SZA leads 2024 Grammy nominations as women outpace men in top categories

Killing her ex? That's a bad idea. Writing Kill Bill and releasing her critically acclaimed second album SOS earlier this year? That was a great one. As a result, SZA is the lead contender for the 66th Grammy Awards, with nine nominations. During Friday's announcement, Kill Bill , her revenge anthem cloaked in an RnB ballad, earned nods for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best RnB Performance. SOS is also up for Album of the Year and Best Progressive RnB Album. Next year's ceremony will mark the second time SZA has been nominated for record, album and song of the year in the same year. And just like at the box office, Barbie will be seen – and heard – at the Grammys. Music from the hit film's soundtrack earned 11 nominations, including nabbing four of the five slots in the visual media song category. If there is an overall trend in the nominations, it's that female acts outperformed their male counterparts. The majority of leading nominees are women and include superstars like Taylor Swift , Billie Eilish , Miley Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo. In both the Record and Album of the Year categories, the only man represented is Jon Batiste . "Seeing the women nominees this year, and the number of them, was not a surprise but it was something that made me happy," said Recording Academy chief executive and president Harvey Mason Jr. 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, of course, leads the charge, also picking up nominations for Best Traditional RnB Performance ( Love Language ), Best RnB Song ( Snooze ), Best Melodic Rap Performance ( Low ) and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance ( Ghost in the Machine ). The last features Phoebe Bridgers, who – alongside Victoria Monet, the only leading nominee also up for Best New Artist – has the second-most nominations with seven. Six of Bridgers’s nods are with her band boygenius, 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. Also earning six nominations were Swift, Rodrigo, Cyrus, Eilish, Brandy Clark, Batiste and producer Jack Antonoff. Only recordings released between October 1 last year and September 15 are eligible. In addition to Monet, the Best New Artist category is rounded out by Gracie Abrams, Fred again.., Ice Spice, Jelly Roll, Coco Jones, Noah Kahan and The War and Treaty. For Album of the Year, it's again Batiste, 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 Monae’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's Flowers , SZA's Kill Bill , Rodrigo's vampire and two 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. What else is missing? Some fans may notice a dearth of Latin and country musicians in the main categories. “We need to do more work with our country voters and continue to invite more country voters to the process,” says Mason Jr. “Another thing that surprised me was, as big of a year that Latin had this year, 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 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 the already Grammy-winning Burna Boy for City Boys . 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 Monae GUTS, Olivia Rodrigo Midnights , Taylor Swift SOS , SZA Record of the Year Worship , Jon Batiste Not Strong Enough , boygenius Flowers , Miley Cyrus What Was I Made For? , Billie Eilish On My Mama , Victoria Monet Vampire , Olivia Rodrigo Anti-Hero , Taylor Swift Kill Bill , SZA Song of the Year (songwriter's award) A&W , Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey and Sam Dew Anti-Hero , Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift Butterfly , Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson Dance the Night , Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt Flowers , Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein and Michael Pollack Kill Bill , Rob Bisel, Carter Lang and Solana Rowe Vampire , Daniel Nigro and Olivia Rodrigo What Was I Made For? , Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell Best New Artist Gracie Abrams Fred again.. Ice Spice Jelly Roll Coco Jones Noah Kahan Victoria Monet The War and Treaty Songwriter of the Year Edgar Barrera Jessie Jo Dillon Shane McAnally Theron Thomas Justin Tranter Best Pop Solo Performance Flowers , Miley Cyrus Paint the Town Red , Doja Cat What Was I Made For? , Billie Eilish Vampire , Olivia Rodrigo Anti-Hero , Taylor Swift Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Thousand Miles , Miley Cyrus featuring Brandi Carlile Candy Necklace , Lana Del Rey featuring Jon Batiste Never Felt So Alone , Labrinth featuring Billie Eilish Karma , Taylor Swift featuring Ice Spice Ghost in the Machine , SZA featuring Phoebe Bridgers Best Pop Vocal Album Chemistry , Kelly Clarkson Endless Summer Vacation , Miley Cyrus Guts , Olivia Rodrigo - (Subtract) , Ed Sheeran Midnights , Taylor Swift Best Rap Album Her Loss , Drake and 21 Savage Michael , Killer Mike Heroes & Villains , Metro Boomin King’s Disease III , Nas Utopia , Travis Scott 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 Dance/Electronic Album Blackbox Life Recorder 21F , Aphex Twin Loading , James Blake Higher Than Ever Before , Disclosure Strong , Romy and Fred again.. Rumble , Skrillex, Fred again.. and Flowdan 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 Progressive RnB Album Since I Have a Lover , 6lack The Love Album: Off the Grid , Diddy Nova , Terrace Martin and James Fauntleroy The Age of Pleasure , Janelle Monae SOS , SZA Best RnB Album Girls Night Out , Babyface What I Didn’t Tell You (Deluxe) , Coco Jones Special Occasion , Emily King Jaguar II , Victoria Monet Clear 2: Soft Life EP , Summer Walker – With additional reporting from agencies

SZA leads 2024 Grammy nominations as women outpace men in top categories

RnB singer earns nine nods as Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Billie Eilish earn six