SZA, Phoebe Bridgers Lead Grammy Award Nominations As Women Dominate Major Categories

In what appears to be the Grammy Awards’ Year of the Woman, female artists dominate nominations announced today (Nov. 10) by the Recording Academy and led by SZA with nine nods, followed by Phoebe Bridgers with seven..

Of Bridgers’ nominations, six are for her work with boygenius. Following her with six nominations each are Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Brandy Clark, Jon Batiste and producer Jack Antonoff.

“Seeing the women nominees this year, and the number of them, was not a surprise but it was something that made me happy,” the Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason jr. told The Associated Press. He believes that representation allows the next group of creators to look at the nominees and say: “Maybe somebody will love what I do one day, or maybe I have an opportunity to express myself or voice my thoughts like that person.”

SZA picks up nominations for best traditional R&B performance (“Love Language”), best R&B song (“Snooze”), best melodic rap performance (“Low”), and best pop duo/group performance (“Ghost in the Machine”). 

Boygenius is nominated for the first time for record of the year, album of the year, best rock performance, best rock song, best alternative music performance, and best alternative music album.

Only recordings released between Oct. 1, 2022, through Sept. 15, 2023 were eligible.

Victoria Monét, Gracie Abrams, Fred again.., Ice Spice, Jelly Roll, Coco Jones, Noah Kahan and The War and Treaty all earned nominations as Best New Artist..

For album of the year, it’s again Batiste – last year’s winner in the category – boygenius, Cyrus, Rodrigo, Swift, and SZA, but with the addition of Lana Del Rey’s Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd and Janelle Monáe’s The Age of Pleasure.

The Song of the Year category features Del Rey’s “A&W,” Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” Batiste’s “Butterfly,” Cyrus’ “Flowers,” SZA’s “Kill Bill,” Rodrigo’s “vampire,” and two tracks from the “Barbie” soundtrack: Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night” and Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”

While “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie” did get a nomination, it’s in a songwriting category – so actor Ryan Gosling is not up for a Grammy.

While women are notable for their inclusion, the list of nominees list reveals a dearth of Latin and country music artists in the major categories – both genres of which boasted standout performers in 2023. 

“We need to do more work with our country voters and continue to invite more country voters to the process,” says Mason. “Another thing that surprised me was, as big of a year that Latin had this year, (that) we didn’t have more Latin representation in some of the general fields.”

“We want to make sure that our membership is representative of the music that’s being created and concerned,” he added. “So, these nominations always inform us on what we’re going to do over the next few years. And these nominations in particular have told us we need to continue to reach out and communicate with the voting groups within country and Latin.”

There are three new categories at the 2024 Grammys: best pop dance recording, best African music performance and best alternative jazz album. Four of the five acts in the best African music performance category are nominated for the first time: ASAKE & Olamide for “Amapiano,” Davido featuring Musa Keys for “UNAVAILABLE,” Ayra Starr for “Rush,” and Tyla for “Water.” The fifth is previous Grammy-winner Burna Boy for “City Boys.”

The 2024 Grammy Awards will air Feb. 4 live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

The following is a sampling of nominations from the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards’ 94 Categories. For a complete nominations list, visit GRAMMY.com.

Record Of The Year

“Worship” — Jon Batiste

“Not Strong Enough” — boygenius

“Flowers” — Miley Cyrus

“What Was I Made For?” [From The Motion Picture Barbie] — Billie Eilish

“On My Mama” — Victoria Monét

“vampire” — Olivia Rodrigo

“Anti-Hero” — Taylor Swift

“Kill Bill” — SZA

Album Of The Year

World Music Radio — Jon Batiste

the record — boygenius

Endless Summer Vacation — Miley Cyrus

Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd — Lana Del Rey

The Age of Pleasure — Janelle Monáe

GUTS — Olivia Rodrigo

Midnights — Taylor Swift

SOS — SZA

Song Of The Year

“A&W” — Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey & Sam Dew, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)

“Anti-Hero” — Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

“Butterfly” — Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Jon Batiste)

“Dance The Night” (From Barbie The Album) — Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Dua Lipa)

“Flowers” — Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein & Michael Pollack, songwriters (Miley Cyrus)

“Kill Bill” — Rob Bisel, Carter Lang & Solána Rowe, songwriters (SZA)

“vampire” ­— Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Oliva Rodrigo)

“What Was I Made For?” [From The Motion Picture Barbie] — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

Best New Artist

Gracie Abrams

Fred again..

Ice Spice

Jelly Roll

Coco Jones

Noah Kahan

Victoria Monét

The War and Treaty

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical

Jack Antonoff

Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II

Hit-Boy

Metro Boomin

Daniel Nigro

Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical

Edgar Barrera

Jessie Jo Dillon

Shane McAnally

Theron Thomas

Justin Tranter

Best Pop Vocal Album

chemistry — Kelly Clarkson

Endless Summer Vacation — Miley Cyrus

GUTS — Olivia Rodrigo

– (Subtract) — Ed Sheeran 

Midnights — Taylor Swift

Best Pop Dance Recording

“Baby Don’t Hurt Me” — David Guetta, Anne-Marie & Coi Leray

“Miracle” — Calvin Harris Featuring Ellie Goulding

“Padam Padam” — Kylie Minogue

“One in a Million” — Bebe Rexha & David Guetta

“Rush” — Troye Sivan

Best Dance/Electronic Music Album

Playing Robots Into Heaven — James Blake

For That Beautiful Feeling — The Chemical Brothers

Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022) — Fred again..

Kx5 — Kx5

Quest For Fire — Skrillex

Best Rock Album

But Here We Are — Foo Fighters

Starcatcher — Greta Van Fleet

72 Seasons — Metallica

This Is Why — Paramore

In Times New Roman… — Queens of the Stone Age

Best Alternative Music Album

The Car — Arctic Monkeys

the record — boygenius

Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd — Lana Del Rey

Cracker Island — Gorillaz

I Inside the Old Year Dying — PJ Harvey

Best R&B Album

Girls Night Out — Babyface

What I Didn’t Tell You (Deluxe) — Coco Jones

Special Occasion — Emily King

JAGUAR II — Victoria Monét

CLEAR 2: SOFT LIFE EP — Summer Walker

Best Melodic Rap Performance

“Sittin’ On Top Of The World” — Burna Boy Featuring 21 Savage

“Attention” — Doja Cat

“Spin Bout U” — Drake & 21 Savage

“All My Life” — Lil Durk Featuring J. Cole

“Low” — SZA

Best Rap Song

“Attention” — Rogét Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini & Ari Starace, songwriters (Doja Cat)

“Barbie World” [From Barbie The Album] — Isis Naija Gaston, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr. & Onika Maraj, songwriters (Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice Featuring Aqua)

“Just Wanna Rock” — Mohamad Camara, Symere Woods & Javier Mercado, songwriters (Lil Uzi Vert)

“Rich Flex” — Brytavious Chambers, Isaac “Zac” De Boni, Aubrey Graham, J. Gwin, Anderson Hernandez, Michael “Finatik” Mule & Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, songwriters (Drake & 21 Savage)

“SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS” — Andre Benjamin, Paul Beauregard, James Blake, Michael Render, Tim Moore & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Killer Mike Featuring André 3000, Future & Eryn Allen Kane)

Best Alternative Jazz Album

Love In Exile — Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily

Quality Over Opinion — Louis Cole

SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree — Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter, SuperBlue

Live At The Piano — Cory Henry

The Omnichord Real Book — Meshell Ndegeocello

Best Country Album

Rolling Up the Welcome Mat — Kelsea Ballerini

Brothers Osborne — Brothers Osborne

Zach Bryan — Zach Bryan

Rustin’ In The Rain — Tyler Childers

Bell Bottom Country — Lainey Wilson

Best Americana Album

Brandy Clark — Brandy Clark

The Chicago Sessions — Rodney Crowell

You’re the One — Rhiannon Giddens

Weathervanes — Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

The Returner — Allison Russell

Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano)

Bordado a Mano — Ana Bárbara

La Sánchez — Lila Downs

Motherflower — Flor de Toloache

Amor Como en las Películas de Antes — Lupita Infante

GÉNESIS — Peso Pluma

Best African Music Performance

“Amapiano” — ASAKE & Olamide

“City Boys” — Burna Boy

“UNAVAILABLE” — Davido Featuring Musa Keys

“Rush” — Ayra Starr

“Water” — Tyla

Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media (Includes Film And Television)

Barbie — Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, composers

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — Ludwig Göransson, composer

The Fabelmans — John Williams, composer

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny — John Williams, composer

Oppenheimer — Ludwig Göransson, composer