46th GRAMMY Nominees Announced
Nominations reflect dominance of rap and R&B and resurgence of rock
GRAMMY.com
The Recording Academy today revealed nominations for the 46th Annual GRAMMY Awards, reflecting the dominance of rap and R&B artists in mainstream music and a renewed surge in the popularity of rock. The press event was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., and was attended by national and international media, as well as key music industry executives. Artists reading nominations this morning included Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Dido, Evanescence’s Amy Lee, Sarah McLachlan, Moby, Jason Mraz, Stacie Orrico, Brad Paisley and Pharrell Williams. The 46th GRAMMY Awards will be held on Sunday, February 8, 2004, at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will again be broadcast in High Definition TV and 5.1 Surround Sound on CBS from 8-11:30 p.m. on the East and West Coasts.
Topping the nominations with six apiece were Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Outkast and Pharrell Williams (three individual and three with the Neptunes). Garnering five each were Missy Elliott, Eminem, Evanescence, 50 Cent, Chad Hugo (two individual and three with the Neptunes), Ricky Skaggs, Justin Timberlake, Luther Vandross and the late Warren Zevon. Nominees earning four nods were Erykah Badu, Willie Nelson, conductor José Serebrier and Jack White (three as the White Stripes, one individual).
“Our voting membership highlighted truly outstanding nominees,” said Neil Portnow, President of the Recording Academy. “Embracing both high-profile and up-and-coming artists, the nominations reflect talent that was both commercially successful as well as critically acclaimed. We are looking forward to putting together a stellar show that will reflect the musical, cultural and production values that make the GRAMMYs the pinnacle of entertainment and excellence.
“In the General Field, nominees for Album Of The Year include Under Construction by Missy Elliott, Fallen by Evanescence, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by Outkast, Justified by Justin Timberlake and Elephant by the White Stripes. Nominees for Record Of The Year include “Crazy In Love” (Beyoncé Featuring Jay-Z), “Where Is The Love?” (Black Eyed Peas and Justin Timberlake), “Clocks” (Coldplay), “Lose Yourself” (Eminem), and “Hey Ya” (Outkast). The Best New Artist nominees are rock group Evanescence, rapper 50 Cent, alt-pop group Fountains Of Wayne, R&B vocalist Heather Headley and dancehall DJ/artist Sean Paul. Finally, Song Of The Year nominees include songwriters Linda Perry for “Beautiful” (performed by Christina Aguilera); Richard Marx and Luther Vandross for “Dance With My Father”; Avril Lavigne and the Matrix (Lauren Christy, Graham Edwards and Scott Spock) for “I’m With You”; Jorge Calderón and Warren Zevon for “Keep Me In Your Heart”; and Jeff Bass, Marshall Mathers (aka Eminem) and Luis Resto for “Lose Yourself.
“The Rap Field featured many multiple nominees, including Missy Elliott, 50 Cent and Pharrell Williams, who is competing against himself in two categories (Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Rap Song). The Best Rap Song category is new for the 46th Annual GRAMMYs and includes nominated songwriters Calvin Broadus (aka Snoop Dogg), Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams for “Beautiful” (performed by Snoop Dogg Featuring Williams and Uncle Charlie Wilson); Shawn Carter (aka Jay-Z), Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams for “Excuse Me Miss” (performed by Jay-Z Featuring Williams); Mike Elizondo, Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent) and A. Young for “In Da Club” (performed by 50 Cent); Jeff Bass, Marshall Mathers and Luis Resto for “Lose Yourself” (performed by Eminem); and Missy Elliott and Tim Mosley for “Work It” (performed by Elliott). Best Rap Album nominees includes Missy Elliott (Under Construction), 50 Cent (Get Rich Or Die Tryin’), Jay-Z (The Blueprint 2 – The Gift & The Curse), Outkast (Speakerboxxx/The Love Below), and the Roots (Phrenology).
Beyoncé, Erykah Badu and Luther Vandross earned top nominations in the R&B Field. Best R&B Album nominations went to Erykah Badu (Worldwide Underground), Blu Cantrell (Bittersweet), Aretha Franklin (So Damn Happy), the Isley Brothers Featuring Ronald Isley aka Mr. Biggs (Body Kiss), and Luther Vandross (Dance With My Father). Nominations in the Best Contemporary R&B Album category were claimed by Ashanti for Chapter II, Beyoncé for Dangerously In Love, Mary J. Blige for Love and Life, Anthony Hamilton for Comin’ From Where I’m From, and R. Kelly for Chocolate Factory.
Audioslave, Evanescence, Foo Fighters, Nickelback, Train, and Jack White (the White Stripes) are among the artists who earned at least two nominations in the Rock Field. Best Rock Album nominees include Audioslave’s eponymous debut, Evanescence’s debut Fallen, Foo Fighters’ One By One, Matchbox Twenty’s More Than You Think You Are, and Nickelback’s The Long Road. Best Rock Song nods went to Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life” (David Hodges, Amy Lee and Ben Moody), Train’s “Calling All Angels” (Charlie Colin, Pat Monahan, Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood), Bruce Springsteen and Warren Zevon’s “Disorder In The House” (Jorge Calderón and Warren Zevon), the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” (Jack White), and Nickelback’s “Someday” (Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger, Ryan Peake and Ryan Vikedal). Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal nominations went to Foo Fighters, Radiohead, Train, the White Stripes, and Warren Zevon and Bruce Springsteen.
In the Pop Field, top noms included Christina Aguilera and the late George Harrison, who both earned three. Aguilera earned nods in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category for “Beautiful” (along with Kelly Clarkson for “Miss Independent,” Dido for “White Flag,” Avril Lavigne for “I’m With You,” and Sarah McLachlan for “Fallen”); Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for “Can’t Hold Us Down” with Lil’ Kim (along with an eclectic mix of nominees: Tony Bennett and k.d. lang for “La Vie En Rose,” Pink and William Orbit for “Feel Good Time,” Bob Dylan and Mavis Staples for “Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking,” and Sting and Mary J. Blige for “Whenever I Say Your Name”) and Best Pop Vocal Album for Stripped (along with George Harrison [Brainwashed], Annie Lennox [Bare], Michael McDonald [Motown], and Justin Timberlake [Justified]). In addition to the Best Pop Vocal Album nod, George Harrison also earned a nomination in the Best Pop Male Vocal Performance category for “Any Road” (along with Michael McDonald for “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” Sting for “Send Your Love,” Justin Timberlake for “Cry Me A River,” and Warren Zevon for “Keep Me In Your Heart”), and Best Pop Instrumental Performance for “Marwa Blues” (along with Ry Cooder and Manuel Galbán for “Patricia,” Dave Koz for “Honey-Dipped,” Randy Newman for “Seabiscuit,” and the Brian Setzer Orchestra for “The Nutcracker Suite”).
The late Rosemary Clooney’s work appears in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category twice — as an artist and in homage by another artist. Nominees include Clooney’s own The Last Concert album going head-to-head with Bette Midler’s Bette Midler Sings The Rosemary Clooney Songbook, as well as A Wonderful World by Tony Bennett and k.d. lang, As Time Goes By…The Great American Songbook: Volume II by Rod Stewart, and The Movie Album by Barbra Streisand.
In an interesting twist, former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton are both nominated in Spoken Word categories. Best Spoken Word Album For Children nominees include Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (Eric Idle), Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (Jim Dale), Prokofiev: Peter And The Wolf/Beintus: Wolf Tracks (Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev and Sophia Loren), Tell Me A Scary Story (Carl Reiner), and Winnie-The-Pooh (Jim Broadbent). The Best Spoken Word Album nods go to Fear Itself (Don Cheadle), Lies And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair And Balanced Look At The Right, (Al Franken), Living History (Hillary Rodham Clinton), The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection (Nikki Giovanni), and When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden (Bill Maher).
Among the nominees in the Country Field, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash both earned nominations posthumously and Willie Nelson earned multiple nods, competing against himself in two categories (Best Country Collaboration With Vocals and Best Country Album). Carter Cash’s recording “Keep On The Sunny Side” will vie for Best Female Country Vocal Performance along with Patty Loveless (“On Your Way Home”), Martina McBride (“This One’s For The Girls”), Dolly Parton (“I’m Gone”), and Shania Twain (“Forever And For Always”). In the Best Country Collaboration With Vocals category, Willie Nelson is nominated paired with Norah Jones on “Wurlitzer Prize (I Don’t Want To Get Over You)” and with Toby Keith on “Beer For My Horses,” which are both nominated along with June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash’s “Temptation,” Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet’s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” and James Taylor and Alison Krauss’ “How’s The World Treating You.” Nelson also is nominated twice in the Best Country Album category. Nominees include Faith Hill (Cry), Lyle Lovett (My Baby Don’t Tolerate), Willie Nelson and Ray Price (Run That One By Me One More Time), Willie Nelson (Live And Kickin’), Shania Twain (Up!), and a compilation album Livin’, Lovin’, Losin’ — Songs Of The Louvin Brothers.
In order to acknowledge the significant technical and creative contributions of production professionals, the Production Field was split into two separate fields for the 46th Annual GRAMMY Awards: Production, Non-Classical, and Production, Classical. In February, Nigel Godrich, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the Matrix (Lauren Christy, Graham Edwards and Scott Spock), the Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo), and Outkast (André “3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton) will vie for Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical. Nominees in the Producer Of The Year, Classical, category include Adam Abeshouse, Manfred Eicher, Steven Epstein, Marina A. Ledin and Victor Ledin, and Robina G. Young.
GRAMMY nominations ballots for the next round of voting will be mailed on Dec. 11 to the voting members of the Recording Academy. They are due back to the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche by January 7, 2004, when they will be tabulated and the results kept secret until the telecast.
