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What can we expect from the 62nd Grammy Awards?
The highlight of the stateside year in music has arrived.
The highlight of the stateside music calendar has arrived, and The Grammys are heading to the Staples Centre in Los Angeles. Hosted by Alicia Keys for the second year running, this annual celebration of all things sound will once again bring together the many sectors of the music industry to congratulate and commiserate the talents we hold dear.
The evening will see a host of live performances by artists who have made waves over the past twelve months, not least global superstar Billie Eilish, who reinvented pop as we know it with her cataclysmic debut WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, itself nominated for the coveted Album Of The Year gong.
Other performers include Odd Future graduate Tyler The Creator, who dropped his acclaimed IGOR LP in 2019 and secured a nomination for Best Rap Album, and Rosalía – who despite not releasing an album in the last twelve months finds herself on the Best New Artist list alongside fellow performers Lizzo and Eilish.
2019 was a huge year for Lizzo, who unveiled her well-earned breakthrough Cuz I Love You, a record that drew enough attention to inject a huge new lease of life into 2017’s Truth Hurts. Two years since its release, the track topped the stateside singles chart, and forms part of the reason Lizzo sits with eight nominations – the most by any artist in 2020.
Ariana Grande, Charlie Wilson, The Jonas Brothers, Gary Clark Jr. and the Roots, H.E.R., Demi Lovato, Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C., Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Trombone Shorty will also perform.
Live collaborations are also the name of the game in 2020, with Sheila E. and Usher set to deliver a tribute to the legendary Prince, and the mighty Lil Nas X, K-pop heroes BTS, Diplo, Mason Ramsey, and country legend Billy Ray Cyrus teaming up for what is destined to be a showstopper performance of Old Town Road.
In another of the show’s likely future highlights, and following the untimely passing of rapper Nipsey Hussle in March, the Grammy Awards will welcome a potentially powerful tribute performance by John Legend, DJ Khaled, Meek Mill, Roddy Ricch, YG, and Kirk Franklin.
As Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich prepares for his retirement, a heap of stars will be delivering their version of Fame‘s I Sing the Body Electric. The list of performers is nothing short of high-profile, with Camila Cabello, Gary Clark Jr., John Legend, Debbie Allen, Joshua Bell, Common, Misty Copeland, Lang Lang, Cyndi Lauper, Ben Platt, and the War and Treaty gearing up to lend their voices.
In total, the Grammy Awards will host 18 separate performances across its 84 (yes, 84!) categories.
The highly competitive Album Of The Year category pits fan favourites Lizzo, Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey and Billie Eilish against each other, alongside Bon Iver, H.E.R., Lil Nas X, and Vampire Weekend. Although, as ever, it’s anyone’s game, Eilish may top off a phenomenal 2019 by walking home with the award.
In the Record Of The Year battle, Lil Nas X is primed to take home the win – having become the first ever hip-hop artist to bag the Country Music Association (CMA) Award for Musical Event of the Year in 2019.
As the heat gets turned up ahead of the Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday 26 January 2020 (in the United States), here are the nominees for a selection of the major categories.
You can find the rest of the of the categories here.
Album of the Year
Bon Iver – i,i
Lana Del Rey – Norman F***ing Rockwell!
Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
H.E.R. – I Used to Know Her
Ariana Grande – thank u, next
Lil Nas X – 7
Lizzo – Cuz I Love You
Vampire Weekend – Father of the Bride
Record of the Year
Bon Iver – Hey, Ma
Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
Ariana Grande – 7 rings
H.E.R. – Hard Place
Khalid – Talk
Lil Nas X – Old Town Road
Lizzo – Truth Hurts
Post Malone – Sunflower
Song of the Year
Lady Gaga – Always Remember Us This Way
Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
Tanya Tucker – Bring My Flowers Now
H.E.R. – Hard Place
Taylor Swift – Lover
Lana Del Rey – Norman F***ing Rockwell
Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved
Lizzo – Truth Hurts
Best New Artist
Black Pumas
Billie Eilish
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
Maggie Rogers
Rosalía
Tank and the Bangas
Yola
Best Pop Vocal Album
Beyoncé – The Lion King: The Gift
Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Ariana Grande – thank u, next
Ed Sheeran – No.6 Collaborations Project
Taylor Swift – Lover
Best Rap Album
Dreamville – Revenge of the Dreamers III
Meek Mill – Championships
21 Savage – I Am > I Was
Tyler, the Creator – IGOR
YBN Cordae – The Lost Boy
Best Rock Album
Bring Me the Horizon – amo
Cage the Elephant – Social Cues
The Cranberries – In the End
I Prevail – Trauma
Rival Sons – Feral Roots
Best Urban Contemporary Album
Steve Lacy – Apollo XXI
Lizzo – Cuz I Love You
Georgia Anne Muldrow – Overload
Nao – Saturn
Jessie Reyez – Being Human in Public
Best Dance Recording
Bonobo – Linked
The Chemical Brothers – Got to Keep On
Medusa – Piece of Your Heart [ft. Goodboys]
RÜFÜS DU SOL – Underwater
Skrillex and Boys Noize – Midnight Hour [ft. Ty Dolla $ign]
Best Comedy Album
Jim Gaffigan – Quality Time
Ellen DeGeneres – Relatable
Aziz Ansari – Right Now
Trevor Noah – Son of Patricia
Dave Chapelle – Sticks and Stones
The awards ceremony starts at 01:00 on Monday 27 January, UK time. Now we know that’s a school night so we will be posting some of the winners on our Twitter feed to keep you all up to date.
Good luck to all nominated artists and excited fans!
