NEW YORK (AP) – It could be an evening for Taylor Swift and Beyoncé’s history books at Sunday’s Grammy Awards – for good and bad reasons.
Swift could become the first woman to win the show’s top award, album of the year, three times. Her first surprise album of 2020 – the folk, alternative “folklore” adventure – is competing for the top prize, an award she won in 2010 for “Fearless”, her discovery that helped her establish herself as a bona fide pop star, although she sang country music. She won again in 2016 for “1989”, her first full pop album that dominated the charts with an abundance of hits.
Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra and Paul Simon are some of the artists who have won the album of the year three times. Producers or engineers have also won the award three times, including Phil Ramone, Ryan Tedder, David Foster, Bob Ludwig, Serban Ghenea and others.
The only person to win the award four times is master engineer Tom Coyne, who died in 2017.
Beyoncé has never won the album of the year in her career – she is not ready for the honor this year because she did not launch a project during the eligibility period – but she is the most nominated artist. With 24 wins and nine nominations this year, she can top Alison Krauss’ 27 wins and become the most decorated woman in Grammy history.
Beyoncé’s “Black Parade” received nominations such as disco and song of the year, as well as best R&B music and best R&B performance, while her participation in Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” won proposals for the record of the year, best rap performance and best rap music.
Beyoncé holds the record for most Grammy nominations for a female act, at 79. She and Paul McCartney tie second among all Grammy nominees, behind only Quincy Jones and Jay-Z, who won 80 nods each.
The royal family of music could come out with a winning streak for their home. Jay-Z co-wrote “Black Parade” and “Savage”, which earned him nominations for song of the year, best R&B song and best rap song. He won 22 Grammys over the course of his career.
Their daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, was nominated alongside her mother as the best music video for “Brown Skin Girl”. Ivy Carter gives a vocal performance in the song and appears in the video; she is also listed as a co-writer of the song with Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
Ivy Carter, 9, may become the second youngest person to win a Grammy. Leah Peasall was eight years old when The Peasall Sisters won the album of the year on the 2002 show for her participation in the T Bone Burnett film produced “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack. “Brown Skin Girl”, a song that celebrates dark and dark-skinned women, has won several awards for Ivy Carter, including two Soul Train Music Awards, a BET Award and a NAACP Image Award.
While Beyoncé could have a historic night, history could repeat itself and she could be prevented from winning a major award – a common occurrence for R&B and rap artists throughout Grammy history. Of his 24 wins, only one went to one of the four great Grammys, song of the year. She lost album of the year three times and record of the year five times.
Jay-Z has never won a major award, and he and his wife join a list of mostly black artists who have restricted themselves to victories in the rap and R&B categories, including Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Eminem, Drake , Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige and more.
This year, The Weeknd was the one that was scorned. Despite having the biggest hit of 2020 with “Blinding Lights” and a best-selling multi-hit album, he didn’t win any nominations. He has won three Grammys so far – only in the R&B categories – but has vowed to boycott the Grammys because he disagrees with the way the Recording Academy selects its winners..
The album of the year award was only given to two rap bands – “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” by Lauryn Hill and “Speakerboxxx / The Love Below” by Outkast. Although rap is the most popular genre today, no rap album has been nominated for this year’s main award. A rap song was never awarded the song of the year or album of the year until Childish Gambino made history in 2019 with “This Is America”.
“Savage” by Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion could become the second hip-hop song to win the record of the year.
Megan Thee Stallion may also become the first female rapper to win the best rap song. Houston rapper, along with D Smoke, Chika and Doja Cat, may also become the fifth rap band to win the award for best new artist. The competition includes Phoebe Bridgers, Noah Cyrus, Kaytranada and Ingrid Andress, which could only become the fourth act of country music to win.
Other women who could make history on Sunday include Grace Potter, who has a chance to be the first female artist to win the best rock album in more than two decades, and brother trio HAIM, the first female rock band nominated for the album of the year.
Although 84 prizes are awarded – about 10 during the live broadcast and the rest during the pre-ceremony – viewers are likely to be watching the performances.
About two dozen acts will hit the stage in downtown Los Angeles, including Swift, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, BTS, Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby, Dua Lipa, Post Malone, Chris Martin, Lil Baby, John Mayer, Maren Morris and Doja Cat.
Trevor Noah will present the show, which airs at 8 pm on the East of CBS and Paramount +. The Grammy was originally scheduled for January 31, but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Artists competing with Swift for the album of the year include Coldplay, Post Malone, Dua Lipa, Jhené Aiko, HAIM, Jacob Collier and Black Pumas.
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