The top names in music will come together in Las Vegas tonight to honour their own at the Grammys, now in its 64th edition, with pop juggernauts joining jazzman Jon Batiste as the leading nominees.
This year, the gala will take place in Las Vegas for the first time, after organisers postponed the original 31 January event over a surge in Covid-19 cases, and then moved it from Los Angeles to the US gambling capital.
The field is wide open - especially after the Recording Academy expanded the top four categories yet again, this time to include 10 nominees, in a bid to improve diversity.
The timing of the Grammys just one week after Will Smith stunned the world by slapping Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars adds an extra layer of unpredictability to what is already usually one of the more bizarre nights on the showbiz awards circuit.
Dublin playwright Conor McPherson is nominated for Best Musical Theater Album alongside producers Simon Hale and Dean Sharenow for Girl From The North Country, the acclaimed Broadway play based on the songs of ten-time Grammy winner Bob Dylan.
Justin Bieber will vie for eight trophies at the ceremony hosted by late-night host Trevor Noah, as will R&B favourite H.E.R. and singer-rapper Doja Cat.
Grammys darling Billie Eilish is in the running for seven prizes. The same holds true for Olivia Rodrigo, a former Disney Channel actress who exploded onto the pop scene last year with her breakout smash hit drivers license.
Nineteen-year-old Rodrigo also landed nods for her much-touted debut album Sour, and is a near shoo-in for Best New Artist - she is up against Eilish's brother Finneas, rapper Saweetie, experimental pop act Japanese Breakfast and others.
Like Eilish in 2020, Rodrigo has the opportunity to sweep the top four categories, which would make her only the third artist to do so.
But it is Jon Batiste - the jazz and R&B artist and bandleader, who won an Oscar last year for his soundtrack to the Pixar animated movie Soul - who has the most chances at Grammys gold, snagging 11 nominations including in two top categories.
The longtime musical director of the popular The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Batiste in recent years has emerged as a voice of social justice and protest.
The Black artist born into a prominent New Orleans musical dynasty will compete mainly on the strength of his album We Are and its rousing single Freedom.
The sleeper nominations leader is also up for awards in fields spanning genre and medium, including R&B, jazz, American roots and contemporary classical, along with nods for Best Music Video and his composition work on Soul.
Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, the beloved 95-year-old crooner, have strong chances to add to their Grammys haul - their album Love For Sale earned six nominations.
Kanye West scored several nominations for his album Donda - and will face off with longtime nemesis Taylor Swift in the Album of the Year category, where she has her sole chance at Grammy gold for evermore.
Swift did not submit Fearless (Taylor's Version) - her 2021 re-recording of her 2008 album - for Grammy consideration, after winning four awards for the original in 2010.
The rap categories include West along with Nas, J. Cole and Tyler, the Creator - but not Drake, who withdrew his two nominations in December without explanation.
In the past, the Canadian chart-topper had accused the Recording Academy, which he has long sparred with, of pigeonholing his music in the rap categories because he is Black.
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion will compete in the Best Rap Performance category, the only field in which the artists behind the smash WAP are in the running.
Korean pop juggernauts BTS scored one nomination in the pop categories for the huge commercial hit Butter - less than expected for the massively popular boy band that has struggled to make inroads at the Grammys.
But BTS is slated to perform on the night watched as much for its staging as the actual awards, as will Rodrigo, Eilish, Batiste and H.E.R. along with Lil Nas X.
West, who has five total nominations, had reportedly been removed from the performance lineup over his sometimes troubling behaviour, but some sources said he could still join the lineup at the last minute.
The mercurial West has for weeks been airing personal attacks on comedian Pete Davidson, who is dating West's ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
The 44-year-old megastar was also barred on Instagram for 24 hours after insulting Grammy host Noah, who had said West was becoming "more and more belligerent in how he tries to get Kim back".
Grammy Award Nominees 2022
Album of the Year
We Are - Jon Batiste
Love For Sale - Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) - Justin Bieber
Planet Her (Deluxe) - Doja Cat
Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish
Back Of My Mind - H.E.R.
Montero - Lil Nas X
Sour - Olivia Rodrigo
evermore - Taylor Swift
Donda - Kanye West
Record of the Year, recognizing overall performance on a song
I Still Have Faith In You - ABBA
Freedom - Jon Batiste
Get A Kick Out Of You - Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga
Peaches - Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon
Right On Time - Brandi Carlile
Kiss Me More - Doja Cat featuring SZA
Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish
Montero (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X
drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo
Leave The Door Open - Silk Sonic
Song of the Year, recognizing songwriting
Bad Habits - Fred Gibson, Johnny McDaid and Ed Sheeran, songwriters (Ed Sheeran)
A Beautiful Noise - Ruby Amanfu, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, Alicia Keys, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Linda Perry and Hailey Whitters, songwriters (Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile)
drivers license - Daniel Nigro and Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)
Fight For You - Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)
Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish O'Connell and Finneas O'Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Kiss Me More - Roget Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini, Lukasz Gottwald, Carter Lang, Gerard A. Powell II, Solana Rowe and David Sprecher, songwriters (Doja Cat featuring SZA)
Leave The Door Open - Brandon Anderson, Christopher Brody Brown, Dernst Emile II and Bruno Mars, songwriters (Silk Sonic)
Montero (Call Me By Your Name) - Denzel Baptiste, David Biral, Omer Fedi, Montero Hill and Roy Lenzo, songwriters (Lil Nas X)
Peaches - Louis Bell, Justin Bieber, Giveon Dezmann Evans, Bernard Harvey, Felisha Fury King, Matthew Sean Leon, Luis Manual Martinez Jr., Aaron Simmonds, Ashton Simmonds, Andrew Wotman and Keavan Yazdani, songwriters (Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon)
Right On Time - Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)
Best New Artist
Arooj Aftab
Jimmie Allen
Baby Keem
Finneas
Glass Animals
Japanese Breakfast
The Kid Laroi
Arlo Parks
Olivia Rodrigo
Saweetie
Best Music Video
Shot In The Dark - AC/DC
Freedom - Jon Batiste
I Get A Kick Out Of You - Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga
Peaches - Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon
Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish
Montero (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X
Good 4 U - Olivia Rodrigo
Best Rap Album
The Off-Season - J. Cole
King's Disease II - Nas
Call Me If You Get Lost - Tyler, The Creator
Donda - Kanye West
Best Rap Performance
Family Ties - Baby Keem featuring Kendrick Lamar
Up - Cardi B
My Life - J. Cole featuring 21 Savage and Morray
Best Rock Album
Power Up - AC/DC
Capitol Cuts - Live From Studio A - Black Pumas
No One Sings Like You Anymore Vol. 1 - Chris Cornell
Medicine At Midnight - Foo Fighters
McCartney III - Paul McCartney
Best Pop Vocal Album
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) - Justin Bieber
Planet Her (Deluxe) - Doja Cat
Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish
Positions - Ariana Grande
Sour - Olivia Rodrigo
Best Global Music Album
Mohabbat - Arooj Aftab
Do Yourself - Angelique Kidjo and Burna Boy
Pa Pa Pa - Femi Kuti
Blewu - Yo-Yo Ma and Angelique Kidjo
Essence - WizKid Featuring Tems
Additional Reporting: AFP
