At the 2023 Grammy Awards, Beyoncé and Adele will compete against one another for all of the top honors.
Adele with her lavish fourth album 30, and Beyoncé for her dancefloor ode Renaissance are both nominees for album of the year.
Both Easy On Me by Adele and Break My Soul by Beyoncé are contenders for song and record of the year.
Along with Swedish pop legends Abba, other contenders for best album include British sensations Harry Styles and Coldplay.
The group, which came out of a 39-year hibernation with last year’s Voyage, has garnered its first-ever nomination for album of the year.
Grammy Awards 2023: The main nominees
Beyoncé is in first place with nine nominations total, including nods in the dance and R&B categories. The nominations were released on Tuesday.
She has surpassed Sir Paul McCartney and Quincy Jones to tie her husband Jay-Z for the most Grammy nominations in history with 88.
However, since Single Ladies was named song of the year in 2010, the celebrity has not taken home a trophy in any of the three major categories (album, record, or song of the year).
But if she wins four (or more) prizes in February, she will surpass the record of 31 Grammys held by conductor Sir George Solti.
With eight nominations for his freestyle The Heart Part 5 and fourth album Mr Morale and the Big Steppers, which is a reflective reflection on the state of the world and his own moral shortcomings, Kendrick Lamar is this year’s second-highest nominee.
With seven nominations apiece, Brandi Carli and Adele are tied for third place.
Although Taylor Swift’s monumental reworking of 2012’s All Too Well earned her numerous accolades, her most recent album, Midnights, was released too late to be considered for the 2023 field.
Additionally, Bad Bunny, a rapper and singer from Puerto Rico, made history by receiving the first-ever nomination for Record of the Year for a Spanish-language album.
His song, Un Verano Sin Ti (A Summer Without You), spent 13 weeks at the top of the US Billboard charts this summer.
The year has been exceptionally successful for British artists. Harry Styles is up for album of the year (Harry’s House), record of the year, song of the year, and collaboration of the year alongside Adele (As It Was).
For his solo album Patient Number 9, Ozzy Osbourne receives multiple nods in the rock categories, and the Isle of Wight duet Wet Leg receives a nomination for best new act.
Albums withheld
The Weeknd and Drake pulled their most recent albums from consideration, which eliminated them from being front-runners in the major categories. Both musicians have long argued, rather persuasively, that the Grammys relegate black performers to genre-specific categories.
Anderson.Silk Paak’s Sonic side project, as well as Bruno Mars, declined to submit their record. After winning song and record of the year for Leave The Door Open at this year’s ceremony, Mars claimed it “would be ridiculous to ask for anything more” rather than criticizing the voters.
The rapper Nicki Minaj objected last month when the shortlisting process transferred her popular song Super Freaky Girl from the rap to the pop categories. In the end, it received zero nominations.
Other omissions were Ed Sheeran, whose fifth album was completely disregarded, and Elton John, whose hit collaboration with Dua Lipa, Cold Heart, was anticipated to receive a nomination for best pop duo/group performance.
But the Grammys occasionally exhibit an odd reticence toward popular popularity. For instance, Jon Batiste won album of the year at this year’s ceremony for the lovely soul album We Are, defeating popular albums by Olivia Rodrigo and Lil Nas X called Sour and Montero.
His success confirmed the notion that Grammy voters value history and artistic ability more than innovation and marketability, something many previous nominees have bemoaned.
However, that may change this year as over 2,000 new members joined the voting organization, 44% of whom, according to the Recording Academy, “came from traditionally underrepresented communities.” Harvey Mason Jr., the chief executive, remarked that “and roughly 50% are under the age of 40.”
Former winners Olivia Rodrigo, Cyndi Lauper, and John Legend made the announcements during a livestream from the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.
The major categories are listed below, along with potential winners for the ceremony on February 5, 2023.
Album of the year
- Abba – Voyage
- Adele – 30
- Bad Bunny – Un Verano Sin Ti
- Beyoncé – Renaissance
- Mary J Blige – Good Morning Gorgeous
- Brandi Carlile – In These Silent Days
- Lizzo – Special
- Coldplay – Music of the Spheres
- Kendrick Lamar – Mr Morale & The Big Steppers
- Harry Styles – Harry’s House
The headline here is the repeat of 2017’s best album race, in which Adele’s 25 controversially beat Beyoncé’s Lemonade.
On stage, Adele said: “I can’t possibly accept this award. I’m very humbled and very grateful and gracious but my life is Beyoncé.” In the end, she held on to the trophy – but when it arrived in the mail it was broken in two. That’s symbolism.
Song of the year
- Gayle – ABCDEFU
- Lizzo – About Damn Time
- Taylor Swift – All Too Well (10 Minute Version)
- Harry Styles – As It Was
- Steve Lacy – Bad Habit
- Beyoncé – Break My Soul
- Adele – Easy On Me
- DJ Khaled – God Did
- Kendrick Lamar – The Heart Part 5
- Bonnie Raitt – Just Like That
This is Taylor Swift’s sixth song of the year nomination – meaning she now ties with Sir Paul McCartney and Lionel Richie as the category’s most-nominated writer. The recognition comes for All To Well, a break-up ballad that originally appeared on her 2012 album Red, but was re-recorded with extra verses (and extra juicy details) last year.
However, Swift has never won best song – and her competition this year is especially tough.
Adele’s comeback Easy On Me is the presumed frontrunner: A big blustery ballad, it sold more in the US than her previous song of the year winner, Hello, and spent 10 weeks at number one.
Record of the year
- Abba – Don’t Shut Me Down
- Adele – Easy On Me
- Beyoncé – Break My Soul
- Mary J Blige – Good Morning
- Brandi Carlile ft Lucius – You And Me On The Rock
- Doja Cat – Woman
- Steve Lacy – Bad Habit
- Kendrick Lamar – The Heart Part 5
- Lizzo – About Damn Time
- Harry Styles – As It Was
Record of the Year honors the finished product—the actual sound recording—whereas Song of the Year honors music and lyrics.
However, there is a lot of category crossover, with Adele, Beyoncé, Lizzo, and Styles all receiving double nods.
Adele is once again in the lead, but Lizzo’s wildly magnetic song About Damn Time might be a contender.
Best new artist
- Anitta
- Omar Apollo
- Domi and JD Beck
- Muni Long
- Samara Joy
- Latto
- Maneskin
- Tobe Nwigwe
- Molly Tuttle
- Wet Leg
The best new artist award is typically won by a breakout star who seemed certain to win. It was Olivia Rodrigo the previous year. It’s a completely open field this year.
Despite being nominated in various categories, rapper Jack Harlow and singer-songwriter Gayle did not receive the predicted nominations.
As a result, Atlanta rapper Latto is the favorite, thanks to her breakthrough single Big Energy, for which Mariah Carey made a special guest appearance.
Even if they had previously been nominated for a Grammy, artists are only eligible if they have become well-known in the last 12 months.
