The 2022 Grammy Awards will be held on Jan. 31, returning for their 64th anniversary.   This year’s show will be hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, and will be live on CBS.  The most talented and acclaimed artists have been nominated in 86 different categories with the biggest four being Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist.  Some artists were nominated for more categories than anticipated, while others were not nominated at all. 

A secret committee is used to select the Grammy nominees each year.  This method, however, has been under fire recently because many artists, fans, and labels find it highly controversial.  This year, experts went through submissions from labels to make sure songs and albums met the criteria for their respective awards.  Then, a popular vote was conducted to decide the winners.  

 Jazz and R&B musician Jon Batiste is the musical director of “The Late Night Show With Stephen Colbert” and worked on the music for the recent Pixar movie “Soul.”  He was nominated for eleven Grammys, the most of all nominees.  This seemingly came out of nowhere, as Batiste is not nearly as famous to the average music listener as some of the other nominated stars.  His recent album “We Are,” however, has millions of plays on Spotify alone and has made it to the US Billboard charts.  

Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, and H.E.R. have each been nominated for eight Grammys.  Many of Beiber and Doja Cat’s songs rose in popularity from being used on the app TikTok.  All three have also been nominated for album of the year, the most remarkable category.  

Olivia Rodrigo has been one of the most popular musicians this year.  Her breakout single “Drivers License” brought her to number one on the global billboard chart and has over 130 million streams.  Her success only grew when the rest of her hit album “Sour” came out, leading her to be nominated for seven Grammys, including the four most impressive categories (Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist).  Billie Eilish, another major artist in the pop industry, is nominated for seven Grammys with her album “Happier Than Ever.”  Both stars are popular among teenagers and are positioned to do well.

“I’m so happy for Olivia Rodrigo.  She had an amazing year and I especially hope she wins Best New Artist,” said freshman Ryann Engel.  

There are quite a few artists who were unexpectedly not nominated in big categories, including Ariana Grande, Drake, BTS, Tyler the Creator, and Megan Thee Stallion.  Ariana Grande was the first woman to reach number one with her album “Positions,” so many fans were shocked that she was not nominated for any of the big four categories.  

Tyler the Creator also produced his album “Call Me If You Get Lost,” which received a variety of publicity on social media because of the creative build up he gave it.  With his large fanbase, the album reached number one for a while, and yet he only earned two nominations.   

Many are also upset that Megan Thee Stallion is only nominated for one of her songs as she won Best New Artist the year prior.  BTS’s hit song this year “Butter,” was only nominated for one category.  Lorde’s new album“Solar Power” was also completely ignored despite being one of 2021’s most popular albums. 

“I feel proud of BTS for getting nominated, but I feel like this is a money ploy.  The Grammys nominated BTS last year and already have a history of being racist so I feel like they are only nominating them for attention and the publicity,” said freshman Naomi Caplin.  

Taylor Swift is an eleven-time Grammy winner and many fans are disappointed she was only nominated for Album Of The Year with “Evermore.”   Many fans complained on social media about how the one album nomination did not make sense because of how well the album did and how influential Taylor Swift has been. 

“Taylor is such an amazing singer and songwriter.  She definitely deserved more nominations,” said freshman Nicole McGuire.