19 facts about the 2022 Grammy Awards

Jazz pianist Jon Batiste has more nominations than anyone else – 11 in total, recognising both his boundary-bending solo album We Are and the soundtrack to the Pixar film, Soul.

A member of a New Orleans musical dynasty, he’s perhaps best known as the band leader on Stephen Colbert’s US chat show.

But he’s been widely praised for his debut album, which celebrates decades of black American music, while acknowledging the specific struggles black people face.

By the way, only two artists have ever exceeded that tally of 11 nominations – Michael Jackson in 1984 and Babyface in 1997.

Dua’s monster hit Levitating was the biggest-selling song of 2021 in the US; and had spent a record-breaking 70 weeks on the Billboard chart. But it’s entirely absent from the Grammy nominations.

Variety magazine confirmed that the song wasn’t submitted for consideration, apparently to avoid giving recognition to featured rapper DaBaby after he made a number of homophobic comments last year.

Drake’s latest opus, Certified Lover Boy, had been nominated for rap album, and the single Way 2 Sexy, featuring Future and Young Thug, was up for rap performance. But he asked for the nominations to be withdrawn before the voting period closed, and the Academy honoured his request.

He’s a long-time critic of the ceremony – even when he wins. “We play an opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport,” he said while picking up an award for God’s Plan in 2019. “You already won if you have people singing your songs word for word, if they’re singing in your hometown. You’re already winning, you don’t need this right here.”

Also absent is The Weeknd, who is refusing to participate in the Grammys after being snubbed last year.

Ariana Grande and Doja Cat also declined to submit their duets with the star for awards, in an apparent show of solidarity. But Kanye West didn’t get the memo: His single Hurricane, which features The Weeknd and Lil Baby, made it onto the best melodic rap song shortlist.

Speaking of Kanye…

When the Grammy nominations were announced last year, Kanye West picked up five nods, including album of the year for his eclectic, scattershot 10th album Donda.

It looked like the dawning of a new era. West had long been a critic of the ceremony’s under-representation of black artists and, in 2020, filmed himself urinating on one of his 22 Grammy awards.

But two weeks before the show, organisers told the star his planned performance could not go ahead due to his “concerning online behaviour”, Variety magazine reported.

That appears to have included the release of an animated music video that portrayed the kidnapping and burial of a figure who resembles Pete Davidson – the US comedian who is dating West’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian; and an Instagram post that used a racial slur to describe Grammys host Trevor Noah.

At the time of writing, however, West is still invited to the ceremony. Censors will be hovering nervously over the mute button if he gets to make a speech.

Despite having the biggest-selling song in the world last year – the Michael Jackson-indebted summer anthem Butter – South Korean pop band BTS are only nominated for one award: Best pop duo/group performance.

Last year, they lost that category to Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande and their duet Rain On Me. Gaga could prove to be their downfall again in 2022, with her Tony Bennett collaboration also shortlisted for the prize.

The BTS Army had hoped to console themselves with a performance by the boyband – but even that looks in jeopardy, after members Jungkook and J-Hope tested positive for Covid-19.

After sweeping the board at the Brits two months ago, Adele is completely absent from the Grammy shortlists – and for a very simple reason. The star’s comeback single, Easy On Me, and her blockbuster fourth album 30 were both released after the cut-off date of 30 September, 2021.

Other albums that missed the deadline included Ed Sheeran’s = (Equals), Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s An Evening With Silk Sonic and Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version). Expect them to make an appearance next year instead.

There are 40 nominations available across the Grammys’ four main categories, but only one of those spots went to a country act: Jimmie Allen.

Voters turned their backs on established stars including Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton, Mickey Guyton, Maren Morris and Sturgill Simpson, who all released well-received, commercially-successful albums in 2021.

Meanwhile Morgan Wallen – who had the best-selling country album of the year – was locked out after being captured on video drunkenly using racist language at the start of 2021.

If Kanye West wins album of the year for Donda, the stage is going to get very, very crowded.

In the nominations list, his record is attributed to more than 160 people – a reflection of how many albums are now assembled using songwriting camps, guest verses, beat-swapping, multiple producers, remixes and evolving iterations of the same song.

In previous years, only people who had contributed 33% of an album’s playing time could merit a nomination; but that rule was scrapped for 2022.

By way of contrast: There are only five people on the credits for Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever.

A brisk 50 years after their debut single, Abba have picked up their first Grammy nomination – record of the year – for their single I Still Have Faith In You.

It seems unlikely to win – if voters were genuinely inclined to cast a ballot for Abba, they would also have been nominated in the pop genre categories – but the nomination corrects an historic oversight.

The band themselves greeted the honour with typically dry Swedish humour. “A Grammy should be mandatory for those who dare leave 40 years between album releases,” they told Variety in a statement. “We suggest a new category.”

The best new artist category always throws a few curveballs…

Fans of British band Glass Animals were stunned to see them nominated this year, more than a decade after they first formed (they are only now feeling the first flushes of US success, with the number one single Heat Waves).

Equally shocked was Pakistani-American musician Arooj Aftab, who gained a nomination on the strength of her third album Vulture Prince.

“I didn’t think that something like that could happen,” said the 37-year-old before heading to Las Vegas for the ceremony, adding: “I felt like it’s something that should happen.”

Aftab, who studied at the Berklee School of Music and is based in Brooklyn, has won rave reviews for her music – which mingles jazz, Hindustani classical music and Sufi devotional poetry. Her album, Vulture Prince, is dedicated to her younger brother, who died during the writing of the record.

When violinist Curtis Stewart heard that his album Of Power was nominated for the best classical instrumental solo Grammy, he was pretty excited.

“I just didn’t think I would have much of a chance,” he told Yes magazine but “the fact that I got that nomination was extremely heartening for me”.

But according to a lengthy report in The Observer, several musicians have sent letters of complaint over his nomination to the Recording Academy. They say Stewart’s album, and another track by Jon Batiste, were “mis-categorised” as classical works.

Among them was Professor Apostolos Paraskevas of Berklee College of Music, Boston, who said jazz-based compositions did not belong in those categories.

“Both of those musicians deserve the recognition for their work. But we cannot compare apples and oranges,” he told the newspaper.

“If you look at the nominees for the best contemporary classical composition, you see amazing musicians who write operas and symphonies. Batiste’s piece is two minutes long, someone playing sequences in the jazz style. If this person gets an award, this is a big slap on our face.”