The crème de la crème of the music industry is expected to attend the 65th Grammy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles, and one question is on everyone’s lips: will Beyoncé finally win the top honor for “Album of the Year” against Adele?
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The 41-year-old US star has never been closer to achieving that goal with nine nominations this year following the release of her album Renaissance, an opus with dance, house and disco accents.
But Brit Adele has seven nominations for her introspective album 30 and could win another Grammys, the music equivalent of the Oscars in the United States.
Beyoncé vs. Adele: Revenge
In 2017, the “Hello” singer beat her rivals in major categories and won five awards with her album “25,” to the detriment of the Houston-born singer, whose album “Lemonade,” now a classic, had to settle for the Grammy Award as “Best Contemporary Urban Music Album”.
On stage, Adele paid a heartfelt tribute to “Queen B” and the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which awards the awards, was once again accused of pushing artists of color into the background.
Whatever Sunday’s result, Beyoncé’s story continues: With this edition’s nominations, she equals her husband, Jay-Z’s, record as the most-nominated artist in the history of these awards.
And if she’s already the artist with the most small golden gramophones, she could well take the lead at the 2023 edition, overtaking conductor Georg Solti with the most wins.
According to Billboard magazine, the Grammy Award for “Best Album” would go to him, while Adele would win “Best Song of the Year” for “Easy On Me”.
“I really hope so, doesn’t she deserve it?” ‘, launched to AFP Nile Rodgers, guitarist of the group Chic who contributed to the album ‘Renaissance’.
Beyoncé “is arguably the most culturally significant female artist in the world,” the music industry mogul and former executive Merck Mercuriadis remarked at a gala ahead of the awards ceremony.
Still, the surprises of previous editions invite us to be cautious about making predictions.
Bad Bunny, the Spanish language success
In addition to the Beyoncé-Adele duel, other stars shine in this edition, such as rapper Kendrick Lamar, who receives eight nominations, and American folk-rock star Brandi Carlile, seven nominations.
Harry Styles, Lizzo or even Mary J. Blige are expected to take the stage during a ceremony hosted again by comedian Trevor Noah.
Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, one of the world’s highest-grossing artists of 2022, is nominated in three categories including Best Album for Un verano sin ti.
It is the first all-Spanish album to compete in one of the Queen categories.
His victory “would be very important for all Spanish speakers and for our culture,” Colombian singer Sebastian Yatra told AFP.
Country-turned-pop star Taylor Swift finally won a Grammy for Track of the Year with the long version of All Too Well. A track released in 2012 but re-recorded with enough differences to once again compete.
In the Revelation of the Year category, after several editions where the favorites were pretty clear – Olivia Rodrigo, Megan Thee Stallion and Billie Eilish – the race is wide open this time.
Among the artists mentioned we can find the Brazilian Anitta, the Italian rockers Maneskin, the rapper Latto… So many artists have been made famous by TikTok, which has become a breeding ground for revelations.
“We try to ignore everything and focus until it’s over,” American drummer JD Beck, who won awards in two categories including Reveal of the Year, along with French keyboardist DOMi, told AFP.
The group BTS, K-pop stars on hiatus, is also in the running.
The Academy, which is made up primarily of writers, composers and engineers, has also nominated a number of artists already established in the music industry, including Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson and ABBA.