The 2021 Grammy nominations are coming tomorrow– Tuesday–at 12 Noon. Come back here to see what happens.
Last year’s awards had a glaring omission: Taylor Swift and her “Lover” album got very short shrift. Billie Eilish won Best Album and a bunch of other awards. It was bizarre, and people are still talking about it.
Swift was “punished” basically by the record biz for picking a fight with Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta over ownership of her master recordings. She dared to question the patriarchy. Whoops!
Well, a lot has happened in the biz since last year, starting with a bunch of scandals surrounding last winter’s Grammys. It made for a very bad awards season.
Much has changed except for one thing: Taylor got screwed a second time on her masters. This time they were sold by Braun and Borchetta to an investment fund. Ouch!
Meanwhile, Swift’s album, “Folklore,” was the biggest hit of the year. If things were honky dory, she’d be up for Album, Record, Song, Pop Female Performance at a minimum. Will that be the case at noon?
And then we have the case of The Weeknd aka Abel Tesfaye. He had a big hit album called “After Hours.” But The Weeknd went along with the American Music Awards, accepting their invitation to accept awards and perform his hits. The Grammys traditionally have frowned on repeating the AMAs. If you perform on the earlier show, you’re out of luck at the actual industry awards. Granted, The Weeknd appeared in a surgical mask so you couldn’t see him. This may have been a concession to the Grammys: no footage of The Weeknd from the AMAs.
Last, what about Bob Dylan? His “Rough and Rowdy Ways” was hailed as a masterpiece last winter. Will he be relegated to Traditional and Americana categories? Or will the Grammy committees acknowledge his album was the actual work of art reviewers said? Or will he be totally forgotten?
What follows below is the betting line from SportsBettingDime.com. They have no Dylan and no Best Song nominee from Swift, even though “Betty” should be in there. They’ve also got Fiona Apple’s most recent unlistenable release, “Fetch the Bolt Cutters,” which sold 61,000 CDs and downloads, another 40K in streaming of singles, etc. and required massive amounts of caffeine. Their other two Album of the Year choices are the unremarkable Post Malone and the enjoyable Dua Lipa. We’ll see what happens at high noon.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR WINNER: ODDS
- The Weeknd: 1/1
- Fiona Apple: 8/1
- Dua Lipa: 10/1
- Taylor Swift: 12/1
- Post Malone: 15/1
- FIELD: 11/2
RECORD OF THE YEAR WINNER: ODDS
- Blinding Lights (The Weeknd): 8/5
- Circles (Post Malone): 5/1
- Don’t Start Now (Dua Lipa): 7/1
- I Can’t Breathe (H.E.R.): 12/1
- Savage (Megan Thee Stallion): 12/1
- The Box (Roddy Rich): 15/1
- FIELD: 10/1
SONG OF THE YEAR WINNER: ODDS
- Blinding Lights (The Weeknd): 2/1
- Don’t Start Now (Dua Lipa): 4/1
- Circles (Post Malone): 6/1
- The Bones (Maren Morris): 9/1
- I Can’t Breathe (H.E.R.): 12/1
- FIELD: 6/1
BEST NEW ARTIST WINNER: ODDS
- Doja Cat: 7/3
- Megan Thee Stallion: 3/1
- Phoebe Bridgers: 9/2
- Summer Walker: 10/1
- Gabby Barrett: 11/1
- Rina Sawayama: 19/1
- Pop Smoke: 30/1
- FIELD: 70/1
ARTIST WITH MOST NOMINATIONS
- The Weeknd: 6/5
- Dua Lipa: 6/1
- Post Malone: 7/1
- Lady Gaga: 14/1
- Taylor Swift: 15/1
- Harry Styles: 20/1