SZA Kills in 2024 Grammy Nominations as Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus & More Make History
Solo women account for six of the eight nominations for both record and album of the year.
SZA is the leader in the 2024 Grammy nominations, with nine nods. She is followed on the leaderboard by Phoebe Bridgers, engineer/mixer Serban Ghenea and R&B star Victoria Monét, with seven nods each; and Jack Antonoff, Jon Batiste, Boygenius, Brandy Clark, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift, with six each.
Five artists – Swift, Batiste, Cyrus, SZA and Rodrigo – are nominated in each of the “Big Three” categories: album, record and song of the year. Three more – boygenius, Eilish and Lana Del Rey – are nominated in two of the “Big Three” categories.
Solo women account for six of the eight nominations for both record and album of the year. A trio of three women (boygenius) and one man (Batiste) round out the nominations in both of those categories. There’s more balance in best new artist, but women are still ahead. That category has four women, three men and one married couple (The War and Treaty).
Several acts made Grammy history with this year’s nominations, which were announced on Friday (Nov. 10). With her smash “Anti-Hero,” Swift becomes the first songwriter in Grammy history to amass seven nods for song of the year; she had been tied with Paul McCartney and Lionel Richie with six nods each.
With her album Midnights, Swift ties Barbra Streisand for the most nods in this category (six) by a female artist. Streisand’s album of the year nominations spanned 24 years (1963-86). True to her name, Swift achieved the feat more swiftly: Her album of the year nods span just 15 years (2009-23).
With her smash “Flowers” nominated for record of the year, Cyrus and her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, become just the third parent and child to each receive record of the year nods, following the Sinatras (Frank and Nancy) and the Coles (Nat King and Natalie). Billy Ray Cyrus has received two record of the year nods – for “Achy Breaky Heart” and “Old Town Road,” his collab with Lil Nas X. Frank Sinatra amassed seven record of the year nods; Nancy had one, for “Somethin’ Stupid,” a 1967 collab with her father. Nat King Cole had one, for “Ramblin’ Rose” (1962); Natalie also had one for “Unforgettable” (1991). (Nat wasn’t nominated for that silky, studio-assembled collab because his part had been recorded many years earlier.)
With her hypnotic ballad “What Was I Made For?,” Eilish becomes the first artist in Grammy history to receive four record of the year nods before turning 22. (She’ll reach that age on Dec. 18.) She won for “Bad Guy” (2019) and “Everything I Wanted” (2020) and was nominated for “Happier Than Ever” (2021).
Rodrigo becomes the first artist to sweep nominations in each of the Big Three categories with both of her first two studio albums since Eilish. This is also the second time Rodrigo has been nominated alongside one of her childhood idols, Swift, for album of the year; Sour competed with Swift’s Evermore two years ago (with Jon Batiste’s We Are taking the prize).
Jelly Roll, who turns 39 in December, is the oldest solo artist nominated for best new artist since Andrea Bocelli, who was 40 when he was nominated 25 years ago. Jelly Roll won the CMA Award for new artist of the year on Wednesday (Nov. 8). He has a chance to become just the fourth artist to win both of these awards, following LeAnn Rimes, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band.
Jelly Roll’s nomination, and another for Americana duo The War and Treaty (who were also up for the CMA new artist of the year award), was the good news for country in the Big Four categories this year. The bad news is that such format leaders as Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs and Lainey Wilson were shut out in the marquee categories. Combs’ failure to receive a record of the year nod for “Fast Car” is especially surprising; Tracy Chapman’s original version of the song was nominated for record and song of the year 35 years ago.
Victoria Monét is the only best new artist nominee who is nominated in another “Big Four” category; her “On My Mama” was a surprise nominee for record of the year. The other nominees for best new artist are Gracie Abrams, Fred again.., Ice Spice, Jelly Roll, Coco Jones, Noah Kahan and The War and Treaty.
Jones won best new artist at the BET Awards on June 25. Ice Spice won in that same category at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 12.
Surprisingly, Lainey Wilson, who has amassed seven CMA Awards in the last two years, was passed over for a Grammy best new artist nod. (She was entered and eligible.)
Jack Antonoff has two nominations for album of the year (for co-producing albums by Swift and Del Rey) and song of the year (for co-writing songs by those same artists). Given that, it’s not surprising that he’s nominated for producer of the year, non-classical for the fifth consecutive year. The other nominees in that category are Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II (his second nod in a row), Hit-Boy (his second nod in three years) and first-time nominees Metro Boomin and Daniel Nigro.
The slate of nominees for songwriter of the year, non-classical is completely different from last year’s inaugural slate. Edgar Barrera (who has won 20 Latin Grammys), Jessie Jo Dillon, Shane McAnally, Theron Thomas and Justin Tranter are this year’s nominees. (Amy Allen, Nija Charles, Tobias Jesso Jr., The-Dream and Laura Veltz were nominated last year.)
The trend of songwriting by committee appears to have stalled, at least based on this year’s voting for song of the year. Four of the eight nominees in that category were written by two-person teams. Three others were written by three-person teams. Only one was written by a four-person team.
Three of this year’s album of the year nominees – Swift’s Midnights, Rodrigo’s GUTS and Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation – are also nominated for best pop vocal album. Two – SZA’s SOS and Janelle Monáe’s The Age of Pleasure – are also nominated for best progressive R&B album. Two more – Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd and boygenius’ the record – are nominated for best alternative music album. The eighth album of the year nominee is Batiste’s World Music Radio, which wasn’t nominated in a genre album category.
According to the Academy, boygenius — which consists of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus — is the first group to receive six nominations in one year since 2012, when fun. and Mumford & Sons each accomplished the feat. (The Academy is not counting Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, a duo, which had seven nominations the following year.)
In an odd twist, Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” from Barbie was nominated for song of the year but not record of the year; many would have predicted the opposite outcome. Two songs from Barbie are up for song of the year, the other being Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” Barbie is the third film soundtrack to spawn two song of the year nominees, following The Lion King (both in the same year, 1994) and the most recent iteration of A Star Is Born (in successive years, 2018 and 2019).
Another sign of Barbie’s potency: Four of the five nominees for best song written for visual media were from the film. (The only non-Barbie song in the running is Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.) For all that, Barbie: The Album was passed over for an album of the year nod.
The Grammys added three new categories this year: best pop dance recording, best alternative jazz album and best African music performance. David Guetta has two of the five nominees for best pop dance recording. The French superstar is nominated for “Baby Don’t Hurt Me,” a collab with Anne-Marie & Coi Leray, and “One in a Million,” a collab with Bebe Rexha.
Bruce Springsteen’s Only the Strong Survive and Rickie Lee Jones’ Pieces of Treasure are both nominated for best traditional pop vocal album, which has broadened its focus in recent years. It’s no longer just the home for Michael Bublé albums (though he’s welcome there too).
Trevor Noah, who has hosted the Grammy telecast the last three years, is nominated for best comedy album for I Wish You Would. (The 2024 Grammy host has not yet been announced.)
There are just three nominees for best música urbana album and best opera recording. That’s because Grammy rules specify that “each category shall have at least 40 distinct artist entries. If a category receives between 25 and 39 entries, only three recordings will receive nominations in that year.” These two categories had 37 and 28 entries, respectively.
Grammy rules also specify “in the event of a tie in the nominations, there shall be no more than six and no less than three nominations in these categories.” Despite that rule, there are seven nominations in three categories: best folk album, best global music performance and best classical compendium.
This year’s eligibility period ran from Oct. 1, 2022, through Sept. 15, 2023. The final round of Grammy voting, which will determine the winners, will take place Dec. 14 through Jan. 4, 2024. According to the Academy, nearly 16,000 eligible entries were submitted for Grammy consideration. More than 11,000 Recording Academy voting members vote during the awards process.
The Grammys will be presented on Feb. 4, 2024, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Prior to the 3.5-hour telecast, the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony will be held at the adjoining Peacock Theater at 12:30 p.m. PT and will stream live on live.Grammy.com and the Recording Academy’s YouTube Channel.
The 66th annual Grammy Awards will be produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy. Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins are executive producers.
