Grammy snubs and surprises: Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande shut out form major categories
With 84 Grammy Award categories, each year's list of nominations can be counted on to deliver a number of surprises for the music industry. This year, Kendrick Lamar leads the Grammy Awards nominations with eight nods for producing and curating the soundtrack for "Black Panther"; the track "All the Stars" by Lamar and SZA alone is up for four awards.
But the Recording Academy continued its fraught relationship with Jay-Z and Beyoncé by shutting out their joint album "Everything is Love" from major categories. Here are some other snubs and surprises from Friday's announcement.
Snub: Jay-Z and Beyoncé
Though Jay-Z was the most nominated artist at last year's Grammy Awards, with eight nods, he did not pick up a single trophy, prompting the rapper to perform the lyric "Tell the Grammys f**k that 0 for 8 s**t" on his track "APES**T." Jay-Z has voiced his discontent with the Recording Academy before. In 2017, his wife, Beyoncé received nine Grammy nominations, but when she only won best urban contemporary album and best music video, Adele asked during her acceptance speech, "What does Beyoncé have to do to win album of the year?"
This year, the Carters are up for three Grammys, but none of the big four categories (record of the year, album of the year, song of the year and best new artist).
Snub: Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift was also snubbed by the Recording Academy over her album "Reputation." Her latest album was only nominated for one award, best pop vocal album.
Snub: Kanye West
At least Kanye West and Taylor Swift won't be dueling at this year's Grammy Awards. Maybe they can even bond over the snubs. West, who has never won a Grammy in a major category, was also nominated for just one Grammy, for best non-classical producer. His album "Ye" did not receive any nods.
Snub: Ariana Grande
Grande, who has never won a Grammy, was only nominated for best pop vocal album for "Sweetener" and best pop solo performance for "God is a Woman." Even "No Tears Left to Cry," her response to the Manchester terror attack, picked up no nods.
Snub: Chris Stapleton
Genre darling Chris Stapleton generally sweeps major categories at different country music awards shows, but the singer-songwriter only received nominations in the Grammys' country categories. Instead, country singer Kacey Musgraves beat him to the punch with a nomination for album of the year.
Surprise: Brandi Carlile
Critics love Brandi Carlile, but the folk singer-songwriter is not exactly a household name. Yet, there she is, just behind Lamar and Drake's seven nominations, with six nods, including record of the year, album of the year and song of the year.
Surprise: Cardi B
It's not a surprise that Cardi B is up for Grammy Awards, but fans might be confused that she is not nominated for best new artist. That's because her two Grammy nods last year disqualify her from a best new artist award. It's doubtful that Cardi B is complaining, though, considering she is nominated for five awards, including record of the year and album of the year.