The 2017 Grammy Nominations were announced today.
In the General Categories, Sturgill Simpson is nominated for Album of the Year, and Kelsea Ballerini and Maren Morris are finalists for Best New Artist.
Multiple nominations were received by Morris, Simpson, Brandy Clark, Miranda Lambert, Lori McKenna, and Keith Urban, among others.
Previous winners Vince Gill, Loretta Lynn and Carrie Underwood each earned a nomination.
Dolly Parton is nominated once again for “Jolene,” this time for her collaborative version with Pentatonix. Her original version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.
Willie Nelson is up for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, Hillary Scott & The Scott Family picked up a nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Album and Joey + Rory are nominated for Best Roots Gospel Album.
A complete list of nominees can be found here.
General Categories
Album of the Year
- Adele, 25
- Beyoncé, Lemonade
- Justin Bieber, Purpose
- Drake, Views
- Sturgill Simpson, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
Record of the Year
- Adele, “Hello”
- Beyoncé, “Formation”
- Lukas Graham, “7 Years”
- Rihanna featuring Drake, “Work”
- Twenty One Pilots, “Stressed Out”
Song of the Year
- “Formation” — Khalif Brown, Asheton Hogan, Beyoncé Knowles & Michael L. Williams II
- “Hello” — Adele Adkins
- “I Took a Pill In Ibiza” — Mike Posner
- “Love Yourself” — Justin Bieber, Benjamin Levin & Ed Sheeran
- “7 Years” — Lukas Forchhammer, Stefan Forrest, Morten Pilegaard & Morten Ristorp
Best New Artist
- Kelsea Ballerini
- The Chainsmokers
- Chance the Rapper
- Maren Morris
- Anderson Paak
Country & Country-Related Categories
Best Country Album
- Brandy Clark, Big Day in a Small Town
- Loretta Lynn, Full Circle
- Maren Morris, Hero
- Sturgill Simpson, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
- Keith Urban, Ripcord
Best Country Solo Performance
- Brandy Clark, “Love Can Go to Hell”
- Miranda Lambert, “Vice”
- Maren Morris, “My Church”
- Carrie Underwood, “Church Bells”
- Keith Urban, “Blue Ain’t Your Color”
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
- Dierks Bentley featuring Elle King, “Different For Girls”
- Brothers Osborne, “21 Summer”
- Kenny Chesney & P!nk, “Setting the World on Fire”
- Pentatonix featuring Dolly Parton, “Jolene”
- Chris Young With Cassadee Pope, “Think of You”
Best Country Song
- “Blue Ain’t Your Color” — Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey & Steven Lee Olsen
- “Die a Happy Man” — Sean Douglas, Thomas Rhett & Joe Spargur
- “Humble and Kind” — Lori McKenna
- “My Church” — busbee & Maren Morris
- “Vice” — Miranda Lambert, Shane McAnally & Josh Osborne
Best Americana Album
- The Avett Brothers, True Sadness
- William Bell, This is Where I Live
- Roddie Romero and the Hub City All-Stars, Gulfstream
- The Time Jumpers, Kid Sister
- Lori McKenna, The Bird & the Rifle
Best American Roots Performance
- The Avett Brothers, “Ain’t No Man”
- Blind Boys of Alabama, “Mother’s Children Have a Hard Time”
- Rhiannon Giddens, “Factory Girl”
- Sarah Jarosz, “House of Mercy”
- Lori McKenna, “Wreck You”
Best Americana Song
- “Alabama at Night” – Robbie Fulks
- “City Lights” – Jack White
- “Gulfstream” – Eric Adcock & Roddie Romero
- “Kid Sister” – Vince Gill
- “Wreck You” – Lori McKenna & Felix McTeigue
Best Bluegrass Album
- Blue Highway, Original Traditional
- Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Burden Bearer
- Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands, The Hazel & Alice Sessions
- Claire Lynch, North by South
- O’Connor Band with Mark O’Connor, Coming Home
Best Folk Album
- Judy Collins & Ari Hest, Silver Skies Blue
- Robbie Fulks, Upland Stories
- Rhiannon Giddens, Factory Girl
- Sierra Hull, Weighted Mind
- Sarah Jarosz, Undercurrent
Any theories as to why Carrie Underwood always gets a Country Female/Country Solo nod (and often wins) but has still never gotten in Country Album?
Oh, and I’m surprised Eric Church was shut out. He usually gets noms here.
I am very excited about Sturgill Simpson getting in AOTY.
Also good to see Brandy Clark get a Country Song nod for “Love Can Go To Hell”
Even though I had a few minor caveats with it, I’m still surprised that The Complete Trio Collection wasn’t considered, at least in the Americana field (it’s a compilation of both original Trio albums, plus outtakes and unreleased tracks, but it’s the last time anyone will hear Dolly, Emmy, and Linda together). I was also a bit shocked that Margo Price didn’t get a nod for Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, clearly one of the great albums of any genre released in 2016.
But again, these are minor quibbles; and seeing Brandy get her nominations is a good thing. Both she and Sarah Jarosz (who got a nomination in the Americana field) are in L.A. this Sunday to pay tribute to Linda in a benefit concert to fund Parkinson’s research along with Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, and Maria Muldaur.
I’m rooting for Brandy and Lori – but I never watch the show.
@Erik – A friend of my wife and I from SF died monday after a 10 year battle with Parkinson’s. She had said that her last few years were like hell on earth.
Erik – The trio collection wouldn’t have been eligible since it was old material, no? Or more so, only the ‘new’ stuff would have been eligible. Not sure how it would have been submitted.
@ Jason:
Yes, the first two CDs were remasterings of the first two Trio albums. I guess I was hoping for a nod in the Historical Album category too. Anyway, folks…
Even though it isn’t country-related, Randy Newman’s cousin Thomas is up for a pair of awards (Best Instrumental Composition; Best Soundtrack Score for Visual Media) related to his score for director Steven Spielberg’s excellent 2015 Cold War drama BRIDGE OF SPIES. It’s always good to point these things out when most of the attention is on the Big Ticket nods (IMHO).
@Erik – I am pretty unfamiliar with the Historical Album category. What is the pre-requisite there?
So disappointed for Margo Price. The Grammy’s are usually better at awarding artistry over sales/radio play in the country-specific categories (love the Brandy Clark noms). I would have loved to see Midwest Farmer’s Daughter in the Country Album category over Hero. My Church had strong radio power and I understand the nominations for the song itself, but Hero was a disappointing album and decidedly not country.
Also, would have loved to see Eric Church with Mr. Misunderstood over Keith’s Ripcord in the Country Album category.
A Country Album category with Eric Church, Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson, Loretta Lynn, and Brandy Clark would have been amazing. One can dream.
@ BrettAshley,
Price’s team submitted her album and individual tracks in the Americana / American Roots fields instead of the Country field; both in terms of her style and in terms of voting trends within those categories, I think that ended up being a huge mistake. Of course, Sturgill Simpson’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music was nominated in the Americana field, whereas he’s nominated for Best Country Album this year.
A few other noteworthy country-related nominations:
– Willie Nelson, Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
– Alabama Shakes, “Joe (Live from Austin City Limits)” for Best Rock Performance.
– Hillary Scott & The Scott Family, “Thy Will” for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance / Song, and Love Remains for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album.
– Joey+Rory’s Hymns for Best Roots Gospel Album.
– Sturgill Simpson as a credited artist on Vinyl: The Essentials Season 1 for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.
– Reckless Kelly’s Sunset Motel for Best Recording Package.
– Kris Kristofferson’s The Complete Monument & Columbia Albums Collection for Best Album Notes.
– Sarah Jarosz’s Undercurrent for Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical)– which is a very richly deserved nomination, I would say.
– American Saturday Night: Live From the Grand Ole Opry for Best Music Film.
So I’d say that country music is very well represented across the ballot this year!
Thanks Jonathan, I didn’t know that, and agree with your assessment. I can see their reasoning, as Margo hasn’t been shown much love by the mainstream country establishment, and has received some accolades in the Americana genre. But clearly it didn’t work out.
It’s a shame, since it’s such a strong album (and it sounds even better live). I was lucky enough to see her this year and would recommend it to everyone who has the opportunity. The album has ended up on several year-end best-of lists, so hopefully that gives her an added publicity boost despite the lack of nominations and airplay.
Very disappointed for Margo. I don’t know if being on an indie label like Third Man is necessarily a weakness, especially since the voters are chummy with Jack White.
It says a lot that Brothers Osborne was the only established duo OR group in their category. I bet CMA voters are patting themselves on the back!
@ Jason
Re. Historical Album category–For the life of me, I am not at all sure what the prerequisite is for this category, beyond the obvious designation (historical significance, perhaps?). It’s just speculation on my part re. the Trio albums, though one can’t argue what a big impact they had on mainstream country, alternative country, Americana, and roots rock, not to mention what Dolly, Linda, and Emmy have meant to other female artists on their own over the last fifty years in general.
Re: the rumor that “Daddy Lessons” was rejected by the country committee; the track is more country than some stuff that passes for country these days, but I think it belonged more in the ‘American Roots’ categories.
I could see including “Daddy Lessons” in the American Roots field for the version from Lemonade, but I don’t think it’s some grave injustice that NARAS declined to include it in the Country field this year. They regularly decline genre submissions, such as moving Justin Timberlake to the Pop field after his team attempted to submit his work in the R&B field. A couple of tweets from pissed off members of the Bey Hive and a single poorly researched, re-posted AP article without an actual byline hardly make this the story that some would like it to be, but it sure makes for good clickbait.
That said, I’ll be stunned if the version of “Daddy Lessons” with the Dixie Chicks, which was released after this year’s eligibility period, isn’t nominated in either the Country or American Roots fields next year, and deservedly so.
While the bluegrass nominees were all good records, there were many better bluegrass albums released during the period covered by these awards. I’d call this set of nominations a total whiff
@Jonathan – What’s the story behind Timberlake? I hadn’t heard about him not being accepted in R&B categories.
@ Jason,
Timberlake gave an interview not terribly long ago that his team had submitted one of his albums– I believe it was FutureSex/LoveSounds, but I wouldn’t swear to it– and its eligible individual tracks for consideration in the R&B field, but NARAS reallocated them all to the Pop field. I’ll try to track that interview down…
@Jonathan – I doubt we’ll still be talking about “Daddy’s Lessons” a year from now. If Dixie Chicks had released a live version from their MMXVI tour, I could see it getting a nomination. But not their ‘duet’ with Beyonce. I have a feeling the world will have moved on by then.
I wonder if Taylor Swift will get a Best Country Song nomination for ‘Better Man’ next year? It certainly deserves recognition, whereas the “I Don’t Want To Live Forever” trainwreck with Zayn does not. I certainly hope her next album isn’t executively produced by Jack Antonoff. “Better Man” could be the first time she wins either an ACM or CMA for Song of the Year.
@ J-Papp,
Always glad to see your name pop up in the comments!
NARAS will nominate pretty well anything that the Dixie Chicks do– they even managed a Duo/Group nomination for a version of “I Hope” that preceded Taking the Long Way. And Beyonce’s team will submit her material for consideration as widely as possible, to the point that it sometimes comes off as absurd– like when she was nominated for Pop Solo Vocal Performance for a live version of “Halo” when she had won that category the year before for the studio recording of that song.
Basically, if the duet version is submitted next year, I cannot fathom that NARAS wouldn’t bite on it, just based upon their own voting patterns.
I could see Swift scoring a nomination for “Better Man” next year, too. People who love the song really seem to love it. (And I agree whole-heartedly about the Zayn track and about Antonoff’s production!)