Lil Nas X, Brandi Carlile, Lady Gaga Lead The Queer Contingent At Grammys
LGBTQI recording artists scored big as the nominations were read for the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.
Harvey Mason, the CEO of the Recording Academy said the 2022 Grammys would be “embracing the spirit of inclusion,” and the multiple nominations for queer artists underlined that promise.
Lil Nas X Scores Five Nominations
Lil Nas X continues to ride a massive tidal wave of success with his album Montero with its lead single Montero (Call Me By Your Name), capturing five Grammy nominations. Three of those nominations landed in the ‘Grammy Big Four’ categories, Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Lil Nas X, who has previously been nominated for six Grammys and won two, was also nominated for Best Music Video and landed his final nomination for Best Melodic Rap Performance for Industry Baby, a collaboration with Jack Harlow.
“Don’t have to win a single award, truly thankful for all the insight this year has brought me. and thankful for the journey. love u guys,” Lil Nas X tweeted.
‘A 40-Year-Old Crooning Lesbian Mother’
Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, who has previously won six Grammys, also captured five nominations. Her song Right on Time, landed nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance (despite having been submitted in the American Roots category).
Carlile, who is out lesbian, was also nominated for a second time in the Song of the Year category for her collaboration with Alicia Keys, A Beautiful Noise. Carlile’s final nomination came for Best American Roots Performance for her collaboration with Brandy Clark on Same Devil.
“Americana/American Roots music is more than a genre to me. It represents my community, my family, my friends and my beautiful island of misfits. I am also proud that it represents a great number of people actively WORKING to platform marginalized people – LGBTQIA, women, and people of color (who, of course, actually built the genre),” wrote Carlile on Instagram.
“While I’m incredibly flattered to be considered ‘pop’, as a 40-year-old crooning lesbian mother, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit surprised and disappointed to learn the Recording Academy decided to move Right On Time out of the American Roots genre and into the pop category. Being recognized by the Grammys — in any form — is a great honor. I just want folks to know this wasn’t my decision. Regardless, it doesn’t change who I am or what my Americana community continues to mean to me,” Carlile said.
The Osborne Brother
The Brothers Osborne picked up two nominations; one for Best Country/Duo Group Performance for their song Younger Me, and another for Best Country Album for Skeletons.
T.J. Osborne, one-half of the country music duo, recently made headlines when he kissed his boyfriend Abi Ventura, after Brothers Osborne won Best Vocal Duo at the Country Music Association Awards. The couple have since made their relationship ‘Instagram Official’, posting a picture together on an Instagram story posted to Osborne’s account.
Younger Me was inspired by T.J. Osborne’s experiences of coming to terms with his sexuality.
The duo performed the song at the recent CMA Awards and T.J. told AP that, “The fact that we get to play a song that is so meaningful, particularly to myself, at a country music award show, it’s one of those things that just kind of transcends the awards itself, money itself, fame.”
The Queer Grammys
The Best Alternative Music Album category includes a number of LGBTQI artists, including Halsey (If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power), Arlo Parks (Collapsed in Sunbeams), St. Vincent (Daddy’s Home) and Japanese Breakfast (Jubilee).
Parks, who is bisexual, expressed her appreciation for her nomination on Instagram, saying simply, “tears tears tears, thank you thank you thank you.”
St. Vincent celebrated her nomination on Instagram, writing, “Hey! Thank you for the Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Tentacles. Sorry, Best Alternative Album(!) for Daddy’s Home. In the words of a very wise man, ‘it’s an honor just to be nominated — until you lose.’ Love all the people who worked on this record with me. This time I’ll wear a dress that fully covers my lady modesty.”
Japanese Breakfast, the indie rock bank fronted by Michelle Zauner, who identifies as bisexual, also secured a nod for Best New Artist, along with queer Pakistani singer and composer Arooj Aftab.
“I was a little bit different from the rest,” Aftab told Pitchfork in a recent interview, about growing up queer in Pakistan. “Being queer was a thing—everybody else was just so straight by default.”
“2X GRAMMY NOMS I was screaming at the tv on BEST GLOBAL PERFORMANCE … and then BEST NEW ARTIST brought me to tears man.@recording academy this is a moment for me for sure… This recognition feels so good, I don’t even know what else to say. THANK YOU and god bless. The contenders in both categories are fierce, but let’s bring these gold gramophones home!!” Aftab wrote on Instagram.
Love For Sale
Other LGBTQI fan favourites receiving nominations included Lady Gaga who raked in five nominations, along with Tony Bennett for their collaborative album Love for Sale, a tribute to the songs of Cole Porter.
The duo received nominations for Album of the Year, and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, while the single I Get a Kick Out of You, was nominated for Record of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, and Best Music Video.
“I am stunned and shocked and beyond grateful,” wrote Lady Gaga on Instagram. “I don’t know what to say. I just keep crying and am utterly speechless. This means so much to me, @itstonybennett, the Bennetts, my family, jazz music, and the great Cole Porter who wrote all these timeless classics. I’ll never forget today and congratulating Tony on his 6 nominations…Thank you to all the Grammy voters for recognizing me and Tony’s dedication to jazz music and for also recognizing it in major categories where this music is often not nominated.”
Dolly Patron, ABBA Return To The Grammys
The legendary Dolly Parton scored a nomination in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category for her album A Holly Dolly Christmas, and ABBA, who made a triumphant return to the top of the charts with their first album in 40 years, earned their first ever Grammy nomination for Record of the Year for the lead single from Voyage, I Still Have Faith In You.
GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis celebrated the nominations, saying in a statement, “The vast inclusion of LGBTQ artists amongst this year’s Grammy nominees – including Lil Nas X, Brandi Carlile, Lady Gaga, and many others – highlights not only a growing shift in cultural acceptance, but also the dominant impact that LGBTQ artists are making across the music industry.”
“With 5 total nominations, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year, Lil Nas X continues to open doors for greater LGBTQ inclusion in rap and hip-hop, which will undoubtedly inspire and empower a new generation of artists to embrace their authenticity and individuality,” Ellis said.
The Grammy Awards will be presented on Monday, January 31, 2022.