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Grammy nominations: Janelle Monae, Cardi B and Kacey Musgraves up for album of the year, with Taylor Swift’s Reputation snubbed

Nominations have been announced for the biggest night in music

Roisin O'Connor
Music Correspondent
Friday 07 December 2018 11:00 GMT
Comments
Gearing up for the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards 2019

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The nominations for the 61st Grammy Awards have been announced.

Music’s biggest night is just two months away, and today (7 December) the nominees for categories including album of the year, song of the year and record of the year were revealed.

Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer, Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour, Brandi Carlile’s By the Way I Forgive You, Kendrick Lamar’s Black Panther soundtrack, Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy, Drake’s Scorpion, HER’s Her and Post Malone’s Beerbongs & Bentleys were all nominated for album of the year.

Taylor Swift’s album Reputation was one of the biggest snubs of the nominations. As it was released last year, missed the deadline for album of the year eligibility at the 2018 Grammys but could have received a nod for the 2019 awards. Swift has been nominated in the category three times and won it twice, for 2010’s Fearless and 2016’s 1989.

Ed Sheeran found himself in a similar position last year. Despite being one of the biggest-selling albums of 2017, Sheeran’s third album Divide was snubbed for AOTY at the 2018 Grammys and Sheeran only received two nominations, each in the lesser genre categories.

Ariana Grande fans will be disappointed that the pop singer failed to achieve a nomination in any of the main categories, after the release of her album Sweetener and its hit single “No Tears Left to Cry” earlier this year. The Carters – Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z – also missed out on any major nominations for their album Everything is Love.

British singer Ella Mai is the only UK nominee in the four major categories this year. Her hit single “Boo’d Up” is featured in the Song of the Year category.

The Grammy Awards are set to air live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, 10 February, on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

It marks the show’s return to the West Coast after the ceremony took place at Madison Square Gardens in New York this year.

Bruno Mars was the biggest winner of the 60th Grammy Awards, being nominated for six awards and winning all of them, including for album of the year and record of the year.

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Starting with the 2019 Grammys, the big four categories — Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best New Artist — have increased from five to eight nominees each

The liveblog is now closed

The 61st Grammy Awards take place in LA on Sunday 10 February, 2019.

Hello and welcome to our liveblog for the Grammy Award nominations 2019!

roisin.oconnor7 December 2018 10:36

Music's biggest night is just two months away, and today (7 December) fans will get to find out who's up for an award.

The nominations will be revealed on CBS This Morning  at 8:30 a.m. ET/PT (1.30pm UK time) to hear Shawn Mendes, Janelle Monáe, Alessia Cara and Apple Music's Zane Lowe reveal the nominees in the top Grammy categories, including record of the year, album of the year, song of the year and best new artist.

roisin.oconnor7 December 2018 10:42

A reminder that the main categories have been extended, so there will now be eight nominees for groups like album of the year and song of the year, rather than the previous five

roisin.oconnor7 December 2018 10:46

The Grammy Awards are set to air live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, 10 February. They've moved back there after a brief (controversial) stint in New York for the 2018 ceremony

roisin.oconnor7 December 2018 10:49
roisin.oconnor7 December 2018 10:55

A few critics have speculated that Taylor Swift could get snubbed in the major categories this year, as the voters focus less on commercial success alone. However, I reckon she's still a very strong contender in the album of the year and record of the year categories: Reputation received widespread critical acclaim from reviewers and marked a big change in sound for Swift. The album was also supported by a huge stadium tour around the US, Europe and the UK.

roisin.oconnor7 December 2018 11:16
roisin.oconnor7 December 2018 11:19

Who else is a contender for album of the year? Some possibles below:

Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour

Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer

Kendrick Lamar – Black Panther soundtrack

Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy 

Ariana Grande – Sweetener

Taylor Swift – Reputation 

Drake – Scorpion

The Carters – Everything is Love

roisin.oconnor7 December 2018 11:38

Drake is a likely nominee for his 25-track double album Scorpion, while Grande's fourth album Sweetener and Cardi B's debut Invasion of Privacy could also be recognised.

roisin.oconnor7 December 2018 12:07

Jay-Z and Beyonce could get a nod in the album of the year category this year for their joint album, Everything is Love. Jay Z's album 4:44 was snubbed last year in favour of Bruno Mars last year, while Beyonce lost out to Adele in 2016. So will the Grammy panel feel like they need to make amends in 2019?

roisin.oconnor7 December 2018 12:44

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