The 2022 Grammys will be held on January 31, which feels like a long way away but by the time they’re here, I’ll be bitching and moaning. At this point, I don’t even know how musical artists can take the Grammys seriously – it’s beyond racism, beyond sexism, the Grammys are just a buffet of WTFery. This year is no different, even if I like some of the nominees and even if I agree that certain artists, albums and songs deserved to be snubbed. Here are the 2022 nominations in the biggest categories (you can see the full list here).
Record of the Year
“I Still Have Faith In You,” ABBA
“Freedom,” Jon Batiste
“I Get A Kick Out Of You,” Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
“Peaches,” Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon
“Right On Time,” Brandi Carlile
“Kiss Me More,” Doja Cat Featuring SZA
“Happier Than Ever,” Billie Eilish
“Montero” (Call Me By Your Name), Lil Nas X
“drivers license,” Olivia Rodrigo
“Leave The Door Open,” Silk SonicSong of the Year
“Bad Habits,” Ed Sheeran
“A Beautiful Noise,” Alicia Keys Featuring Brandi Carlile
“drivers license,” Olivia Rodrigo
“Fight For You,” H.E.R.
“Happier Than Ever,” Billie Eilish
“Kiss Me More,” Doja Cat Featuring SZA
“Leave The Door Open,” Silk Sonic
“Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” Lil Nas X
“Peaches,” Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon
“Right On Time,” Brandi CarlileAlbum of the Year
“We Are,” Jon Batiste
“Love For Sale,” Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
“Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe),” Justin Bieber
“Planet Her (Deluxe),” Doja Cat
“Happier Than Ever,” Billie Eilish
“Back Of My Mind,” H.E.R.
“Montero,” Lil Nas X
“Sour,” Olivia Rodrigo
“Evermore,” Taylor Swift
“Donda,” Kanye WestBest New Artist
Arooj Aftab
Jimmie Allen
Baby Keem
FINNEAS
Glass Animals
Japanese Breakfast
The Kid Laroi
Arlo Parks
Olivia Rodrigo
Saweetie
Is it just me or are the categories really long this year? Whew. Anyway, I’m here for Olivia Rodrigo’s nominations, Silk Sonic’s nominations and Lil Nas X’s nominations. I kind of think Billie Eilish’s album sucks! So I’m not into that but I understand why she was nominated. The love for Doja Cat is utterly bizarre to me, and I think she’s at best pretty problematic! Speaking of, Justin Bieber?? RLY? If you’re wondering who Jon Batiste is, he’s Stephen Colbert’s band leader and he had a jazz album out this year.
Notable snubs: Kacey Musgraves was mostly snubbed for Star-Crossed and she was shoved out of most country categories. BTS only got one nomination, as did Taylor Swift – her album Evermore was eligible for everything and it only got one nomination. Also: no Lorde! That album kind of flopped anyway.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, Avalon Red, Backgrid.
I hope Lil Nas X sweeps the Grammys
Agreed, give him everything
Same! I love Lil Nas X so much it’s insane lol.
I’m rooting for Arlo Parks, she’s so talented and deserves every good thing.
Yes, Arlo is great!
I really expected Taylor Swift to have more nominations. Evermore was my favorite album last year and I STILL listen to it nearly every week while I work.
Also surprised about the Taylor snub. Her album(s) made a lot more waves than Billie’s.
Agreed. I’m very surprised that Taylor’s best album ever only got nominated once.
And I have NEVER been a Taylor stan… but I loved folklore and evermore is phenomenal.
I’ll be rooting for Japanese Breakfast and BTS.
How is Japanese breakfast in best new artist? They’ve been around for ages.
Also Michelle zauners memoir ‘crying in hmart’ is fantastic and well worth th read.
And also Glass Animals have been around a long time! I was really into them back in 2015.—They had a couple of good songs that were popular on SiriusXM Alt Nation.
God, I love Glass Animals. I saw them at a tiny venue in St. Louis when I was pregnant and it was a fantastic show.
I can’t believe BTS didn’t get a lot more nominations. That doesn’t make sense to me and i’m really disappointed.
I’ll be rooting for Lil Nas X. I love him. I love what he represents/does for the LBGTQ community.
I don’t think American influentual people would like to see them win over their artists, even if they are probably the best at selling out tickets.
To be honest, I only started caring about the Grammy’s a little again because of BTS.
Yes! Both Glass Animals and Japanese Breakfast have been around for years!
Am I the only one who finds Billie Eilish insufferable?
You’re not alone.
How someone can make a career out of whisper singing I’ll never understand.
I tried to listen to her music and just could not make it through more than three songs because everything was damn whisper singing. I don’t get the love others have for her. Good for them, but I’m a big nope.
No. She looks possessed in that photo.
And why are we even talking about who got nominated as if it means something, we know the Grammys are corrupt and fixed. The winners will be the current industry favorites and will be paraded around like puppets.
You’re definitely not alone. I can’t stand her. Her music sucks and i don’t think she’s talented at all. Her brother is the one who writes her songs & plays the instruments. I heard a little bit of a live concert of hers on XM radio and she could NOT sing to save her life. Wayyyy off key; she ended up giving up and just let the audience sing the hard parts. It was laughably bad; i had ultra secondhand embarrassment.
The one thing i kinda respected her for was how she dressed in baggy androgynous clothes so as to not have the male gaze on her body. And now she’s abandoned that and is suddenly a stereotypical scantily-clad bottle-blonde “bombshell”.
Someone only feeling capable of respecting females if they dress to keep male eyes off their bodies at all times is definitely something worth working on. Women should not have to live up to such an unrealistic and dangerous standard just to not be disrespected, and men and little boys don’t need to hear that expectation being set. Billie has acknowledged that some of her modesty has been fear-based and just played into the other side of the male gaze. She’s still tame compared to a lot of artists, she’s just not doing modesty all the time anymore. It’s ridiculous that we forever hold these women to sexual expectations were pressured to set as teenagers while saying nothing when their male peers grow up, take their shirts off, and sing (or act) about sex.
I don’t find her insufferable and I get why the kids dig her but you are 100% correct: it’s her brother’s mind that creates her music. He’s incredibly talented.
That said, her last album was absolutely underwhelming. I gave it about 5 spins before giving up on it.
@a reader, I agree completely about her brother. I’ve never listened into Billie Eillish beyond her songs being in everything absolutely anywhere you go and even I know that he’s the driving force behind her success. It only took one listen of Let’s Fall in Love for the Night to make that clear.
She’s very . . . bland. She’s like a blank canvas that he pours all of the life into. Everything – the production, the concept, the TALENT – is all him. Anything interesting in the finished product clearly comes from outside the source, rendering it incredibly lifeless and thus deeply uninteresting.
Not a fan either. I do like two songs but that’s it. The singing-whispering is annoying.
I think she has an incredible voice but is being over-marketed by her team.
Silk Sonic!! They are so groovy!
Can’t wait for the album release!
The album has been released earlier this month
YESSSS!
Considering that I feel the majority of the nominees this year are… not great… I feel SS is the exception. Their album is a whole bop from start to finish. I love it!
The album is so good. I know Bruno has been huge for years but Anderson Paak put out several amazing albums before this(and is one of the most electrifying live performers in the world) so happy to see him reach more people and get more success.
Also happy to see Jazmine Sullivan get recognized. She is one of those black artists doing amazing work that unfortunately hasn’t had the platform to reach wider audiences(though she is loved by musicians). Happy to see her get a nod.
I hoping Black Pumas, Silk Sonic, and Mickey Guyton win in the categories they nominated.
Jon Batiste is brilliant and I hope he wins all the things. He’s nominated in multiple genres, which is awesome. His “We Are” album is definitely not jazz, it’s R&B. Let’s hope he gets to perform. Go watch him do “Freedom” on the Late Show. His joy is infectious.
Came here to say the same thing. His music and albums are beyond brilliant and these nominations are well earned.
And he also got nominations for the Soul soundtrack with Trent Raznor and Atticus Ross.
He is more than Colbert’ band leader.
Jon Batiste deserves every good thing! He is insanely talented and a shining light!!
He just radiates goodness! I watch the Freedom video anytime I need a lift 💗
Yes to this.
I love Jon Batiste. His music is incredibly diverse (R&B, jazz, classical). I hope he wins it all. Mainly because we grew up in the same city, but also because he’s a gift.
Jon Batiste is also an Academy Award winner this past year. He’s amaze-balls talented and deserves any award he wins.
Another plug for Jon batiste. He is incredibly talented and We Are is so good. I hope he wins everything.
The whole Batiste family is a musical dynasty in and of itself down here in south east Louisiana. Go Jon!
The music video he did for Freedom was one of the best I’ve seen in years too.
I love that Colbert just uses his platform to let Batiste play whatever he wants that day and that they are clearly friends (they’d discussed having Thanksgiving together in the past). But, seriously, this is reminding me I should get his CD for my parents for Christmas since they don’t use streaming!
I’ll say it.
The total lack of respect for BTS is now officially insulting. They dominated the charts and radio all year.
They want it and have been putting in the work to get it ( and no, I do not believe they should have transitioned to English) and have been successful. It is because they have made it no secret? They are not pretending it doesn’t matter?
And I say this as someone who does not follow them like their fan base.
The only thing those members can do at this point is decline a invitation to perform.
Absolutely.
They should not go/preform. So many award shows want them there because they bring in big ratings and social media hits. But they don’t get the respect they deserve in return.
The only category where I think they got snubbed was Record of the Year. I didn’t think the album was particularly great.
@mel. The same can be said for alot of the songs that did get nominated.
That is not the point and you also told on yourself.
I mostly just care because Yoongi wants a Grammy.
I agree. Butter was definitely a power house this year, even if it’s not my favorite song. What I’m surprised about is that it took them so long to get nominated at all, last year was first time. They have a deep and really strong discography. It doesn’t matter that I can’t understand Korean, the songs land. But Eminem called out the Grammys for what they are a long time ago. I hope BTS refuses to perform this year, if they do they’ll be teased the entire show and perform last because they bring eyeballs. And if they do I won’t stream. I’ll wait to watch it the next day on YouTube.
Yes, their discography is filled with poignant songs about all kinds of topics.
Hoping for a full album soon, since it’s been a while 🙂
And yes, they’ve been a group for 8 years now, but they were not even that famous in Korea at the start compared to other groups and their company was small.
They built their fanbase day by day until they took off.
I agree; i said it an earlier comment. I’m honestly shocked that BTS didn’t get more than one nomination, when they deserved it so much. I don’t even like pop music but i love their music. And they’re out there doing good things. I love how they have been vocally pro-vaccine and spoke out against violence against Asian people. They work so hard, and i adore them.
It is wild how disrespectful they are to BTS. They are so huge globally- why are the grammys so behind and off the mark consistently?
I’m here for the Brandi Carlile nominations. She is mega talented and such a refreshing voice in the Americana genre as a proud member of the LGBTQ community.
I love her too!
She is the real deal, and I was glad to see her nominated. Sturgill Simpson also got nominated for Best Country and Best Bluegrass album, richly deserved, especially since his vocal chords are injured and he’s going to have to step back for a bit. I saw him at Radio City in 2018 (got cheap tickets the day of, went by myself) and he was astoundingly good.
I listen to all three versions of Right on Time every week
She is positively brilliant. She takes my breath away when I hear her. Her performances in Howard Stern’s amazing studio (brilliant sound) are re-listens always for me. Love her band also.
Right On Time on Howard Stern Show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcWP91VUbWo&ab_channel=TheHowardSternShow
I say this as someone who hasn’t heard the song… but ABBA? For Record of the Year? I guess I better go take a listen but…. ok. Miley Cyrus had a kickass album and no nomination. Ridiculous. I guess it is because it was a rock album and only men can make those? Paul McCartney is rock? Ok. Sure, Grammys.
Voyage is a beautiful album. Their voices have held up. It’s one of my favorite releases this year.
That said I am surprised they received so many nominations for an album that’s only been out a few weeks.
A lot of people (ABBA, most notably) really got a nom thanks to the alphabetical order advantage. I’m rooting for Gaga & Tony, it will be a beautiful way to end his career. Also a full circle moment: Tony Bennett’s Album of the Year win for his MTV Unplugged album was the reason the Grammy committees were created in first place and now he’s got nominated across the board. Also I’m VERY happy Morgan Wallen was ignored, I was sure he would get nominated without a committee to block him.
ABBA’s track is actually a really amazing and inspiring song… definitely not just an ‘alphabetical order nomination’… well worth the nomination, and to think 40 years after their last release they sound as good – if not even more seasoned – than ever before. I do love Tony Bennett too, and am REALLY happy for Brandi Carlile getting so much well deserved recognition 🙂
LIL NAS X!!!! YAAAA! I need to give Jon’s alumn a listen
I’m so old. I don’t know much of this music.
I have no idea who 80% of these artists are either.
I lost all hope for the Grammys when they completely shut out The Weeknd for After Hours. That was the best album of 2020 hands down. And I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan, but I can still admit that After Hours was better than Folklore.
Honestly I felt that way with Taylor Swift’s 1989. I know that album was huge, but Kendrick Lamar deserved AOTY. One of the voting committee members that year said he only voted for Taylor because she gave them a lot of her time during the previous months. I knew the show was a mockery but that sealed it. The Weeknd was snubbed so hard last year, it was almost laughable.
I think folklore hit so hard because (at least for me) it was the perfect album for that time. I would have been shocked if any of its songs had won for record or song of the year, but the album itself was the perfect mood for the first wave of covid imo. I really liked After Hours as well and maybe it was even superior, but it wasn’t the right mood for me for that time. Same with Dua Lipa’s album, would have been all over that in another time period but it just wasn’t what I wanted.
This year is totally different and, for example, I think Olivia Rodrigo’s music is hitting so well in part because we’re all angsty and ready to be done with this pandemic. And bops like Butter work well too because we want stuff that’s uplifting and fun.
But also the Grammys are garbage and out of touch and we shouldn’t give them so much weight anyway.
Glass Animals have been around since 2010. Hilarious that they’re under New Artists.
I can tell I’m not listening to enough radio these days because I don’t recognize half these artists. My spotify is all recommendations from friends.
I laughed out loud when I saw Glass Animals was nominated for best new artist. Don’t get me wrong. I love them and saw them in concert a few weeks ago. But best new artist?
I am rooting for Japanese Breakfast because their lead singer is Michelle Zauner who wrote the great memoir “Crying in H Mart.”
The Bleachers album Take the Sadness out of Saturday Night= album of the year.
Doja Cat’s album is much better than Olivia Rodrigo’s so yes she deserved to be nominated. Star-crossed wasn’t country so I wasn’t surprised to see it had no nominations under that category but I did enjoy a couple of songs on the album.
The Grammy’s are so unbelievably out of touch an racist. BTS only getting one nods? And there are sooooo many incredible artists in Korea right now. Whatever Grammys. Hope those 20 white dudes had fun voting.
Rooting for Doja Cat, Lil Nas X and Jon Batiste
What ever happened to Lorde? Is Lorde now considered a one hit wonder?
She refused to conform to the industry standard of constant selfies and being an oversexualized sex kitten. I’m not a fan of her music, but it will be interesting to see if she tries to make a comeback and what that will look like- conform and succeed, or try to strike out on her own terms.
Dojo Cat is anti Black so I don’t care for her nomination. I tried listening to Olivia’s songs but I just can’t get into it and I can’t speak to the rest of the artists but I realized that not a lot of new artists hit it out of the park this year.
I played Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour over and over and over, it’s a masterwork. Star Crossed was not terrible, but there are more deserving records out there. At least Jon Baptiste is nominated – he’s the real deal!
I’m disappointed but not surprised at BTS’ snub. The Grammys are so out of touch it’s laughable. I kind of hope the boys don’t attend this year, although Yoongi wants the award so for his sake I hope they get it.
I was hoping that Giveon got something, his “heartbreak Anniversary” was everywhere, whole album was fire to me. loved it. I won’t be watching.
I love Japanese Breakfast!
How are Glass Animals new? Haven’t they been around for a while?
I liked H.E.R. until I saw that she worked with Chris Brown…
I wish Paula Cole’s American Quilt had been nominated for Best Americana Album. Her voice is still so beautiful and it’s a lovely collection of songs.
In Korea, while there are a great many articles praising BTS, there are a SIGNIFICANT portion of pushed articles that have a tinge of ‘BTS didn’t get nominated for a main award’ ‘BTS didn’t win.’
Basically, how they write about things is that BTS isn’t doing anything that special, that they aren’t actually a big artist until they have #1 on billboard for several weeks straight and blah blah blah. A music reviewer discussed the overall Korean journalist attitude towards BTS.
Plus add the political tension, every politician using their name to push for them not to go into military service (earning them tons of public criticism), while BTS has already stated they plan to go in.
I just wanted to point out the reality that BTS have to face in their country since they first started being more tangibly successful than they were ‘supposed’ to be. They really messed up some companies’ mediaplay and stockholder synopsis pamphlets.
Also, I think they should sing in whatever language they want to. They already sing in Japanese, some of which are just so beautiful that I rate them higher than many of their Korean songs. They earned the latitude to play around with language and style (although, who has to earn it right?) They have input and direction of what they want to do and how they want to do it.
What many might not know is that they had a US distribution deal with Columbia Records who did BARELY anything but sat back and reaped the rewards. BTS bided their time with their contract and let UMG ‘woo’ them for possibly a super lucrative US contract. BTS was their biggest earner in their Japanese contract and they were only a distribution contract. BTS is bargaining from a position of power so the Scammys are going to be on the wrong side of that power dynamic if they lose BTS from appearing. I think there are 3+ Korean award shows that completely lost BTS performances early on bc they treated them very dirty on the way up.
Sorry, rambled.
Thank you, this is really interesting perspective. I think some people/media in S Korea will always be salty towards BTS because they didn’t come out of one of the big 3 agencies. They were considered amateur and “ugly” from the start but after kcon 2015(?) they were able to breakout overseas like no other kpop band had been able to do before. They had charisma and chemistry and weren’t as bland and overproduced as the other groups.
We also haven’t heard the last from Blackpink which if they’ve had so much success in the US and abroad it’s because they have US style bangers and more of an edge then the other super sugary Korean kpop girl groups.
The issue with BP will always be their label. They aren’t properly fostered and everything is half-hearted with the investment of their music career. In truth any kpop group at that label is a plaything/toy. Some catchy songs but no real music careers because it would mean letting go of that carrot-and-stick control. After they gain enough standing they’ll be replaced just like the previous girl group before them.
I always feel bad for them because the proven history of their label is not good and I have no reason to believe they are treated with any dignity. Only now has CL spoken out a bit more and if she received such treatment, I don’t expect better for anyone else.
The label is honestly more concerned with mediaplay and their own business dealings while every idol is picked up and put down at whim.
I always feel nervous when people have expectations of ‘follow through’ with that group because there is just an elephant in that room. Kpop labels want to be successful worldwide but will not hold up under worldwide scrutiny.
That’s just my opinion though. I wish them well and a better path than their predecessors.
Kanye west’s album? Lol