What’s going on?: Tonight, the biggest stars in the music industry will gather together for the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. Exes will be strategically divided, domestic abuse survivors will be honored, and Kanye is set to debut a new song off his buzzed-about forthcoming album. Shia LaBeouf is presenting (hopefully doing some of the “Elastic Heart” routine.) Oh, and did I mention LL Cool J is hosting the show for the fourth time?
Who’s playing?: Some of the most anticipated performances of the night include Kanye, Rihanna, and Paul McCartney’s “FourFiveSeconds;” Beyonce’s rendition of “Take My Hand Precious Lord” to introduce John Legend and Common’s “Glory,” their original song from the film Selma; Sam Smith and Mary J. Blige’s duet; the increasingly mysterious Sia‘s solo spot; and the one that’s sparked my own curiosity – the pairing of Hozier with Annie Lennox.
Where can I watch?: If you’re like us in the UK, you can follow the live blogging of the show without having to stay up until all hours to watch the event, or you can check out the live stream from CBS if you’re in the US.
Who’s going to win?: Well, we can’t tell you who just yet. Leading the pack with six nominations each are Sam Smith, Beyonce, and Pharrell, so if I were a betting man, I would say that those three would be pretty safe choices.
Here is the list of nominees in the major categories (with my predictions for the winners in bold.) You can check the full list of nominees here.
RECORD OF THE YEAR
Fancy
Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX
– Chandelier
Sia
Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)
Sam Smith
Shake It Off
Taylor Swift
All About That Bass
Meghan Trainor
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Morning Phase — Beck
Beyoncé — Beyoncé
X — Ed Sheeran
– In The Lonely Hour — Sam Smith
Girl — Pharrell Williams
SONG OF THE YEAR
All About That Bass
Kevin Kadish & Meghan Trainor, songwriters (Meghan Trainor)
Chandelier
Sia Furler & Jesse Shatkin, songwriters (Sia)
Shake It Off
Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
– Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)
James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters (Sam Smith)
Take Me To Church
Andrew Hozier-Byrne, songwriter (Hozier)
BEST NEW ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
Label: Def Jam Recordings
Bastille
Label: Virgin Records
Brandy Clark
Label: Slate Creek Records
Haim
Label: Columbia Records
– Sam Smith
Label: Capitol Records
BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE
– All Of Me (Live)
John Legend
Label: Columbia Records
Chandelier
Sia
Track from: 1000 Forms Of Fear
Label: RCA Records / Monkey Puzzle Records
Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)
Sam Smith
Label: Capitol Records
Shake It Off
Taylor Swift
Label: Big Machine Records
Happy (Live)
Pharrell Williams
Label: Columbia Records
BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
– Fancy
Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX
Track from: The New Classic
Label: Def Jam Recordings
A Sky Full Of Stars
Coldplay
Track from: Ghost Stories
Label: Atlantic/Parlophone
Say Something
A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera
Track from: Is There Anybody Out There?
Label: Epic Records
Bang Bang
Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj
Label: Republic Records
Dark Horse
Katy Perry Featuring Juicy J
Label: Capitol Records
BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM
Cheek To Cheek
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Label: Streamline/Columbia/RPM/Interscope
Nostalgia
Annie Lennox
Label: Blue Note Records
Night Songs
Barry Manilow
Label: Stiletto Entertainment
Sending You A Little Christmas
Johnny Mathis
Label: Columbia
– Partners
Barbra Streisand With Various Artists
Label: Columbia Records
BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM
Ghost Stories
Coldplay
Label: Atlantic/Parlophone
Bangerz
Miley Cyrus
Label: RCA
My Everything
Ariana Grande
Label: Republic Records
Prism
Katy Perry
Label: Capitol Records
X
Ed Sheeran
Label: Atlantic Records
– In The Lonely Hour
Sam Smith
Label: Capitol Records
BEST DANCE RECORDING
Never Say Never
Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxx, producers; Basement Jaxx, mixers
Label: Atlantic Jaxx/[Pias]
– Rather Be
Clean Bandit Featuring Jess Glynne
Grace Chatto & Jack Patterson, producers; Wez Clarke & Jack Patterson, mixers
Track from: New Eyes
Label: Big Beat/Atlantic
F For You
Disclosure Featuring Mary J. Blige
Disclosure, producer; Disclosure, mixer
Track from: Settle (Deluxe)
Label: Cherrytree/Interscope Records
I Got U
Duke Dumont Featuring Jax Jones
Duke Dumont & Jax Jones, producers; Tommy Forrest, mixer
Label: Astralwerks
Faded
Zhu
Zhu, producer; Zhu, mixer
Label: Mind Of A Genius
BEST DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUM
– Syro
Aphex Twin
Label: Warp Records
While (1<2)
Deadmau5
Label: Astralwerks
Nabuma Rubberband
Little Dragon
Label: Loma Vista Recordings / Republic
Do It Again
Röyksopp & Robyn
Label: Cherrytree/Interscope Records
Damage Control
Mat Zo
Label: Astralwerks
BEST R&B PERFORMANCE
– Drunk In Love
Beyoncé Featuring Jay Z
Track from: Beyoncé
Label: Columbia Records
New Flame
Chris Brown Featuring Usher & Rick Ross
Track from: X
Label: RCA Records
It’s Your World
Jennifer Hudson Featuring R. Kelly
Track from: JHUD
Label: RCA Records
Like This
Ledisi
Track from: The Truth
Label: Verve
Good Kisser
Usher
Label: RCA Records
BEST TRADITIONAL R&B PERFORMANCE
As
Marsha Ambrosius & Anthony Hamilton
Track from: The Best Man Holiday (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Label: RCA Records
I.R.S.
Angie Fisher
Label: Hidden Beach Recordings
– Jesus Children
Robert Glasper Experiment Featuring Lalah Hathaway & Malcolm Jamal Warner
Track from: Black Radio 2
Label: Blue Note Records
Nobody
Kem
Label: Motown Records
Hold Up Wait A Minute (Woo Woo)
Antonique Smith
Label: 9:23 Music & Media
BEST R&B SONG
– Drunk In Love
Shawn Carter, Rasool Diaz, Noel Fisher, Jerome Harmon, Beyoncé Knowles, Timothy Mosely, Andre Eric Proctor & Brian Soko, songwriters (Beyoncé Featuring Jay Z)
Track from: Beyoncé
Label: Columbia Records
Good Kisser
Ronald “Flip” Colson, Warren “Oak” Felder, Usher Raymond IV, Jameel Roberts, Terry “Tru” Sneed & Andrew “Pop” Wansel, songwriters (Usher)
Label: RCA Records
New Flame
Eric Bellinger, Chris Brown, James Chambers, Malissa Hunter, Justin Booth Johnson, Mark Pitts, Usher Raymond IV, William Roberts, Maurice “”Verse”” Simmonds & Keith Thomas, songwriters (Chris Brown Featuring Usher & Rick Ross)
Track from: X
Label: RCA Records
Options (Wolfjames Version)
Dominic Gordon, Brandon Hesson, William Roberts & Jamaica “”Kahn-Cept”” Smith, songwriters (Luke James Featuring Rick Ross)
Label: Island Records
The Worst
Jhené Aiko Chilombo, songwriter (Jhené Aiko)
Track from: Sail Out
Label: Def Jam Recordings
BEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM
– Sail Out
Jhené Aiko
Label: Def Jam Recordings
Beyoncé
Beyoncé
Label: Columbia Records
X
Chris Brown
Label: RCA Records
Mali Is…
Mali Music
Label: RCA Records / Bystorm Entertainment
Girl
Pharrell Williams
Label: Columbia Records
BEST R&B ALBUM
Islander
Bernhoft
Label: Big Picnic Records
Lift Your Spirit
Aloe Blacc
Label: XIX / Interscope Records
Love, Marriage & Divorce
Toni Braxton & Babyface
Label: Def Jam Recordings
– Black Radio 2
Robert Glasper Experiment
Label: Blue Note Records
Give The People What They Want
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Label: Daptone Records
BEST RAP PERFORMANCE
– 3005
Childish Gambino
Track from: Because The Internet
Label: Glassnote
0 To 100 / The Catch Up
Drake
Label: Cash Money/Young Money
Rap God
Eminem
Track from: The Marshall Mathers LP2
Label: Aftermath
I
Kendrick Lamar
Label: Top Dawg Entertainment/Interscope Records
All I Need Is You
Lecrae
Label: Reach Records
BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION
Blak Majik
Common Featuring Jhené Aiko
Track from: Nobody’s Smiling
Label: Def Jam Recordings
The Monster
Eminem Featuring Rihanna
Track from: The Marshall Mathers LP2
Label: Aftermath
– Tuesday
I Love Makonnen Featuring Drake
Label: OVO/Warner Bros.
Studio
Schoolboy Q Featuring BJ The Chicago Kid
Track from: Oxymoron
Label: TDE/Interscope Records
Bound 2
Kanye West & Charlie Wilson
Track from: Yeezus
Label: Def Jam Recordings
BEST RAP SONG
Anaconda
Ernest Clark, Jamal Jones, Onika Maraj, Marcos Palacios & J. Solone-Myvett, songwriters (Nicki Minaj)
Label: Cash Money/Young Money
– Bound 2
Mike Dean, Malik Jones, Che Pope, Elon Rutberg, Sakiya Sandifer, John Stephens, Kanye West, Charlie Wilson & Cydel Young, songwriters (Kanye West & Charlie Wilson)
Track from: Yeezus
Label: Def Jam Recordings
I
K. Duckworth & C. Smith, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
Label: Top Dawg Entertainment/Interscope Records
We Dem Boyz
N. Fisher & C. Thomaz, songwriters (Wiz Khalifa)
Track from: Blacc Hollywood
Label: Rostrum/Atlantic; Publishers; Wiz KHalifa Publishing admin. by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./IFYOUNEEDMEDONTLEAVEME
0 To 100 / The Catch Up
A. Feeney, Aubrey Graham, A. Hernandez, P. Jefferies, M. Samuels & Noah Shebib, songwriters (Drake)
Label: Cash Money/Young Money
BEST RAP ALBUM
The New Classic
Iggy Azalea
Label: Def Jam Recordings
– Because The Internet
Childish Gambino
Label: Glassnote
Nobody’s Smiling
Common
Label: Def Jam Recordings
The Marshall Mathers LP2
Eminem
Label: Aftermath
Oxymoron
Schoolboy Q
Label: TDE/Interscope Records
Blacc Hollywood
Wiz Khalifa
Label: Rostrum/Atlantic
Saint Audio 