Music’s finest piled into Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on December 5 for the Grammy Nomination Concert. Rapper LL Cool J and country superstar Taylor Swift hosted the event while nominees were announced and a select few artists performed.
A major part of the Grammy’s has been the general categories. These categories include Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.
Record of the Year is awarded to superb vocal or instrumental songs. Previous winners of Record of the Year include Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” (1983), Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” (1993), and Coldplay’s “Clocks” (2003).
Nominees this year are “Lonely Boy” by the Black Keys, “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” by Kelly Clarkson, “We Are Young” by Fun featuring Janelle Monáe, “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye featuring Kimbra, “Thinkin Bout You” by Frank Ocean, and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” by Taylor Swift.
“I think ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ should win,” junior Chris Miles said. “It was a really popular song this year. I feel like they’re a huge contender in this group.”
Album of the Year has gone to music greats such as Adele, the Beatles, and U2. All of those artists have had albums that reached the top of Billboard’s charts.
Nominees in this category include of El Camino by the Black Keys, Some Nights by Fun, Babel by Mumford & Sons, Channel Orange by Frank Ocean, and Blunderbuss by Jack White.
“Frank Ocean’s album will probably win,” sophomore Madison Bailey said. “I heard so much hype about it over the summer.”
Song of the Year, not to be confused with Record of the Year, is awarded to songwriters for well written songs. Past winners include Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It”, Michael Jackson’s and Lionel Richie’s “We Are the World”, and U2’s “Beautiful Day”.
Contenders in the Song of the Year category are “The A Team” written by Ed Sheeran, “Adorn” written by Miguel Pimentel, “Call Me Maybe” written by Tavish Crowe, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Jash Ramsay, “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” written by Jorgen Elofsson, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin, and Ali Tamposi, and “We Are Young” written by Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost, and Nate Ruess.
“I hope ‘The A Team’ wins all the way,” freshman Katherine Greer said. “’Call Me Maybe’ better lose. That’s the most annoying song ever.”
This year, the Best New Artist category has many performers that will most likely have long lasting careers in the music industry.
Blues rock band Alabama Shakes stormed onto the music scene when Rolling Stone Magazine announced their hit single “Hold On” as #1 on Rolling Stones’ 50 Best Songs of 2012.
Another nominee is Fun, an indie pop band. They released their first album in late August 2009, but became very popular this year for their song “We are Young” from their album Some Nights.
CMA New Artist of the Year winner Hunter Hayes received much recognition for his single “Wanted” from his self-titled album. The 21-year-old singer is one of the only artists in history to play every instrument and write/co-write every song on his album.
The Lumineers, a folk group, released their self titled album in early 2012. Their first single “Ho Hey” was also the #1 most played song on Spotify, while their album is still within the Top 10 Album Chart on iTunes.
R&B artist Frank Ocean got his start in the music industry by writing songs for Justin Bieber, Beyoncé Knowles, and John Legend. His 2012 album, Channel Orange, features the hit song “Thinkin Bout You”, which is up for Record of the Year.
First-class artists of the past and present will attend the 55th Annual Grammy Awards on February 10. The event will be broadcasted live on CBS from the Staples Center in L.A.
For a full list of Grammy Nominees, visit http://www.grammy.com/nominees
