LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Beyonc茅 has propelled herself into the highest Grammy echelon: The star singer claimed a leading nine nominations Tuesday, making her tied 鈥� with her husband Jay-Z 鈥� as the most nominated music act in the history of the awards show.
Beyonc茅's 鈥淏reak My Soul鈥� reeled in , while 鈥淩enaissance鈥� 鈥� which ventured into the world of dancehall music 鈥� netted an album of the year nod. With Jay-Z also earning five nods this year, each spouse now holds the record for the most-ever Grammy nominations at 88 apiece.
Kendrick Lamar came away with the second-most nominations, with eight. Adele and Brandi Carlile both received seven nods. Harry Styles, Mary J. Blige, Future, DJ Khaled, The-Dream and mastering engineer Randy Merrill each picked up six.
Nearly half of this year鈥檚 leading nominees 鈥� announced by the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, John Legend, Machine Gun Kelly and Smokey Robinson 鈥攁re women and more than half are people of color, according to the recording academy. The ceremony will be held Feb. 5 in Los Angeles.
鈥淭his makes me feel very proud, but it makes me conscious of the fact that we have to maintain the work we have done,鈥� said Harvey Mason jr., the Recording Academy鈥檚 CEO. He said there have been strides in the peer-driven voting system and increased membership, but he still believes more progress can be made.
鈥淭his year, I鈥檓 pleased with the result and work the voters did,鈥� he continued. 鈥淲e have almost 13,000 voters now. It鈥檚 really important work. I鈥檓 pleased to think they spent the time listening to the music and evaluating. I think you see by the type of nominations that they are not only going for just popular music or music that has a lot of streams. It鈥檚 just music of high quality.鈥�
The academy added a , which Harvey says will further help diversify the 65th edition of the annual awards.
The non-classical songwriter category will recognize one individual who was the 鈥渕ost prolific鈥� non-performing and non-producing songwriter for a body of new work during an eligibility year. It will take a different approach than song of the year, which awards the songwriters who wrote the lyrics or melodies to one song.
Harvey said implementing the songwriters category is a 鈥渟ignificant鈥� step forward for the music industry. Last year, a rule update allowed that any songwriter, producer, engineer or featured artist on a work nominated for album of the year could ultimately earn a nomination.
鈥淭he academy and voters are placing a high importance on the craft of songwriting,鈥� Harvey said of the new category, in which nominees include The-Dream, Amy Allen, Nija Charles, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Laura Veltz. 鈥淧ersonally, as a songwriter, I鈥檓 happy to see it being a significant part of our process. We realize that songwriting is at the heart of our industry. It鈥檚 one of the building blocks for every artist鈥檚 career.鈥�
Harvey said it's his priority to earn the trust from the music community including The Weeknd and Drake, who are still unwilling to submit any of their music. Drake declined to submit his album 鈥淗onestly Nevermind鈥� for the awards, but the Canadian rapper still received four nominations 鈥� including album of the year for his co-writing efforts on Beyonc茅's 鈥淩enaissance.鈥�
鈥淎nything that has been looked at and talked about in the past, we're going to continue to look at it and improve it,鈥� Harvey said. 鈥淎s we do that work, our hope is that all artists feel comfortable and confident with the work the academy does.鈥�
Beyonc茅, the most decorated woman in Grammy history with 28 wins, could break the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti鈥檚 record for most awards won if she wins four awards. Solti, who has 31 Grammys, has held on to the record since 1997.
For the first time in Beyonc茅's lauded career, she was nominated in the dance category. Her seventh studio project is up for best dance-electronic music album and 鈥淏reak My Soul鈥� is nominated for best dance-electronic recording. Other nominations include best R&B song for 鈥淐uff It,鈥� R&B performance for 鈥淰irgo鈥檚 Groove,鈥� traditional R&B performance for 鈥淧lastic Off the Sofa鈥� and song written for visual media for 鈥淏e Alive,鈥� the Oscar-nominated song from the 鈥淜ing Richard鈥� soundtrack.
Other album of the year nominees include: Adele鈥檚 鈥�30,鈥� ABBA鈥檚 鈥淰oyage,鈥� Bad Bunny鈥檚 鈥淯n Verano Sin Ti,鈥� Mary J. Blige鈥檚 鈥淕ood Morning Gorgeous鈥� (Deluxe), Carlile鈥檚 鈥淚n These Silent Days,鈥� Coldplay鈥檚 鈥淢usic of the Spheres,鈥� Lamar鈥檚 鈥淢r. Morale & the Big Steppers,鈥� Lizzo鈥檚 鈥淪pecial鈥� and Styles鈥� 鈥淗arry鈥檚 House.鈥� Bad Bunny made history, with his album becoming the first sung entirely in Spanish to compete in the category.
Tracks competing with 鈥淏reak My Soul鈥� for record of the year include Styles鈥� 鈥淎s It Was,鈥� Doja Cat鈥檚 鈥淲oman,鈥� Adele鈥檚 鈥淓asy On Me,鈥� ABBA鈥檚 鈥淒on鈥檛 Shut Me Down,鈥� Blige鈥檚 鈥淕ood Morning Gorgeous,鈥� Steve Lacy鈥檚 鈥淏ad Habit,鈥� Lamar鈥檚 鈥淭he Heart Part 5,鈥� Lizzo鈥檚 鈥淎bout Damn Time鈥� and Carlile鈥檚 鈥淵ou and Me On the Rock鈥� featuring Lucius.
Three of Jay-Z鈥檚 nominations came through DJ Khaled鈥檚 鈥淕od Did,鈥� a song featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend and Fridayy. The track is up for best rap performance and rap song along with song of the year, which also has Jay-Z nominated for his writing efforts on Beyonc茅鈥檚 鈥淏reak My Soul.鈥� The rapper also received a nod for album of the year for his work on his wife鈥檚 鈥淩enaissance鈥� album.
Young Thug and Gunna both received nominations despite being currently The rappers are up for best rap song and rap performance through Gunna's 鈥減ushin P,鈥� featuring Thug and Future.
Christina Aguilera's comeback to Latin music with her self-titled album earned her two nominations for best Latin pop album and immersive audio album. Among the 10 nominees for best new artist are Muni Long, Latto and Eurovision winner Maneskin.
Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press
