Major music icons such as Beyoncé and Taylor Swift are set to compete for top honors at this Sunday’s Grammy Awards ceremony, a glamorous event that will proceed despite the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles.
The shocked entertainment hub continues to recover from the deadly fires that have devastated entire neighborhoods, leaving the music and film sectors—crucial to the city’s economy—struggling to adjust to the approaching awards season.
Taylor Swift has six Grammy nominations this year
Numerous traditional Grammy Week events have been canceled, including high-profile parties hosted by leading labels and companies like Spotify.
However, Harvey Mason Jr., the CEO of the Recording Academy behind the Grammys, confirmed that the event will take place as scheduled at the Crypto.com Arena “in close coordination with local authorities,” and aims to raise funds for wildfire relief efforts.
On Friday evening, MusiCares will hold its annual pre-Grammy gala—this year honoring the legendary psychedelic rock band The Grateful Dead—bringing together top industry figures with a focus on relief efforts and recognizing firefighters.
Watch: Highlights from the FireAid benefit concert at The Kia Forum in Inglewood, California featuring Green Day, Alanis Morissette, Joni Mitchell, Dawes, and P!nk.
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On Thursday night, leading event promoters Live Nation and AEG Presents organized FireAid benefit concerts featuring A-listers such as Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Dave Matthews, and John Mayer.
Mason expressed his enthusiasm, stating that the Recording Academy is “thrilled that so many artists in our community are coming together at this time to support their fellow musicians and others affected by the recent wildfires.”
Beyoncé paradox
Beyoncé leads this year’s Grammy nominations with 11 chances for her groundbreaking album Cowboy Carter, which celebrates Black cowboy culture.
Although she is the most nominated and decorated Grammy winner, she has also faced notable snubs: she has never captured the prestigious Album and Record of the Year trophies.
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Cowboy Carter is her fifth studio album competing for the top award (she was also nominated as a featured artist on Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster), with Swift—who has won it a record four times—among her contenders.
Despite the mixed reviews of her expansive double album The Tortured Poets Department, Swift, fresh off her record-setting Eras Tour, heads into the night with six nominations for Grammy gold.
Eilish, another consistent nominee, has received seven nominations, while a vibrant array of artists including pop stars Charli XCX (eight nominations), Sabrina Carpenter (six nominations), and Chappell Roan (six nominations) are all in the running for significant awards.
Hip-hop luminary Kendrick Lamar, whose rap battle with Drake sparked one of the year’s most viral songs, Now Like Us, earned seven nominations, and genre-bending artist Post Malone, who recently collaborated with both Beyoncé and Swift, received eight nods. Both are contenders in the major categories.
Kendrick Lamar has seven Grammy nominations
The ongoing debate about Beyoncé never winning the major prizes has reignited criticism that the Recording Academy tends to overlook the work of Black artists.
Cowboy Carter is a dynamic and diverse tribute to Beyoncé’s Southern roots that challenges the country music industry’s longstanding promotion of a predominantly white and male image.
Beyoncé’s sometimes complicated relationship with the Grammys “has really highlighted the discrepancies in how organizations perceive style and genre, particularly regarding race and gender,” noted musicologist Lauron Kehrer.
“It seems essential for the Grammys to engage more with a variety of perspectives beyond a predominantly white pop sphere in the top categories,” Kehrer told AFP.
In recent years, the Recording Academy has made efforts to broaden and diversify its voting body, something Kehrer hopes will lead to “a wider array of viewpoints being considered.”
Performance-heavy night
The highly anticipated Best New Artist category features favorites Carpenter and Roan, who have both risen to prominence over the past year.
Also competing is Shaboozey, whose hit A Bar Song (Tipsy) topped the US hot songs chart for several weeks and is nominated for Best Song.
Shaboozey is also in the running for the Melodic Rap Award alongside Beyoncé—whom he will also compete against in the Country categories—suggesting that the Academy is acknowledging songs and artists that defy conventional categorization.
A small fraction of the 94 Grammys will be awarded during the marquee televised segment of the event, with most of the programming dedicated to performances.
Charli XCX will perform on the night and has eight Grammy nominations
Artists including Eilish, Roan, Charli XCX, and Carpenter are set to perform, along with other Best New Artist nominees like Doechii, Raye, Teddy Swims, and Benson Boone.
Legends Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and John Legend will also grace the stage during the ceremony, which will pay tribute to the iconic late producer Quincy Jones.
Source: AFP
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