Nominations for the 55th annual Grammy Awards were released on Dec. 5 and one category – Best Spoken Word Album – is dominated by out lesbians.
Openly lesbian entertainers Janis Ian and Ellen DeGeneres and out journalist Rachel Maddow are nominated in the category. The other nominees are former President Bill Clinton, for “Back To Work: Why We Need Smart Government For A Strong Economy,” and first lady Michelle Obama, for “American Grown.”
Ian is nominated for the audio version of her autobiography, “Society’s Child,” which is punctuated by her vocals of choruses and relevant lines of her songs that describe each chapter of her life. Rachel Maddow is nominated for “The Unmooring Of American Military Power” and DeGeneres is nominated for the audio version of her book “Seriously... I'm Kidding.”
The awards show will take place on Feb. 10 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be live broadcast on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. EST.
Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys), FUN., Jay-Z, Mumford & Sons, Frank Ocean, and Kanye West topped the nominations with six each; The Black Keys, Chick Corea, and Miguel each received five nods; and producer Jeff Bhasker, mastering engineer Bob Ludwig and Nas are each up for four awards.
Following is a sampling of nominations in 81 categories from the GRAMMY Awards’ 30 Fields:
Album Of The Year:
El Camino — The Black Keys
Some Nights — FUN.
Babel — Mumford & Sons
Channel Orange — Frank Ocean
Blunderbuss — Jack White
Record Of The Year:
“Lonely Boy” — The Black Keys
“Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” — Kelly Clarkson
“We Are Young” — FUN. Featuring Janelle Monáe
“Somebody That I Used To Know” — Gotye Featuring Kimbra
“Thinkin Bout You” — Frank Ocean
“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” — Taylor Swift
Best New Artist:
Alabama Shakes
FUN.
Hunter Hayes
The Lumineers
Frank Ocean
Song Of The Year:
“The A Team” — Ed Sheeran, songwriter (Ed Sheeran)
“Adorn” — Miguel Pimentel, songwriter (Miguel)
“Call Me Maybe” — Tavish Crowe, Carly Rae Jepsen & Josh Ramsay, songwriters (Carly Rae Jepsen)
“Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” — Jörgen Elofsson, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin & Ali Tamposi,
songwriters (Kelly Clarkson)
“We Are Young” — Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess, songwriters (FUN. Featuring
Janelle Monáe)
POP FIELD
Best Pop Solo Performance
“Set Fire To The Rain (Live)” — Adele
“Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” — Kelly Clarkson
“Call Me Maybe” — Carly Rae Jepsen
“Wide Awake” — Katy Perry
“Where Have You Been” — Rihanna
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
“Shake It Out” — Florence & The Machine
“We Are Young” — FUN. Featuring Janelle Monáe
“Somebody That I Used To Know” — Gotye Featuring Kimbra
“Sexy And I Know It” — LMFAO
“Payphone” — Maroon 5 & Wiz Khalifa
DANCE FIELD
Best Dance/Electronica Album:
Wonderland — Steve Aoki
Don’t Think — The Chemical Brothers
> Album Title Goes Here < — Deadmau5 Fire & Ice — Kaskade Bangarang — Skrillex
ROCK FIELD
Best Rock Performance:
“Hold On” — Alabama Shakes
“Lonely Boy” — The Black Keys
“Charlie Brown” — Coldplay
“I Will Wait” — Mumford & Sons
“We Take Care Of Our Own” — Bruce Springsteen
Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance:
“I’m Alive” — Anthrax
“Love Bites (So Do I)” — Halestorm
“Blood Brothers” — Iron Maiden
“Ghost Walking” — Lamb Of God
“No Reflection” — Marilyn Manson
“Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)” — Megadeth
Best Rock Album:
El Camino — The Black Keys
Mylo Xyloto — Coldplay
The 2nd Law — Muse
Wrecking Ball — Bruce Springsteen
Blunderbuss — Jack White
ALTERNATIVE FIELD
Best Alternative Music Album
The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes
Will Ever Do — Fiona Apple
Biophilia — Björk
Making Mirrors — Gotye
Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming — M83
Bad As Me — Tom Waits
R&B FIELD
Best R&B Performance:
“Thank You” — Estelle
“Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.)” — Robert Glasper Experiment Featuring Ledisi
“I Want You” — Luke James
“Adorn” — Miguel
“Climax” — Usher
Best Urban Contemporary Album
Fortune — Chris Brown
Kaleidoscope Dream — Miguel
Channel Orange — Frank Ocean
Best R&B Album:
Black Radio — Robert Glasper Experiment
Back To Love — Anthony Hamilton
Write Me Back — R. Kelly
Beautiful Surprise — Tamia
Open Invitation — Tyrese
RAP FIELD
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:
“Wild Ones” — Flo Rida Featuring Sia
“No Church In The Wild” — Jay-Z & Kanye West Featuring Frank Ocean & The-Dream
“Tonight (Best You Ever Had)” — John Legend Featuring Ludacris
“Cherry Wine” — Nas Featuring Amy Winehouse
“Talk That Talk” — Rihanna Feautring Jay-Z
Best Rap Performance:
“HYFR (Hell Ya F***ing Right)” — Drake Featuring Lil Wayne
“N****s In Paris” — Jay-Z & Kanye West
“Daughters” — Nas
“Mercy” — Kanye West Featuring Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz
“I Do” — Young Jeezy Featuring Jay-Z & André 3000
Best Rap Album
Take Care — Drake
Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1 — Lupe Fiasco
Life Is Good — Nas
Undun — The Roots
God Forgives, I Don’t — Rick Ross
Based On A T.R.U. Story — 2 Chainz
COUNTRY FIELD
Best Country Solo Performance:
“Home” — Dierks Bentley
“Springsteen” — Eric Church
“Cost Of Livin’” — Ronnie Dunn
“Wanted” — Hunter Hayes
“Over” — Blake Shelton
“Blown Away” — Carrie Underwood
Best Country Album:
Uncaged — Zac Brown Band
Hunter Hayes — Hunter Hayes
Living For A Song: A Tribute To Hank Cochran — Jamey Johnson
Four The Record — Miranda Lambert
The Time Jumpers — The Time Jumpers
AMERICAN ROOTS FIELD
Best Americana Album:
The Carpenter — The Avett Brothers
From The Ground Up — John Fullbright
The Lumineers — The Lumineers
Babel — Mumford & Sons
Slipstream — Bonnie Raitt
Best Blues Album:
33 1/3 — Shemekia Copeland
Locked Down — Dr. John
Let It Burn — Ruthie Foster
And Still I Rise — Heritage Blues Orchestra
Bring It On Home — Joan Osborne
SPOKEN WORD FIELD
Best Spoken Word Album:
American Grown (Michelle Obama) — Scott Creswell & Dan Zitt, producers (Various Artists)
Back To Work: Why We Need Smart Government For A Strong Economy — Bill Clinton
Drift: The Unmooring Of American Military Power — Rachel Maddow
Seriously…I’m Kidding — Ellen DeGeneres
Society’s Child: My Autobiography — Janis Ian
COMEDY FIELD
Best Comedy Album
Blow Your Pants Off — Jimmy Fallon
Cho Dependent (Live In Concert) — Margaret Cho
In God We Rust — Lewis Black
Kathy Griffin: Seaman 1st Class — Kathy Griffin
Mr. Universe — Jim Gaffigan
Rize Of The Fenix — Tenacious D
