Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and Adele Top 2023 Grammy Nominees
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and Adele will all vie for multiple prizes at the 65th Grammy Awards, taking place on Feb. 5, 2023.
Beyoncé led all nominees this year, earning nine for her celebrated album, Renaissance. Lamar’s Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers helped him earn eight nominations, while Adele and Brandi Carlile tied with seven for their records, 30 and In These Silent Days, respectively.
All four of those artists, and their aforementioned albums, are up for Album of the Year, alongside ABBA’s comeback record Voyage, Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous, Coldplays’ Music of the Spheres, Lizzo’s Special, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, and Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti. The nod for Bad Bunny is particularly significant as it marks the first time an album from the Latin music field has ever been nominated for Album of the Year.
Beyoncé, Adele, Lamar, and Carlile are also up for Record of the Year for “Break My Soul,” “Easy on Me,” “The Heart Part 5,” and “You and Me on the Rock” (featuring Lucius), respectively. The rest of that category includes ABBA’s “Don’t Shut Me Down,” Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous,” Doja Cat’s “Woman,” Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” Lizzo’s “About Damn Time,” and Styles’ “As It Was.”
And rounding out the big three categories, Song of the Year boasts “Break My Soul,” “Easy on Me,” “The Heart Part 5,” “As It Was,” “About Damn Time,” and “Bad Habit,” alongside Gayle’s TikTok hit “Abcdefu,” DJ Khaled’s monster posse cut “God Did,” Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That,” and Taylor Swift’s indomitable “All Too Well (10 Minute Version).”
As for the final major category — Best New Artist — there doesn’t seem to be a clear-cut favorite like Olivia Rodrigo last year (in fact, none of this year’s nominees are up for one of the other big three prizes). There’s also an interesting mix of genuinely new artists, but also some that have been around for a few years but may finally be “new” to Grammy voters: Anitta, Omar Apollo, Latto, Wet Leg, DOMi and JD Beck, Muni Long, Samara Joy, Molly Tuttle, Tobe Nwigwe, and 2021 Eurovision winners Måneskin.
While the big categories at the 2023 Grammys are stacked with heavy pop hitters, it seems inevitable that the narrative around next year’s show will distill down to Beyoncé and Adele. While Beyoncé is the most decorated female artist in Grammy history, she’s only won a major category once (Song of the Year for “Single Ladies”) and feels especially overdue for an Album of the Year award. Her last big chance to win Album, Song, or Record of the Year was in 2017 with Lemonade and “Formation” — but Adele ended up sweeping all three with 25 and “Hello.” (Adele even seemed put off by it all, spending a chunk of her Album of the Year victory speech raving about Lemonade.)
Even if Beyoncé doesn’t earn one of the major prizes this year, she’s still on course to make more Grammys history. Renaissance and “Break My Soul” offer up her first chance at taking home a prize in the Dance/Electronic categories. And if she wins four of the nine awards she’s up for, she’ll top Hungarian conductor Georg Solti to become the most decorated Grammy winner of all time.
Beyond the big narrative, however, the 65th Grammy nominations offer plenty to chew on. Bad Bunny’s historic Album of the Year nomination was accompanied by a look for Best Pop Solo Performance for “Moscow Mule,” as well as a Best Música Urbana Album for Un Verano Sin Ti. Mary J. Blige’s six nominations mark her first since 2015 and her first as a solo artist since she won Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2009 for Growing Pains. And last year’s Best R&B Album and Performance winner, Jazmine Sullivan, will be back for more, picking up nominations for Best R&B Performance and Song for “Hurt Me So Good,” as well as Best Traditional R&B Performance for “’Round Midnight” with Adam Blackstone.
In the pop categories, heavyweights like Lizzo and Styles will be up against the likes of Doja Cat, Camila Cabello, and Sam Smith and Kim Petras. ABBA — who scored a surprise nomination last year — will have another shot at finally winning their first Grammy with looks in Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Pop Vocal Album categories. Meanwhile, over in country, Miranda Lamber, Maren Morris, Luke Combs, Ashley McBryde, and Willie Nelson will all compete for multiple prizes.
Drake — despite his pointed efforts to effectively boycott the Grammys by not submitting his work for consideration — is still up for Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Song thanks to collaborations with Jack Harlow (“Churchill Downs”) and Future (“Wait For U,” also featuring Tems). Gunna and Young Thug, who are both in prison while awaiting trial on alleged RICO Act violations, earned Best Rap Song and Performance nominations for their hit collaboration with Future, “Pushin P.” And Latto picked up a Best Melodic Rap Performance look for “Big Energy” to go along with her Best New Artist nod.
