Nearly a year to the day after Covid-19 grounded tours and forced performance venues to close, the music world will celebrate its stars at the Grammys on Sunday, and try to move past a crushing 2020.
The normally glitzy gala will be scaled back, like all major awards shows, to a primarily virtual affair, with a mix of live and pre-taped performances in keeping with restrictions now commonplace in the coronavirus era, which left the industry flailing and forced the ceremony to be pushed back.
Beyonce — whose repeated losses in the top categories have stirred heated controversy — leads the pack with nine nods, followed by Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Roddy Ricch with six each.
Beyonce’s sweeping “Black Parade” — released in June amid explosive nationwide anti-racism protests, after another spate of deadly police violence targeting Black Americans — is up for Record and Song of the Year honors.
Many critics nevertheless favor the chances of Lipa, who took a big risk in dropping a sparkly disco ball of a dance album just as the pandemic took hold — a bet that paid off.
Swift — a onetime Grammys darling who hasn’t won in five years — bagged a handful of nominations for releasing her surprise quarantine album “folklore,” a commercial and critical hit.
In addition, rapper Ricch — who won a trophy last year for his collaboration with the late artist Nipsey Hussle — is a strong contender, including for Song of the Year, which honors songwriting, for his hit “The Box.”
Bluesy rocker Brittany Howard — known for fronting the band Alabama Shakes — seized the spotlight on her own with her first solo album “Jaime,” which earned five nominations.
She is among the top candidates in the rock categories, which for the first time are almost all dominated by female nominees. Last year’s big winner Billie Eilish could strike gold again, while Post Malone, Justin Bieber and rapper DaBaby are all also in the mix. —AFP
