Fuzzy genres and retiree revolution at the Grammys

With new rules in place and a promise to restore trust among its members, the Recording Academy on Tuesday unveiled its nominees for the 64th annual Grammy Awards. Here are some facts about the nominees:

THE REVOLUTION OF THE RETIRED:

Certainly, pop music tends to be aimed at teenagers, but Tuesday’s record of the year nominees range from 18 to 95 years of age, with names that multigenerational families will recognize. Tony Bennett, the oldest of the group and winner of 18 Grammy Awards, is nominated with Lady Gaga for his version of “I Get a Kick Out of You.” The Swedish idols of the ABBA group are not resting on their laurels either. The four Scandinavian septuagenarians received their first Grammy nomination for their comeback song “I Still Have Faith In You.” Perhaps grandparents and grandchildren will enjoy the Grammy together this year.

DESAIRES:

The commercial success of country singer Morgan Wallen coincides with the lowest moments of his personal life. Wallen was recorded on camera using a racial slur earlier in the year, yet his “Dangerous: The Double Album” was one of the year’s best-selling albums, spending 10 weeks at the top of the 200 album chart. Billboard. Wallen was disqualified or limited from multiple music awards and was not recognized by the Recording Academy this year.

The overall album of the year and record of the year categories also left out some major singles that dominated both social media and the charts. Kali Uchis found an audience on TikTok for her bilingual hit “Telepathy”, but was only nominated for best urban Latin album for “Without fear (of love and other demons)”; while Cardi B extended her reign with her No. 1 hit “Up,” nominated only for best rap performance. But a more surprising snub came from BTS’s “Butter,” a mega-hit by the Korean band whose only Grammy nomination was in the category of best pop duo or group performance.

SILK SONIC SURPRISES:

The new duo Silk Sonic made their television debut at the last Grammy Awards and are now returning as a nominee, although they only released a few songs in the eligibility period. Of course, when the duo is made up of 11 Grammy winner Bruno Mars and four-time winner Anderson .Paak, special attention should be paid. Together they earned four nominations, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, and Best R&B Performance.

THE RETURN OF A COMEDIANT:

Louis CK is nominated for best comedy album for “Sincerely Louis CK,” which marks his comeback after acknowledging allegations of sexual misconduct made against him by various women in 2017. The album comes from a movie CK released on his site. web last year.

Dave Chappelle is also nominated for best spoken album this year for “8:46,” a special he released last year after the murder of George Floyd. The nomination comes as the comedian grapples with negative responses to his latest Netflix special and his anti-transgender comments.

BLURRY GENRES:

While the new Recording Academy rules this year meant ditching anonymous selection committees, some artists ended up in categories they didn’t want to be in. Six-time Grammy winner Brandi Carlile is nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year for her single “Right On Time,” which also earned a Mention for Best Pop Solo Performance. But Carlile posted on social media last month that she was disappointed by the academy’s decision to put the song in the pop category rather than the American-Rooted category, for which she was initially nominated.

POSTHUMOUS NOMINATIONS:

Rapper Pop Smoke, who was assassinated in 2020, earned another posthumous Grammy nomination, this time as a contributor to Kanye West’s “Donda,” which is up for album of the year. DMX was nominated for best rap song for “Bath Salts,” featuring Jay-Z and Nas, which was released after his death earlier this year. And jazz pianist Chick Corea, who died of cancer earlier this year, has four nominations in the categories of jazz, Latin jazz and classical music.