Queer icons are thriving at this year’s Grammy nominations!
Yesterday, the 2021 GRAMMY Nominations were announced. When it comes to LGBTQ musicians and representation, this is an especially great year. That’s because so many queer women have been nominated for awards. From Phoebe Bridgers to Rachel Maddow, LGBTQ creatives were celebrated across the board.
When it comes to indie and folk rock singer Phoebe Bridgers, she was nominated four times this year. Bridgers received GRAMMY nods for Best New Artists (alongside lesbian rapper Chika), Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song for “Kyoto,” and Best Alternative Album for Punisher.
https://twitter.com/phoebe_bridgers/status/1331303518242701312?s=20
As Out points out, the rock genre received several LGBTQ recognitions this year. Brittany Howard, the frontman for Alabama Shakes who released a solo album, received five nominations. Howard was nominated for Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song for “Stay High,” and Best Alternative Music Album for Jaime. That wasn’t all, however, as Howard was nominated for other musical genres. Howard received two more nominations for Best American Roots Performance and Best R&B Performance for “Goat Head.”
From there, there was LGBTQ representation in several other categories. Country singer Brandy Clark was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance (“Who You Thought I Was”) and Best Country Album (Your Life is a Record). Meanwhile, Brandi Carlie’s group The Highwomen were nominated for Best Country Song for “Crowded Talble” Carlile was also nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media for her song “Carried Me With You” which appeared in Onward.
Lady Gaga gained two nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album (Chromatica) and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Rain on Me.”
Lastly, Rachel Maddow and Ronan Farrow are nominated for Best Spoken Word Album.
Congratulations, @maddow ! Best Spoken Word Grammy Nomination. #BLOWOUT pic.twitter.com/xx4kDMvyVu
— Scott Sherratt (@scottsherratt) November 24, 2020
Truly, this is an exciting year for the GRAMMYs, especially when it comes to women. Beyoncé is leading all performers with nine nominations. Following behind her are Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa.
But it wasn’t just the girls who received some love. In terms of queer male artists who received GRAMMY nods, Jonathan Groff gained a nomination with the cast of Little Shop of Horrors for Best Musical Theater Album. Meanwhile, Rufus Wainwright was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for his album Unfollow The Rules. Then Harry Styles, who has not specified his sexual orientation but has alluded to his bisexuality in his music, was nominated for his first GRAMMYs. Styles was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Solo Performance for “Watermelon Sugar,” and Best Music Video for “Adore You.”
Then lastly, Korean boy band BTS received their first GRAMMY nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their song “Dynamite.” They’re nominated among pop giants like Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and Bon Iver, and Justin Beiber with Quavo. Though according to MTV, many music fans are noting that The Weeknd’s latest album After Hours was snubbed.
“The Grammys remain corrupt,” The Weeknd tweeted a few hours after the nominations were announced. “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency.”
While many music fans are rightfully upset by the Weeknd’s lack of nominations, LGBTQ fans are simultaneously celebrating all of the Queer representation in this year’s list. We’ll see who wins in January.
