Beyoncé, Drake, Adele and Justin Bieber to vie for Grammy Awards
Bieber and Drake, among top nominees, lead a hefty field of Canadian contenders
Singers Beyoncé and Adele, as well as Canadians Justin Bieber and Drake are among the lead nominees for the 59th annual Grammy Awards.
American pop diva Beyoncé led with nine nominations overall for her influential, surprise-release album Lemonade and its powerful lead track Formation. Over the years, she has earned 62 nominations, making her the most nominated woman in Grammy history.
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The singer, whose 20 previous Grammy trophies make her the award's second most awarded female performer ever (after Alison Krauss), has become the first artist to earn nominations in pop (for the track Hold Up), rock (for the song Don't Hurt Yourself with Jack White), R&B (Lemonade, for urban contemporary R&B album) and rap (Freedom with Kendrick Lamar) categories in the same year.
Right behind her, though, are Toronto rapper Drake, as well as two of his recent collaborators: Rihanna and Kanye West — all three nabbed eight nominations each.
Drake's Views was one of the year's most anticipated albums and, once it debuted, it became one of the year's biggest releases: it also topped most-streamed lists and was among 2016's bestselling albums.
Meghan Trainor, the 2016 best new artist Grammy winner, appeared on CBS This Morning in New York today to help unveil the nominees in the four general field categories.
Record of the year
- Hello, Adele.
- Formation, Beyoncé.
- 7 years, Lukas Graham.
- Work, Rihanna f. Drake.
- Stressed Out, Twenty One Pilots.
Album of the year
- 25, Adele.
- Lemonade, Beyoncé.
- Purpose, Justin Bieber.
- Views, Drake.
- A Sailor's Guide to Earth, Sturgill Simpson.
Song of the year (songwriter's award)
- Formation by Beyoncé.
- Hello by Adele.
- I Took a Pill in Ibiza by Mike Posner.
- Love Yourself by Justin Bieber.
- 7 Years by Lukas Graham.
Best new artist
- Kelsea Ballerini.
- The Chainsmokers.
- Chance the Rapper.
- Maren Morris.
- Anderson Paak.
British singer Adele, another of the leading nominees and a Grammy favourite, earned five nods for her blockbuster album 25.
Many had expected Blackstar, the final album by David Bowie, who died in January at age 69 following a more than year-long fight with cancer, to be among the top categories. The British music legend ultimately nabbed four nominations: for best rock performance, rock song, alternative music album and engineered album, non-classical.
More Canadians in the running
Meanwhile Bieber, who was raised in Stratford, Ont., scored four for Purpose, which earned critical acclaim, showcased a more mature sound for the former child popstar and has also been one of the year's bestselling albums.
Aside from Drake and Bieber, other Canadian nominees include:
- Vying for best R&B song are Toronto hip hop artists Tory Lanez (aka Daystar Peterson), for his track Luv, and PartyNextDoor (aka Jahron Brathwaite) for Come See Me.
- Vancouver electronic act Bob Moses (comprising Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance) earning two nods for the single Tearing Me Up: best dance recording and best remix recording.
- Toronto singer Kai is featured on Australian artist Flume's song Never Be Like You, also in best dance recording.
- Calgary-born James Teej (aka Thomas Mathers) shares a best remix recording nomination with German producing partner Timo Maas for their reworking of Paul McCartney's Wings-era song Nineteen Hundred Eighty-Five.
- Alberta-based powwow drum and singing group Northern Cree, with a best regional roots music album nomination for the album It's a Cree Thing.
- Toronto-based producer and songwriter Nineteen85 (aka Anthony Paul Jefferies), the Drake collaborator nominated for producer of the year (non classical).
- Montreal's Yannick Nézet-Séguin, whose conducting of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe's recording Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro is up for best opera recording.
- Vancouver-born director Miles Jay is a best music video nominee for his directorial work on River, by Leon Bridges.
- Toronto-based ARC Ensemble is up for best chamber music or small ensemble performance for its recording Fitelberg: Chamber Works.
Songs and albums released between Oct. 1, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2016, are eligible for consideration for the awards, handed out by The Recording Academy to honour outstanding achievement in music.
A complete list of nominees across all categories — there are 84 in total — was posted on Grammy.com.
Hosted by late-night comedian and performer James Corden, the 2017 Grammy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on Feb. 12.
With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press