Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd lead 2016 Grammy nominees
by Jay Gabler
December 07, 2015
2016 Grammy nominees were announced on Monday morning, with country-turned-pop star Taylor Swift and dynamic R&B artist The Weeknd each scooping Record of the Year and Album of the Year nominations — Swift for "Blank Space" (also a Song of the Year nominee) and 1989, The Weeknd for "Can't Feel My Face" and Beauty Behind the Madness.
Swift and The Weeknd each earned seven nominations in total. The busy and talented Kendrick Lamar, though, ended up with nominations in no fewer than nine total categories — in two categories featuring in multiple entries for a total of 11 nominations.
Rounding out Album of the Year nominees are Alabama Shakes (Sound & Color), Kendrick Lamar (To Pimp a Butterfly), and country sensation Chris Stapleton (Traveller). The other Record of the Year nominees are D'Angelo and the Vanguard ("Really Love"), Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars ("Uptown Funk"), and Ed Sheeran ("Thinking Out Loud").
"Thinking Out Loud" also earned Sheeran a nomination for Song of the Year (for songwriting), along with co-writer Amy Wadge. Joining Sheeran and Swift in that category are Lamar (with Mark Anthony Spears and the ubiquitous Pharrell Williams, for "Alright"); Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, and Liz Rose for Little Big Town's "Girl Crush"; and Wiz Khalifa, Charlie Puth, and two co-writers for their summer hit "See You Again."
The Best New Artist nominees are a diverse lot, ranging from indie-rock darling Courtney Barnett to sunny popster Meghan Trainor. James Bay, Sam Hunt, and Tori Kelly are also in the mix for that award.
Among local artists who were honored with nominations is St. Paul rapper Allan Kingdom, who shared nominations for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for "All Day" — a Kanye West track on which he appears. Bob Dylan also landed a Traditional Pop Vocal album for his Frank Sinatra covers project Shadows in the Night. Chris Thile — who's set to succeed Garrison Keillor as host of the St.-Paul-based A Prairie Home Companion — earned three nods for his work with the Punch Brothers.
Selected nominations are listed below, and the rest can be seen at Grammy.com. The 58th Grammy Awards will be presented on Feb. 15, in a ceremony televised live on CBS. Recordings must have been released between Oct. 1, 2014 and Sept. 30, 2015 to be eligible for this year's Grammys.
RECORD OF THE YEAR
"Really Love," D'Angelo And The Vanguard
"Uptown Funk," Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars
"Thinking Out Loud," Ed Sheeran
"Blank Space," Taylor Swift
"Can't Feel My Face," The Weeknd
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes
To Pimp A Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar
Traveller, Chris Stapleton
1989, Taylor Swift
Beauty Behind The Madness, The Weeknd
SONG OF THE YEAR
"Alright," Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
"Blank Space," Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
"Girl Crush," Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose, songwriters (Little Big Town)
"See You Again," Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth & Cameron Thomaz, songwriters (Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth)
"Thinking Out Loud," Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge, songwriters (Ed Sheeran)
BEST NEW ARTIST
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor
BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE
"Heartbeat Song," Kelly Clarkson
"Love Me Like You Do," Ellie Goulding
"Thinking Out Loud," Ed Sheeran
"Blank Space," Taylor Swift
"Can't Feel My Face," The Weeknd
BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
"Ship To Wreck," Florence + The Machine
"Sugar," Maroon 5
"Uptown Funk," Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars
"Bad Blood," Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar
"See You Again," Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth
BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM
The Silver Lining: The Songs Of Jerome Kern, Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap
Shadows In The Night, Bob Dylan
Stages, Josh Groban
No One Ever Tells You, Seth MacFarlane
My Dream Duets, Barry Manilow (& Various Artists)
BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM
Piece By Piece, Kelly Clarkson
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, Florence + The Machine
Uptown Special, Mark Ronson
1989, Taylor Swift
Before This World, James Taylor
BEST DANCE RECORDING
"We're All We Need," Above & Beyond Featuring Zoë Johnston
"Go," The Chemical Brothers
"Never Catch Me," Flying Lotus Featuring Kendrick Lamar
"Runaway (U & I)," Galantis
"Where Are Ü Now," Skrillex And Diplo With Justin Bieber
BEST DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUM
Our Love, Caribou
Born In The Echoes, The Chemical Brothers
Caracal, Disclosure
In Colour, Jamie xx
Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack Ü, Skrillex And Diplo
BEST CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM
Guitar In The Space Age!, Bill Frisell
Love Language, Wouter Kellerman
Afrodeezia, Marcus Miller
Sylva, Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest
The Gospel According To Jazz, Chapter IV, Kirk Whalum
BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE
"Don't Wanna Fight," Alabama Shakes
"What Kind Of Man," Florence + The Machine
"Something From Nothing," Foo Fighters
"Ex's & Oh's," Elle King
"Moaning Lisa Smile," Wolf Alice
BEST METAL PERFORMANCE
"Identity," August Burns Red
"Cirice," Ghost
"512," Lamb Of God
"Thank You," Sevendust
"Custer," Slipknot
BEST ROCK SONG
"Don't Wanna Fight," Alabama Shakes, songwriters (Alabama Shakes)
"Ex's & Oh's," Dave Bassett & Elle King, songwriters (Elle King)
"Hold Back The River," Iain Archer & James Bay, songwriters (James Bay)
"Lydia," Richard Meyer, Ryan Meyer & Johnny Stevens, songwriters (Highly Suspect)
"What Kind Of Man," John Hill, Tom Hull & Florence Welch, songwriters (Florence + The Machine)
BEST ROCK ALBUM
Chaos And The Calm, James Bay
Kintsugi, Death Cab For Cutie
Mister Asylum, Highly Suspect
Drones, Muse
.5: The Gray Chapter, Slipknot
BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM
Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes
Vulnicura, Björk
The Waterfall, My Morning Jacket
Currents, Tame Impala
Star Wars, Wilco
BEST R&B PERFORMANCE
"If I Don't Have You," Tamar Braxton
"Rise Up," Andra Day
"Breathing Underwater," Hiatus Kaiyote
"Planes," Jeremih Featuring J. Cole
"Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey)," The Weeknd
BEST TRADITIONAL R&B PERFORMANCE
"He Is," Faith Evans
"Little Ghetto Boy," Lalah Hathaway
"Let It Burn," Jazmine Sullivan
"Shame," Tyrese
"My Favorite Part Of You," Charlie Wilson
BEST R&B SONG
"Coffee," Brook Davis & Miguel Pimentel, songwriters (Miguel)
"Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey)," Ahmad Balshe, Stephan Moccio, Jason Quenneville & Abel Tesfaye, songwriters (The Weeknd)
"Let It Burn," Kenny B. Edmonds, Jazmine Sullivan & Dwane M. Weir II, songwriters (Jazmine Sullivan)
"Really Love," D'Angelo & Kendra Foster, songwriters (D'Angelo And The Vanguard)
"Shame," Warryn Campbell, Tyrese Gibson & DJ Rogers Jr, songwriters (Tyrese)
BEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM
Ego Death, The Internet
You Should Be Here, Kehlani
Blood, Lianne La Havas
Wildheart, Miguel
Beauty Behind The Madness, The Weeknd
BEST R&B ALBUM
Coming Home, Leon Bridges
Black Messiah, D'Angelo And The Vanguard
Cheers To The Fall, Andra Day
Reality Show, Jazmine Sullivan
Forever Charlie, Charlie Wilson
BEST RAP PERFORMANCE
"Apparently," J. Cole
"Back To Back," Drake
"Trap Queen," Fetty Wap
"Alright," Kendrick Lamar
"Truffle Butter," Nicki Minaj Featuring Drake & Lil Wayne
"All Day," Kanye West Featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom & Paul McCartney
BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION
"One Man Can Change The World," Big Sean Featuring Kanye West & John Legend
"Glory," Common & John Legend
"Classic Man," Jidenna Featuring Roman GianArthur
"These Walls," Kendrick Lamar Featuring Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat
"Only," Nicki Minaj Featuring Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown
BEST RAP SONG
"All Day," Ernest Brown, Tyler Bryant, Sean Combs, Mike Dean, Rennard East, Noah Goldstein, Malik Yusef Jones, Karim Kharbouch, Allan Kyariga, Kendrick Lamar, Paul McCartney, Victor Mensah, Charles Njapa, Che Pope, Patrick Reynolds, Allen Ritter, Kanye West, Mario Winans & Cydel Young, songwriters (Kanye West Featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom & Paul McCartney)
"Alright," Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
"Energy," Richard Dorfmeister, A. Graham, Markus Kienzl, M. O'Brien, M. Samuels & Phillip Thomas, songwriters (Drake)
"Glory," Lonnie Lynn, Che Smith & John Stephens, songwriters (Common & John Legend)
"Trap Queen," Tony Fadd & Willie J. Maxwell, songwriters (Fetty Wap)
BEST RAP ALBUM
2014 Forest Hills Drive, J. Cole
Compton, Dr. Dre
If Youre Reading This Its Too Late, Drake
To Pimp A Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar
The Pinkprint, Nicki Minaj