Every pop music lover’s favourite time of year has arrived: Nominations for the 66th annual Grammy Awards have finally been released. There are so many aspects of the awards that could be covered, but the range of artists in the “Record of the Year” category is something many fandoms can be excited about. This year’s nominations are going to be quite intense in competition in this category.
The Grammys encompasses a wide range of awards, including their general categories, which are the ones most often presented on television. The “Record of the Year” awards are open to artists of any genre. This year’s nominations are sonically diverse. From Jon Batiste’s crossover R&B, jazz, and gospel music to Miley Cyrus’s disco pop, and Billie Eilish’s alternative pop, this year’s awards should be quite interesting.
The total songs nominated for “Record of the Year” are: “Worship” by Jon Batiste, “Not Strong Enough” by boygenius, “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eillish, “On My Mama” by Victoria Monét, “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo, “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift, and “Kill Bill” by SZA. These are all prestigious artists in their own categories, and they all have many fans cheering them on. Their genres span through R&B, jazz, gospel, alternative, indie-rock, rock, disco-pop and pop.
These songs have proven themselves worthy of a nomination if not only by the talent poured into them, but also by how incredibly popular they are. Four of the eight nominated songs have graced the top fifty of Billboard’s “Hot 100” in the week of November 18. “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo ranked #17, “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus was at #23, “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish made it to #28, and “Kill Bill” by SZA ranked at #38 on the Billboard’s “Hot 100.” However, those songs being ranked while the other four songs were not does not necessarily mean that they are any better. The other four songs have their own statistics that speak for them. The number of listens per song are incredibly huge for the other four songs. Coming in at the very top is “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift with a jaw-dropping 1, 237, 236, 328 listens on Spotify as of November 18. The second highest number of listens among these four is “Not Strong Enough” by boygenius with a whopping 58, 638, 376 listens on Spotify. “On My Mama” by Victoria Monét comes in at an exciting third highest number with 39, 597, 281 listens on Spotify, and trailing behind in listens of Spotify is “Worship” by Jon Batiste with 1, 369, 595 listens on Spotify. All of these numbers are as of November 18, 2023. The massive number of listens that each of these songs has really shows how enjoyable they are, and helps to demonstrate why they would be nominated for a Grammy.
Overall, the 66th Annual Grammy Awards should be an incredible show. Every music lover could be excited by the nominations, and the newly-nominated artists will be the most excited of all. With some brand-new and old faces at the Grammys, these artists should put on a jaw-dropping show. Keep up with the progression of the awards on the Grammys website and by following the nominated artists.
