Alicia Keys reveals nominees for Grammy Awards 2016
R&B star Alicia Keys made an exclusive appearance on "CBS This Morning" on Monday to kick off the nominations for the Grammy Awards in 2016.
Perhaps this year's biggest surprise is that Taylor Swift, who had the most American Music Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards nominations, was finally knocked off her throne by rapper/songwriter Kendrick Lamar, who was nominated for 11 awards. Swift and The Weeknd tied in second place with seven nominations each.
Before Keys announced the nominees for four major categories, she talked about her first experience at the Grammy Awards in 2002, when she won Best New Artist, among several others.
"First, I was very sick so that was a strange feeling," the singer-songwriter told "CBS This Morning." "At the time I had never been in a room with those types of people in one place. It was very incredible."
While she was on the topic, Keys opened the nominations by announcing the nominees for Best New Artist.
"That's a good category," said co-anchor Gayle King, after pointing out that Sam Hunt and Meghan Trainor were on the list.
"James Bay is though, too," responded Keys, perhaps revealing her top pick. Later, she said that Song of the Year is her favorite category.
"As a songwriter I think that songwriting is one of the most incredible things," said Keys. "How it's written makes us listen for years."
Speaking of songwriting, Keys revealed that she is working on a new album, but kept mum on the details other than saying, "It's coming very soon."
Keys, who has 15 official Grammy Awards, revealed a little-known fact: The star also has a 16th secret Grammy. She told "CBS This Morning" that the year she was nominated for "If I Ain't Got You," John Mayer won for "Daughters," and Mayer told Keys she deserved the award. How much did Mayer mean this? Enough that he ripped off the top engraving from his own Song of the Year award and wrote in Sharpie, "If I Ain't Got You, Alicia Keys 2004."
This year's nominees included plenty of relative newcomers, like Chris Stapleton, who took the 2015 Country Music Awards by storm, and Charlie Puth, who left everyone watching the American Music Awards wondering who the young singer kissing Meghan Trainor was.
Here are the nominees for some of the Grammy Awards' biggest categories. Click here to see the complete list. The Grammys will air on CBS at 8 p.m. on Feb. 15, 2016.
Best New Artist:
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor
Record of the Year:
"Really Love," D'Angelo and The Vanguard
"Uptown Funk," Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
"Thinking Out Loud," Ed Sheeran
"Blank Space," Taylor Swift
"Can't Feel My Face," The Weeknd
Song of the Year (songwriter's award):
"Alright," Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears and Pharrell Williams
"Blank Space," Max Martin, Shellback and Taylor Swift
"Girl Crush," Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose
"See You Again," Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth and Cameron Thomaz
"Thinking Out Loud," Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge
Album of the Year:
"Sound & Color," Alabama Shakes
"To Pimp a Butterfly," Kendrick Lamar
"Traveller," Chris Stapleton
"1989," Taylor Swift
"Beauty Behind the Madness," The Weeknd
Best Pop Solo Performance:
"Heartbeat Song," Kelly Clarkson
"Love Me Like You Do," Ellie Goulding
"Thinking Out Loud," Ed Sheeran
"Blank Space," Taylor Swift
"Can't Feel My Face," The Weeknd
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
"Ship to Wreck," Florence + The Machine
"Sugar," Maroon 5
"Uptown Funk," Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
"Bad Blood," Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar
"See You Again," Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth
Best Pop Vocal Album:
"Piece by Piece," Kelly Clarkson
"How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful," Florence + The Machine
"Uptown Special," Mark Ronson
"1989," Taylor Swift
Best Rock Album:
"Chaos and the Calm," James Bay
"Kintsugi," Death Cab for Cutie
"Mister Asylum," Highly Suspect
"Drones," Muse
".5: The Gray Chapter," Slipknot
Best Alternative Music Album:
"Sound & Color," Alabama Shakes
"Vulnicura," Bjork
"The Waterfall," My Morning Jacket
"Currents," Tame Impala
"Star Wars," Wilco
Best Urban Contemporary Album:
"Ego Death," The Internet
"You Should Be Here," Kehlani
"Blood," Lianne La Havas
"Wildheart," Miguel
"Beauty Behind the Madness," The Weeknd
Best R&B Album:
"Coming Home," Leon Bridges
"Black Messiah," D'Angelo and The Vanguard
"Cheers to the Fall," Andra Day
"Reality Show," Jazmine Sullivan
"Forever Charlie," Charlie Wilson
Best rap album:
"2014 Forest Hills Drive," J. Cole
"Compton," Dr. Dre
"If You're Reading This It's Too Late," Drake
"To Pimp a Butterfly," Kendrick Lamar
"The Pinkprint," Nicki Minaj
Best country album:
"Montevallo," Sam Hunt
"Pain Killer," Little Big Town
"The Blade," Ashley Monroe
"Pageant Material," Kacey Musgraves
"Traveller," Chris Stapleton