Grammy Nominations Facts: Drake Still Present, ABBA Shines, Ed Sheeran Snubbed, TikTok Lives On

As music fans pick apart the 2023 Grammy Awards nominations, take a look at some fun facts about this year’s contenders.

COUPLE GOALS

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Beyoncé and Jay-Z could be considered the queen and king of the Grammys: They now tie for most nominations in Grammy history with 88 nods each. Beyoncé has won 28 awards and Jay-Z has 24. And even Blue Ivy Carter is a Grammy winner — at the 2021 show she picked up best music video for “Brown Skin Girl,” a win she shared with her mother.

YOU CAN DANCE, YOU CAN JIVE

ABBA is having the time of their lives at the Grammys. After earning their first-ever nomination at the 2022 show, the Swedish pop stars are back in strong form at the 2023 show. ABBA scored nominations for album of the year and best pop vocal album with Voyage, while “Don’t Shut Me Down” — maybe a literal message to voters — is up for record of the year and best pop duo/group performance.

Mary J. Blige is also having fun in this Grammys dancery: The R&B icon scored six nominations, including bids for album and record of the year. The last time Blige won a Grammy? It was at the 2009 show.

ED + SHEERAN = NO GRAMMY LOVE

Ed Sheeran has released five albums, but only one has competed for album of the year at the Grammys. That doesn’t change this year.

His latest album, =, didn’t pick up a nomination for album of the year or best pop vocal album. None of the songs were nominated either — instead, his singular nomination is for his guest appearance on Camila Cabello’s lukewarm hit, “Bam Bam.”

BAD FOR BAD BUNNY

Yes, Bad Bunny made history at the Grammys by having the first Latin album compete for album of the year with Un Verano Sin Ti, but it feels like taking two steps back when realizing his worldwide hits — “Tití Me Preguntó” and “Me Porto Bonito” — didn’t earn nominations for song or record of the year.

R&BASIC

This year’s R&B categories lack something special: The young female singers who own their narratives and sexuality in song form.

While Summer Walker earned an album of the year nod for her work on Kendrick Lamar’s album and Ella Mai is up for her guest appearance on Babyface’s “Keeps on Fallin’” — the singers didn’t earn nominations for their own albums or songs. Joining the club are Chlöe, Ari Lennox, Kehlani and SZA, who dominated streaming services with the hit “I Hate U.”

CERTIFIED GRAMMY BOY

Drake can’t escape the Grammys even though he’s tried.

He didn’t submit his house-heavy album, Honestly, Nevermind, for awards, but he still earned four nominations. He’s competing for album of the year for co-writing “Heated” from Beyoncé’s Renaissance and his guest appearance on Future’s “Wait for U” earned him bids for best melodic rap performance and best rap song, where he’s also nominated for his work on Jack Harlow’s “Churchill Downs.”

Anderson .Paak also didn’t submit his album with Bruno Mars, An Evening with Silk Sonic, for Grammys consideration, but he’s still present among the nominees. He’s nominated twice for his work on Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous.

TIKTOK-ing TO THE GRAMMYS

After becoming a place where many people discover music, TikTok has a Grammy nomination.

Spanish singer Rosalía is competing for best music film for her live performance of her album Motomami on the social media platform. The performance is also nominated for best long form music video at the 2022 Latin Grammy Awards, taking place Thursday.

TikTok also helped rising rapper GloRilla score a Grammy nom: Her song with producer Hitkidd, “F.N.F. (Let’s Go),” blew up on the video-sharing app and now it’s nominated for best rap performance.

RAP BEEF

Speaking of female rappers, Nicki Minaj exploded on social media when The Hollywood Reporter revealed that her smash hit, “Super Freaky Girl,” was rejected by the Grammys’ rap committee and sent to pop.

The song didn’t earn a nomination for best pop solo performance Tuesday, but what’s worse? Latto — who Minaj called out for having a pop-leaning song that stayed in the rap category with “Big Energy” — picked up a nomination for best melodic rap performance for the hit song. Latto is also up for best new artist, an award Minaj was nominated for at the 2012 show.

Doja Cat, who won her first Grammy earlier this year, is also repping for female rappers. She’s nominated for best rap performance for “Vegas” from the Elvis soundtrack. Her hit “Woman” also scored nominations for record of the year, best pop solo performance and best music video, while her collaboration with Post Malone, “I Like You (A Happier Song),” is up for best pop duo/group performance.

AIN’T NO GRAMMY HIGH ENOUGH?

Diana Ross has earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys but she’s never won a competitive award.

That could change — she’s competing for best traditional pop vocal album with Thank You. It’s her first nomination since the 1983 awards.

Her competition includes Kelly Clarkson’s When Christmas Comes Around…, Michael Bublé’s Higher, Norah Jones’ I Dream of Christmas (Extended) and Pentatonix’s Evergreen.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

The year’s nominees include a batch of first-time contenders, including Machine Gun Kelly, Summer Walker, Carly Pearce, Kim Petras, GAYLE, Måneskin, Blxst, Zach Bryan and more.

ENGINEERING NOMINATIONS

Mastering engineer Randy Merrill will compete with himself three times for album of the year.

He worked on three nominated albums, including Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, Adele’s 30 and Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres. Merrill is also a double nominee in record of the year for his work on the No. 1 hits “As It Was” and “Easy on Me.”

Rapper-singer Future will also compete with himself at the Grammys. He’s a double nominee in two categories: best melodic rap performance (“Wait for U,” “Beautiful”) and best rap song (“Wait for U,” “pushin P”).

Jazz musician Terri Lyne Carrington is also a double nominee in the best jazz instrumental album category. She’s the only woman to ever win the award in Grammy history.

FAMOUS FACES

A slew of famous folks not known for their work in the music industry are competing for Grammys, including Viola Davis, who gets an inch closer to EGOT status. Other nominees include controversial figures like Dave Chappelle and Louis C.K. as well as Jamie Foxx, Mel Brooks, Amanda Gorman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Jim Gaffigan and Patton Oswalt.

Speaking of famous, Kendrick Lamar’s music video for “The Heart Part 5”— which used deepfake technology to transform the rapper into figures like Will Smith, Kanye West, Kobe Bryant, Nipsey Hussle, O. J. Simpson and Jussie Smollett — is nominated for best music video.

COLDPLAY’S WARM TOUCH

BTS earned single Grammy nominations at the 2021 and 2022 shows, but now they’re up for three honors and have a better chance of winning their first Grammy — thanks to Coldplay.

The K-pop group is up for best pop/duo group performance for “My Universe” with Coldplay. The collaboration also helped BTS earn a nod for album of the year since Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres is in contention. And BTS scored a best music video nomination for “Yet to Come.”

Selena Gomez also appears on Coldplay’s album, thus earning herself a nomination. It’s her second Grammy nomination — she was up for best Latin pop album earlier this year with Revelación. 2022 also gave Gomez her first Emmy nomination as a producer on the hit Hulu series Only Murders in the Building.

ROCK STAR BRANDI CARLILE

Brandi Carlile has won Grammys in the country music and American roots categories. Now she has a chance to rock in the rock categories.

Carlile scored nominations for best rock song and best rock performance for “Broken Horses.” Her seven nods include album and record of the year, along with best Americana album and performance, and best American roots song.

H.E.R., THE PRODUCER-SONGWRITER, REEMERGES

After winning five Grammys for her own songs, R&B star H.E.R. is returning to the Grammys in strong songwriting and producing form.

For her behind-the-scenes work on Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous album, H.E.R. earned nominations for album of the year, record of the year and best R&B song.

Oscar-winning H.E.R. is also nominated for her own work — she’ll compete for best dance/electronic recording with “Intimidated,” her collaboration with KAYTRANADA.

YOUNG THUG and GUNNA

Though they’re behind bars in a racketeering criminal case, rappers Gunna and Young Thug scored two Grammy nominations. They’re competing for best rap song and best rap performance with the hit “pushin P,” which also features rapper-singer Future. The song peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

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