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.
Highlights of main category nominations for 66th Grammy Awards
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
