By Mesfin Fedakdu, Music Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The Grammy Awards are sipping all of Beyonce’s lemonade.
The pop star leads the 2017 Grammys with nine nominations, including bids for album of the year with “Lemonade,” and song and record of the year with “Formation.” The singer, who already has 20 Grammys and is the most nominated woman in Grammy history with 62 nods over the course of her career, is also the first artist to earn nominations in the pop, rock, R&B and rap categories in the same year.
Behind Beyonce are Drake, Rihanna and Kanye West, who scored eight nominations each.
Like Beyonce, Adele is also nominated for album, record and song of the year. For album of the year, “Lemonade” and “25” – which has sold 10 million copies in a year – will compete against Drake’s multi-hit “Views,” Justin Bieber’s redemption album “Purpose” and surprise nominee “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” the third album from respected and rebellious country singer Sturgill Simpson.
Beyonce’s “Formation” and Adele’s “Hello” are up against Rihanna and Drake’s “Work,” twenty one pilots’ “Stressed Out” and Lukas Graham’s “7 Years” for record of the year. “7 Years” is also up for song of the year – a songwriter’s award – battling Bieber’s “Love Yourself,” co-written with Ed Sheeran, Mike Posner’s “I Took a Pill In Ibiza,” as well as Beyonce and Adele’s songs.
Beyonce’s nine nominations include best rock performance (“Don’t Hurt Yourself” with Jack White), pop solo performance (“Hold Up”), rap/sung performance (“Freedom” with Kendrick Lamar) and urban contemporary album (“Lemonade”).
“Artists are feeling emboldened and courageous and just wanting to step out of the predictable boundaries of what they have done. Of course, (Beyonce) is the poster child for that,” Recording Academy CEO and President Neil Portnow said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Adele, who has five nominations, is up for best pop vocal album (“25”) and pop solo performance (“Hello.”) The Grammys will be presented in Los Angeles on Feb. 12, 2017.
David Bowie, who died from cancer in January, earned four nominations for his final album “Blackstar,” including best rock performance, rock song, alternative music album and engineered album, non-classical.
“I think this is beyond sort of the sympathy vote, because sometimes you’ll see those kinds of things happen just ‘cause people feel sorry about it. But listen to (his) album – it’s quite extraordinary,” Portnow said of Bowie.
This year the Recording Academy allowed streaming-only recordings – released on paid-subscription platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal but not for sale on iTunes – to be eligible for nominations, giving Chance the Rapper a fair chance. The breakout performer scored seven nominations including best new artist, pitting him against country singers Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini; singer-rapper Anderson Paak; and pop-EDM duo the Chainsmokers, whose recent hits include “Closer” and “Don’t Let Me Down.”
Chance the Rapper earned three nominations for best rap song: His hit, “No Problem,” is nominated, and he has writing credit on the Kanye West songs “Famous” and “Ultralight Beam.” West will compete with himself in three categories: best rap song, rap performance and rap/sung performance.
Chance’s “Coloring Book” and West’s “The Life of Pablo” are nominated for best rap album along with Drake’s “Views,” De La Soul’s “And the Anonymous Nobody,” DJ Khaled’s “Major Key” and Schoolboy Q’s “Blank Face LP.”
Simpson, who had been nominated for best Americana album at the 2015 Grammys, also sees his nine-track album nominated for best country album. Simpson was in a bit of controversy this year when he posted on Facebook that the Academy of Country Music Awards should not have created an award named after Merle Haggard when he felt they never showed true love to the country outlaw, who died this year. He closed his long post saying: “(Expletive) this town. I’m moving.”
Simpson’s album is up against Loretta Lynn’s “Full Circle,” Keith Urban’s “Ripcord,” Morris’ “Hero” and Brandy Clark’s “Big Day In a Small Town.”
Lori McKenna, who won a Grammy this year for co-writing Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush,” is nominated for best country song for penning Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind.” She also scored nominations for best Americana album, American Roots performance and American Roots song for her own work.
Acts tying McKenna and Bowie for four nominations include Bieber, Morris, Kirk Franklin, engineer Tom Coyne, and producer-songwriters Max Martin, Greg Kurstin, Benny Blanco and Mike Dean. Tyler Joseph, the lead vocalist of twenty one pilots and the duo’s main songwriter, scored five nominations for “Stressed Out” (record of the year, pop duo/group performance) and “Heathens” (best rock song, rock performance and song written for visual media); twenty one pilots, which includes drummer Josh Dun, earned three nods.
Some well-known acts scored their first Grammy nominations Tuesday, including Solange, Blink-182 and Demi Lovato, who will compete against Adele, Bieber, Sia and Ariana Grande for best pop vocal album.
Amy Schumer earned two nominations, including best spoken word album and comedy album. Deceased nominees include Joey Feek of the duo Joey + Rory (best gospel roots album for “Hymns”).
About 13,000 Recording Academy members voted in the 84 Grammy categories from 22,000 submissions. Songs and albums released from Oct. 1, 2015 through Sept. 30 were eligible for nomination.
Here’s a list of nominees in the top categories at the 59th annual Grammy Awards:
— Album of the year: “25,” Adele; “Lemonade,” Beyonce; “Purpose,” Justin Bieber; “Views,” Drake; “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” Sturgill Simpson.
— Record of the year: “Hello,” Adele; “Formation,” Beyonce; “7 Years,” Lukas Graham; “Work,” Rihanna featuring Drake; “Stressed Out,” twenty one pilots.
— Song of the year (songwriter’s award): “Formation,” Beyonce, Khalif Brown, Asheton Hogan and Michael L. Williams II; “Hello,” Adele and Greg Kurstin; “I Took a Pill In Ibiza,” Mike Posner; “Love Yourself,” Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran and Benjamin Levin; “7 Years,” Lukas Forchhammer, Stefan Forrest, Morten Pilegaard and Morten Ristorp.
— Best new artist: Kelsea Ballerini; The Chainsmokers; Chance the Rapper; Maren Morris; Anderson Paak.
— Best pop solo performance: “Hello,” Adele; “Hold Up,” Beyonce; “Love Yourself,” Justin Bieber; “Piece by Piece (Idol Version),” Kelly Clarkson; “Dangerous Woman,” Ariana Grande.
— Best pop duo/group performance: “Closer,” The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey; “7 Years,” Lukas Graham; “Work,” Rihanna featuring Drake; “Cheap Thrills,” Sia featuring Sean Paul; “Stressed Out,” twenty one pilots.
— Best traditional pop vocal album: “Cinema,” Andrea Bocelli; “Fallen Angels,” Bob Dylan; “Stages Live,” Josh Groban; “Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin,” Willie Nelson; “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway,” Barbra Streisand.
— Best pop vocal album: “25,” Adele; “Purpose,” Justin Bieber; “Dangerous Woman,” Ariana Grande; “Confident,” Demi Lovato; “This Is Acting,” Sia.
— Best dance/electronic album: “Skin,” Flume; “Electronica 1: The Time Machine,” Jean-Michel Jarre; “Epoch,” Tycho; “Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future,” Underworld; “Louie Vega Starring…XXVIII,” Louie Vega.
— Best rock album: “California,” Blink-182; “Tell Me I’m Pretty,” Cage the Elephant; “Magma,” Gojira; “Death of a Bachelor,” Panic! at the Disco; “Weezer,” Weezer.
— Best alternative music album: “22, A Million,” Bon Iver; “Blackstar,” David Bowie; “The Hope Six Demolition Project,” PJ Harvey; “Post Pop Depression,” Iggy Pop; “A Moon Shaped Pool,” Radiohead.
— Best urban contemporary album: “Lemonade,” Beyonce; “Ology,” Gallant; “We Are King,” KING; “Malibu,” Anderson Paak; “Anti,” Rihanna.
— Best R&B album: “In My Mind,” BJ the Chicago Kid; “Lalah Hathaway Live,” Lalah Hathaway; “Velvet Portraits,” Terrace Martin; “Healing Season,” Mint Condition; “Smoove Jones,” Mya.
— Best rap album: “Coloring Book,” Chance the Rapper; “And the Anonymous Nobody,” De La Soul; “Major Key,” DJ Khaled; “Views,” Drake; “Blank Face LP,” ScHoolboy Q; “The Life of Pablo,” Kanye West.
— Best country album: “Big Day In A Small Town,” Brandy Clark; “Full Circle,” Loretta Lynn; “Hero,” Maren Morris; “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” Sturgill Simpson; “Ripcord,” Keith Urban.
— Best jazz vocal album: “Sound of Red,” Rene Marie; “Upward Spiral,” Branford Marsalis Quartet With Special Guest Kurt Elling; “Take Me to the Alley,” Gregory Porter; “Harlem On My Mind,” Catherine Russell; “The Sting Variations,” The Tierney Sutton Band.
— Best jazz instrumental album: “Book of Intuition,” Kenny Barron Trio; “Dr. Um,” Peter Erskine; “Sunday Night at the Vanguard,” The Fred Hersch Trio; “Nearness,” Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau; “Country for Old Men,” John Scofield.
— Best compilation soundtrack for visual media: “Amy”; “Miles Ahead”; “Straight Outta Compton”; “Suicide Squad (Collector’s Edition)”; “Vinyl: The Essentials Season 1.”
— Producer of the year, non-classical: Benny Blanco; Greg Kurstin; Max Martin; Nineteen85; Ricky Reed.
— Best music video: “Formation,” Beyonce; “River,” Leon Bridges; “Up&Up,” Coldplay; “Gosh,” Jamie xx; “Upside Down & Inside Out,” OK Go.
— Best music film: “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead,” Steve Aoki; “The Beatles: Eight Days A Week The Touring Years,” The Beatles; “Lemonade,” Beyonce; “The Music of Strangers,” Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble; “American Saturday Night: Live from the Grand Ole Opry,” Various artists.
Review: Writer-Directors Scott Beck and Bryan Wood’s “Heretic”
"Heretic" opens with an unusual table setter: Two young missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are discussing condoms and why some are labeled as large even though they're all pretty much a standard size. "What else do we believe because of marketing?" one asks the other.
That line will echo through the movie, a stimulating discussion of religion that emerges from a horror movie wrapper. Despite a second-half slide and feeling unbalanced, this is the rare movie that combines lots of squirting blood and elevated discussion of the ancient Egyptian god Horus.
Our two church members — played fiercely by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East — are wandering around trying to covert souls when they knock on the door of a sweet-looking cottage. Its owner, Mr. Reed, offers a hearty "Good afternoon!" He welcomes them in, brings them drinks and promises a blueberry pie. He's also interested in learning more about the church. So far, so good.
Mr. Reed is, of course, if you've seen the poster, the baddie and he's played by Hugh Grant, who doesn't go the snarling, dead-eyed Hannibal Lecter route in "Heretic." Grant is the slightly bumbling, bashful and self-mocking character we fell in love with in "Four Weddings and a Funeral," but with a smear of menace. He gradually reveals that he actually knows quite a bit about the Mormon religion — and all religions.
"It's good to be religious," he says jauntily and promises his wife will join them soon, a requirement for the church. Homey touches in his home include a framed "Bless This Mess" needlepoint on a wall, but there are also oddities, like his lights are on a timer and there's metal in the walls and ceilings.
Writer-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Wood — who also... Read More