Honestly" - Lalah Hathaway
"H.E.R." - H.E.R.
"Gumbo Unplugged (Live)" - PJ Morton

Best Rap Album:

"Invasion of Privacy" - Cardi B
"Swimming" - Mac Miller
"Victory Lap" - Nipsey Hussle
"Daytona" - Pusha T
"Astroworld" - Travis Scott

Best Country Album:

"Unapologetically" - Kelsea Ballerini
"Port Saint Joe" - Brothers Osborne
"Girl Going Nowhere" - Ashley McBryde
"Golden Hour" - Kacey Musgraves
"From A Room: Volume 2" - Chris Stapleton

Best Dance/Electronic Album:

"Singularity" -Jon Hopkins
"Woman Worldwide" - Justice
"Treehouse" - Sofi Tukker
"Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides" - Sophie
"Lune Rouge" - TOKiMONSTA

Best Comedy Album:

"Annihilation" - Patton Oswalt
"Equanimity & The Bird Revelation" - Dave Chappelle
"Noble Ape" - Jim Gaffigan
"Standup For Drummers" - Fred Armisen
"Tamborine" - Chris Rock

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media:

"Call Me By Your Name"
"Deadpool 2"
"The Greatest Showman"
"Lady Bird"
"Stranger Things"

Producer of the Year - (Non-Classical):

Boi-1da
Larry Klein
Linda Perry
Kanye West
Pharrell Williams

BLACK PANTHER: THE ALBUM

Unless you were living uncomfortably under a rock over this past weekend, then you must be aware that the Afrocentric super-hero movie, "Black Panther" had one of the biggest four-day openings in movie history with it accumulating domestically $242 million dollars. I saw it and it was fantastic but what I'm going to talk about here is the incredible soundtrack album for the film with director Ryan Coogler selecting one of the hottest and most inventive musical artists right now, Kendrick Lamar to curate the music. Originally, Lamar was only going to provide a few songs for the film but after viewing extensive footage, he wanted to become more involved in the creation of the music. The album features songs that are in "Black Panther" and were inspired by the movie and includes an interesting selection of contemporary hip-hop and r&b artists such as Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, Khalid, Vince Staples and Jorja Smith. There has been three singles released to date with Lamar teaming up with Jay Rock, Future and James Blake on "King's Dead", the Weeknd is featured on "Pray For Me" and my favorite has SZA providing a dazzling hook for him on "All The Stars".  While this collection works impressively on it own, it does the job by experimenting with sounds and textures, beautifully enhancing the rhythmic energy of this film.

THE 60TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

For the first time being held in New York City in fifteen years, the Grammys made a grand point by having U2 perform their latest single, "Get Out of Your Own Way" outside in the frigid temperature in front of the Statue of Liberty, giving the moment a dramatic effect. And to celebrate sixty years of honoring the best in music, the 2018 Grammys surprisingly didn't do much of anything. With the exception of Recording Academy President, Neil Portnow briefly mentioning the milestone in his annual speech on the program (before unintentionally offending many female performers by telling them to "step up"), there was not a single moment throughout the evening of looking back at highlights of the Grammy Awards' rich yet admittedly flawed history.

James Cordon returned as host of the show and continues to be an enthusiastic ringmaster and cheerleader. One of his highlights was a funny bit involving bringing his popular "Carpool Karaoke" to the New York City subway along with Sting and Shaggy (where did they find him ?) for the ride but the passengers were hilariously not having it. But the biggest laugh of the night was about how non-musicians can win a Grammy and imagines a variety of different people reading an audio book of the recent "Fire and Fury", which examines the current White House administration, including a former female Presidential candidate.

Bruno Mars was the unexpected but deserving big winner of the night with his modern take of retro-soul, "24K" taking three of the top awards, Song of The Year, Record of The Year and Album of The Year, and winning a total of six Grammys. Kendrick Lamar didn't do so bad himself winning a total of five for his highly acclaimed, "DAMN." including Best Rap Album. Lamar even kicked off the show with an explosive performance that featured appearances by U2 and Dave Chappelle. Jay-Z did not fare as well, having not performed on the program and went home empty handed. But at least he did have his beautiful family by his side for support.

The evening was clearly not only about awards but about celebrating all genres of music. Some of my favorite performances included SZA making an impression with her brand of alt-soul with "Broken Clocks", a rare tribute to the musical theater on the show with dramatic performances from Ben Platt of "Dear Evan Hansen" and the legendary Patti LuPone, DJ Khaled and Rihanna doing a extravagant production of one of my favorite tunes of 2017, "Wild Thoughts" and Bruno Mars brought Cardi B on stage with him to do my current favorite song of this year, "Finesse" .  A tribute to the Las Vegas shooting victims that featured country artists, Brothers Osborne, Maren Morris and Eric Church didn't have the impact they were hoping for and their choice of song (Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven") wasn't exactly right and while the pairing of Miley Cyrus (who looked absolutely beautiful) with Elton John on his classic, "Tiny Dancer" may have been to promote an upcoming Grammy tribute special for the singer, it only came across as a lackluster stunt.

Politics, unsurprisingly, found it's way on to the Grammy stage and that was reflected in some of the evening's highlights. Logic had Best New Artist nominee, Khalid and the eventual winner of that award, Alessia Cara join him to perform a moving version of "1-800-273-8255", his nominated song that brings awareness about suicide prevention. At the conclusion, he spoke out against hatred, bigotry, sexual harassment and even the President's anti-immigrant stance.

Janelle Monáe made a passionate speech that honored the working women in all areas of the music industry and reiterated that "time's up" for the abuse of power against women before she introduced Kesha. Supported by the powerful voices of Cyndi Lauper, Camilla Cabello, Julia Michaels, Andra Day and Bebe Rexha, the singer delivered a fiery version of "Praying" which deals with her experiences with sexual and emotional abuse. After the performance, Cabello, a Cuban immigrant, offered words of support to "the Dreamers" and their complicated struggle to stay in the only country that many of them have ever known.

While this year's awards stressed the support of women, with many people wearing white roses in a show of solidarity, the Grammys doesn't seem to be exactly following through on this message. First, Lorde was the only female nominated for Album of The Year yet she was not given a solo set on the show (unlike most of the other male nominees) and was only offered to be a part of a tribute to the the late Tom Petty to be performed with other artists which she respectfully declined. And Alessia Cara was the only female to take an award during the entire televised ceremony.

Back in 2011 when the Grammys decided to end segregating the categories by gender, I was concerned that men would dominate the nominations and ultimately, the winners. That didn't happen immediately but as we have come to 2018 with only nine percent of the total Grammy Awards going to women over the last six years. it seems my fears have sadly become reality. But as I have seen a conscious shift in gender politics over the previous year, I am optimistic that change is possible and most certainly will come.

Here is a partial list of winners of the 2018 Grammy Awards:

Album of the Year: "24K Magic" - Bruno Mars

Record of the Year: "24K Magic" - Bruno Mars

Song of the Year: "That's What I Like" - Bruno Mars - Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip (songwriters)

Best New Artist: Alessia Cara

Pop Vocal Album: "÷" - Ed Sheeran

Best Pop Solo Performance: "Shape of You" - Ed Sheeran

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Feel It Still," Portugal. The Man

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "Tony Bennett Celebrates 90" - Tony Bennett and various artists

Best Rap Album: "DAMN." - Kendrick Lamar

Best Rap Song: "HUMBLE." - Kendrick Lamar

Best Rap Performance: "HUMBLE." - Kendrick Lamar

Best Rap/Sung Performance: "Loyalty" - Kendrick Lamar featuring Rihanna

Best R&B Album: "24K Magic" - Bruno Mars

Best R&B song: "That's What I Like" - Bruno Mars

Best R&B Performance: "That's What I Like" - Bruno Mars

Best Traditional R&B Performance: "Redbone" - Childish Gambino

Best Urban Contemporary Album: "Starboy" - The Weeknd

Best Country Album: "From a Room, Vol. 1" - Chris Stapleton

Best Country Song: "Broken Halos" Chris Stapleton

Best Country Solo Performance: "Either Way" - Chris Stapleton

Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "Better Man" Little Big Town

Best Dance/Electronic Album: "3-D The Catalogue" - Kraftwerk

Best Dance Recording: "Tonite" - LCD Soundsystem

Best Rock Album: "A Deeper Understanding" - The War on Drugs

Best Rock Song: "Run" - Foo Fighters

Best Rock Performance: "You Want It Darker" - Leonard Cohen

Best Metal Performance: "Sultan's Curse" - Mastodon

Best Alternative Music Album: "Sleep Well Beast" - The National

Best American Roots Song: "If We Were Vampires" - Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit

Best American Roots Performance: "Killer Diller Blues" - Alabama Shakes

Best Contemporary Christian Album: "Chain Breaker" - Zach Williams

Best Gospel album: "Let Them Fall in Love" - CeCe Winans

Best Jazz Instrumental Album: "Rebirth" - Billy Childs

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: "Prototype" - Jeff Lorber Fusion

Best Latin Pop Album: "El Dorado" - Shakira

Best New Age Album: "Dancing on Water" - Peter Kater

Best Comedy Album: "The Age of Spin & Deep in the Heart of Texas" - Dave Chappelle

Best Spoken Word Album: "The Princess Diarist" - Carrie Fisher

Best Music Video: "HUMBLE." - Kendrick Lamar

Best Song Written for Visual Media: "How Far I'll Go" from "Moana" - Lin-Manuel Miranda (songwriter)

Best Score/Soundtrack for Visual Media: "La La Land"

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: "La La Land"

Best Musical Theater Album: "Dear Evan Hansen"

Best Music Film: "The Defiant Ones" - Various artists

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS IN MUSIC IN 2017

2017 has come to a close and it was another year of some great music. I've always shared the tunes that I've loved and enjoyed throughout the year but time didn't permit me to get to everything. So to end 2017 properly, here's a round-up of a few of my favorite songs and videos from the previous year I didn't get a chance to share:



"HUMBLE" - Kendrick Lamar (2017) mp3

"High" - Ledisi (2017) mp3

"Stay" - Zedd featuring Alessia Cara (2017) mp3

"Feel It Still" - Portugal. The Man (2017) mp3



"Shining" - DJ Khaled featuring Beyoncé and Jay Z (2017) mp3

"Sorry Not Sorry" - Demi Lovato (2017) mp3











"Now or Never" - Halsey (2017) mp3

2017 GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS

On the sixtieth year of honoring the best in all genres of music, the Grammy Awards seems to have finally presented a list of nominations that comes closest to representing the music that many people are actually listening to. Hip-hop, rap and alt-r&b, which has been the driving force in popular music for at least the last ten years, has actually made a significant and long overdue dent in the major categories. Jay Z leads with the most nominations with eight for "4:44". the rap artist's response to his wife,  Beyoncé's album of pain, betrayal and infidelity, "Lemonade", including Album of The Year. Kendrick Lamar's critically acclaimed, "DAMN." follows with seven while Bruno Mars received six nominations for his tasty slice of classic soul, "24K Magic" with both also vying for the best album of 2017. Lorde's long-awaited follow-up album, "Melodrama" and Childish Gambino, otherwise known as actor, Donald Glover, and his collection of psychedelic funk, "Awaken, My Love" (which received five nominations) round out the Album of The Year category. Two young performers, Khalid and SZA, who both represent thrilling new directions for r&b music, each received five nominations and competing against each other for Best New Artist along with Alessia Cara, Julia Michaels and Lil Uzi Vert.

The 60th Annual Grammy Awards will be televised live on January 28, 2018 at New York City's Madison Square Garden. This is the first time the ceremony has been held in the Big Apple in fifteen years and James Corden will once again serve as host.

Here is a partial list of the nominations for the 60th annual Grammy Awards. For the complete list of nominees, please click below:

Grammy.com

Album of the Year:

“Awaken, My Love!” — Childish Gambino
"4:44" — Jay-Z
"DAMN." — Kendrick Lamar
"Melodrama" — Lorde
"24K Magic" — Bruno Mars

Record of the Year:

"Redbone" — Childish Gambino
"Despacito" — Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber
"The Story Of O.J." — Jay-Z
"HUMBLE." — Kendrick Lamar
"24K Magic" — Bruno Mars

Song of the Year:

"Despacito"— Ramón Ayala, Justin Bieber, Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd, Erika Ender, Luis Fonsi & Marty James Garton, songwriters (Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber)
"4:44" — Shawn Carter & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Jay-Z)
"Issues" — Benny Blanco, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Julia Michaels & Justin Drew Tranter, songwriters (Julia Michaels)
"1-800-273-8255" — Alessia Caracciolo, Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, Arjun Ivatury & Khalid Robinson, songwriters (Logic Featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid)
"That’s What I Like" — Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip, songwriters (Bruno Mars)

Best New Artist:

Alessia Cara
Khalid
Lil Uzi Vert
Julia Michaels
SZA

Best Pop Solo Performance:

"Love So Soft" — Kelly Clarkson
"Praying" — Kesha
"Million Reasons" — Lady Gaga
"What About Us" — P!nk
"Shape Of You" — Ed Sheeran

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:

"Something Just Like This" — The Chainsmokers & Coldplay
"Despacito" — Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber
"Thunder" — Imagine Dragons
"Feel It Still" — Portugal. The Man
"Stay" — Zedd & Alessia Cara

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album:

"Nobody But Me" (Deluxe Version) — Michael Bublé
"Triplicate" — Bob Dylan
"In Full Swing" — Seth MacFarlane
"Wonderland" — Sarah McLachlan
"Tony Bennett Celebrates 90" —  Various Artists

Best Pop Vocal Album:

"Kaleidoscope" EP — Coldplay
"Lust For Life" — Lana Del Rey
"Evolve" — Imagine Dragons
"Rainbow" — Kesha
"Joanne" — Lady Gaga

Best Dance Recording:

"Bambro Koyo Ganda" — Bonobo Featuring Innov Gnawa
"Cola" — Camelphat & Elderbrook
"Andromeda"— Gorillaz Featuring DRAM
"Tonite" — LCD Soundsystem
"Line Of Sight" — Odesza Featuring WYNNE & Mansionair

Best Dance/Electronic Album:

"Migration" — Bonobo
"3-D The Catalogue" — Kraftwerk
"Mura Masa" — Mura Masa
"A Moment Apart" — Odesza
"What Now" — Sylvan Esso

Best Rock Performance:

"You Want It Darker" — Leonard Cohen
"The Promise" — Chris Cornell
"Run" — Foo Fighters
"No Good" — Kaleo
"Go To War" — Nothing More

Best Rock Song:

"Atlas, Rise!" — James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich, songwriters (Metallica)
"Blood In The Cut" — JT Daly & Kristine Flaherty, songwriters (K.Flay)
“Go To War” — Ben Anderson, Jonny Hawkins, Will Hoffman, Daniel Oliver, David Pramik & Mark Vollelunga, songwriters (Nothing More)
"Run" — Foo Fighters, songwriters (Foo Fighters)
"The Stage" — Zachary Baker, Brian Haner, Matthew Sanders, Jonathan Seward & Brooks Wackerman, songwriters (Avenged Sevenfold)

Best Rock Album:

"Emperor Of Sand" — Mastodon
"Hardwired…To Self-Destruct" — Metallica
"The Stories We Tell Ourselves" — Nothing More
"Villains" — Queens Of The Stone Age
"A Deeper Understanding" — The War On Drugs

Best Alternative Music Album:

"Everything Now" — Arcade Fire
"Humanz" — Gorillaz
"American Dream" — LCD Soundsystem
"Pure Comedy" — Father John Misty
"Sleep Well Beast" — The National

Best R&B Performance:

"Get You" — Daniel Caesar Featuring Kali Uchis
"Distraction" — Kehlani
"High" — Ledisi
"That’s What I Like" — Bruno Mars
"The Weekend" — SZA

Best Traditional R&B Performance:

"Laugh And Move On" — The Baylor Project
"Redbone" — Childish Gambino
"What I’m Feelin'" — Anthony Hamilton Featuring The Hamiltones|
"All The Way" — Ledisi
"Still" — Mali Music

Best R&B Song:

"First Began" — PJ Morton, songwriter (PJ Morton)
"Location" — Alfredo Gonzalez, Olatunji Ige, Samuel David Jiminez, Christopher McClenney, Khalid Robinson & Joshua Scruggs, songwriters (Khalid)
"Redbone" — Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson, songwriters (Childish Gambino)
"Supermodel" — Tyran Donaldson, Terrence Henderson, Greg Landfair Jr., Solana Rowe & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (SZA)
"That’s What I Like" — Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip, songwriters (Bruno Mars)

Best Urban Contemporary Album:

"Free 6LACK" — 6LACK
"Awaken, My Love!" — Childish Gambino
"American Teen" — Khalid
"Ctrl" — SZA
"Starboy" — The Weeknd

Best R&B Album:

"Freudian" — Daniel Caesar
"Let Love Rule" — Ledisi
"24K Magic" — Bruno Mars
"Gumbo" — PJ Morton
"Feel The Real" –Musiq Soulchild

Best Rap Performance:

"Bounce Back" — Big Sean
"Bodak Yellow" — Cardi B
"4:44" — Jay-Z
"HUMBLE." — Kendrick Lamar
"Bad And Boujee" — Migos Featuring Lil Uzi Vert

Best Rap/Sung Performance:

"PRBLMS" — 6LACK
"Crew" — Goldlink Featuring Brent Faiyaz & Shy Glizzy
"Family Feud" — Jay-Z Featuring Beyoncé
"LOYALTY." — Kendrick Lamar Featuring Rihanna
"Love Galore" — SZA Featuring Travis Scott

Best Rap Song:

"Bodak Yellow" — Dieuson Octave, Klenord Raphael, Shaftizm, Jordan Thorpe, Washpoppin & J White, songwriters (Cardi B)
"Chase Me" — Judah Bauer, Brian Burton, Hector Delgado, Jaime Meline, Antwan Patton, Michael Render, Russell Simins & Jon Spencer, songwriters (Danger Mouse Featuring Run The Jewels & Big Boi)
"HUMBLE." — Duckworth, Asheton Hogan & M. Williams II, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
"Sassy" — Gabouer & M. Evans, songwriters (Rapsody)
"The Story Of O.J." — Shawn Carter & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Jay-Z)

Best Rap Album:

"4:44" — Jay-Z
"DAMN." — Kendrick Lamar
"Culture" — Migos
"Laila’s Wisdom" — Rapsody
"Flower Boy" — Tyler, The Creator

Best Country Solo Performance:

"Body Like A Back Road" — Sam Hunt
"Losing You" –Alison Krauss
"Tin Man" — Miranda Lambert
"I Could Use A Love Song" — Maren Morris
"Either Way" — Chris Stapleton

Best Country Duo/Group Performance:

"It Ain’t My Fault" — Brothers Osborne
"My Old Man" — Zac Brown Band
"You Look Good" — Lady Antebellum
"Better Man" — Little Big Town
"Drinkin’ Problem" — Midland

Best Country Song:

"Better Man" — Taylor Swift, songwriter (Little Big Town)
"Body Like A Back Road" — Zach Crowell, Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Sam Hunt)
"Broken Halos" — Mike Henderson & Chris Stapleton, songwriters (Chris Stapleton)
"Drinkin’ Problem" — Jess Carson, Cameron Duddy, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne & Mark Wystrach, songwriters (Midland)
"Tin Man" — Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert & Jon Randall, songwriters (Miranda Lambert)

Best Country Album:

"Cosmic Hallelujah" — Kenny Chesney
"Heart Break" — Lady Antebellum
"The Breaker" — Little Big Town
"Life Changes" — Thomas Rhett
"From A Room: Volume 1" — Chris Stapleton

Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media:

"Baby Driver" — (Various Artists)
"Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2" — (Various Artists)
"Hidden Figures: The Album" — (Various Artists)
"La La Land" — (Various Artists)
"Moana: The Songs" — (Various Artists)

Best Song Written For Visual Media:

"City Of Stars" — Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, songwriters (Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone)
"How Far I’ll Go" — Lin-Manuel Miranda, songwriter (Auli’i Cravalho)
"I Don’t Wanna Live Forever ("Fifty Shades Darker")" — Jack Antonoff, Sam Dew & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Zayn & Taylor Swift)
"Never Give Up" — Sia Furler & Greg Kurstin, songwriters (Sia)
"Stand Up For Something" — Common & Diane Warren, songwriters (Andra Day Featuring Common)

Producer Of The Year (Non-Classical):

Calvin Harris
Greg Kurstin
Blake Mills
No I.D.
The Stereotypes

Best Music Video:

"Up All Night" — Beck
"Makeba" — Jain
"The Story Of O.J." — Jay-Z
"HUMBLE." — Kendrick Lamar
"1-800-273-8255" — Logic Featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid