The Recording Academy unveiled the nominees for The 63rd Grammy Awards on Tuesday morning, and once again, many exciting LGBTQ nominees are being recognized in the mix of outstanding talent.
After announcing earlier in the morning that Trevor Noah would host this year’s awards, new Recording Academy president Harvey Mason Jr. kicked off an online stream in which artists from around the world announced the nominees in locations ranging from LA to London, and New York to Lagos.
“Despite the fact that I am extremely disappointed that the GRAMMYs have refused to have me sing or be nominated for best pop album, I am thrilled to be hosting this auspicious event,” Noah said in a statement. “I think as a one-time GRAMMY nominee, I am the best person to provide a shoulder to all the amazing artists who do not win on the night because I too know the pain of not winning the award! (This is a metaphorical shoulder, I’m not trying to catch Corona). See you at the 63rd GRAMMYs!”
Beyoncé led all Grammy contenders with nine nominations — an unexpectedly high count given that she didn’t release a new album during the Grammy eligibility period. She was followed by six each for Taylor Swift, Roddy Ricch, and Dua Lipa.
Brittany Howard was the most nominated LGBTQ artist this year with a total of five nominations. The Alabama Shakes lead vocalist, who also produces and performs solo, was nominated for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for “Stay High,” and Best Alternative Music Album for Jaime. She also picked up a nomination for Best R&B Performance for “Goat Head” as well as one for Best American Roots Performance for “Short And Sweet.”
Perhaps the most exciting category this year for LGBTQ nominees is the Best New Artist category, in which queer rapper Chika will go up against gay electronic producer Kaytranada, bisexual indie singer Phoebe Bridgers, as well as Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion (both of whose sexual orientations are not clearly identified, but neither of whom seem to identify as exclusively straight). Chika joined GLAAD last January for an event leading up to the 62nd Grammy Awards at a high school in Pasadena titled “Music in Action: LGBTQIA+ Voices in Music,” part of the Grammy Museum’s GRAMMY Week Community Paneling series.
Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion were both also nominated for Record of the Year for their respective hits “Say So” and “Savage” (feat. Beyoncé). “Say So” was also nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance. And “Savage” was also nominated for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.
Haitian-Canadian DJ and electronic producer Kaytranada was also nominated for Best Dance Recording for his track “10%” and for Best Dance/Electronic Album for Bubba.
And trans/non-binary producer DJ Arca made history in the electronic music world with her first-ever Grammy nomination in the Best Electronic/Dance Album category for album Kick I. The Venezuelan artist (now based in Barcelona) is the first openly non-binary person to ever be nominated in the category.
Phoebe Bridgers was nominated for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for “Kyoto,” as well as Best Alternative Music Album for Punisher. Adrianne Lenker of the band Big Thief was nominated in two categories: Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for “Not” by Big Thief.
Lady Gaga was recognized this year for her new album Chromatica, which was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album. Gaga also was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Rain On Me” (feat. Ariana Grande).
Over in the Country Music categories, it was a good year for singer/songwriter Brandy Clark. She was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance for “Who You Thought I Was” and Best Country Album For Your Life Is A Record.
In the Best Country Song category, songwriters Brandi Carlile and Shane McAnally both received nominations again this year: Carlile for “Crowded Table” by her side group The Highwomen and McAnally for “Some People Do” by Old Dominion. Carlile also was nominated for Best Song Written For Visual Media for “Carried Me With You” from the movie Onward.
Ricky Martin was nominated in the Best Latin Pop or Urban Album category for Pausa, where he’ll go up against Kany García for her album Mesa Para Dos. Meanwhile, Lido Pimienta was nominated for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album for Miss Colombia.
Rufus Wainwright was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for his album Unfollow The Rules. Katie Pruitt is nominated as a mastering engineer in the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical category for her album Expectations.
Meshell Ndegeocello was nominated for Best R&B Song, a songwriters award alongside Robert Glasper and Gabriella Wilson, for “Better Than I Imagine” by Robert Glasper Featuring H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello.
In the Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling), Rachel Maddow was nominated for Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, And The Richest, Most Destructive Industry On Earth. She’ll go up against Ronan Farrow who was nominated for Catch And Kill.
LGBTQ inclusive Broadway musical Jagged Little Pill was nominated for Best Musical Theater Album, for which out performer Lauren Patten was nominated as a principal soloist. Also in this category, Conrad Ricamora was a nominated principal soloist for Soft Power, as was Jonathan Groff for Little Shop of Horrors.
There are no doubt many more LGBTQ musicians amongst this year’s crop of Grammy nominees. GLAAD will update their names here as we continue to learn about them.
Head here to Grammy.com for a complete list of all of this year’s nominees.
The 63rd GRAMMY Awards will take place on Sunday, Jan. 31, on CBS. They are currently scheduled to take place from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.