After winning an Oscar earlier this year, Jon Batiste now leads the nominations for the 2022 Grammy Awards – with Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, H.E.R and Doja Cat also in the running for several prizes.
Batiste’s nominations span several genres, including R&B, jazz, American roots music, classical and music video-film, and he is up for 11 in total – including the big prizes of album of the year for We Are and record of the year for Freedom.
Bieber, Doja Cat and H.E.R follow with eight nods, while Eilishand Rodrigo have seven each.
Mercury Prize and Brit Awards winnerArlo Parkscontinues her stellar year, flying the flag for the UK with nominations for best new artist and best alternative album for her debut, Collapsed In Sunbeams.
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After making their return earlier in 2021 with their first new music in almost 40 years, Swedish icons ABBAalso received a nod, for record of the year with comeback single I Still Have Faith In You.
For the top prize of album of the year, Batiste – who won the Oscar for best original score for the Disney and Pixar film Soul – faces competition from Bieber, Eilish, Doja Cat, H.E.R, West, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Rodrigo and Swift.
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The star, who was among the presenters announcing the nominees, tweeted a simple “11 !!!!!!!!!!!!” after the full list had been revealed.
“Oh my goodness! I’m still in a state of astonishment and shock,” he said moments after learning of the nominations.
“I’m just really happy that we were able to make something in complete artistic integrity and have it be recognised.”
Image: Rising British star Arlo Parks has been nominated for best new artist and best alternative album. Pic: Ivors Academy
Image: H.E.R, pictured at the Grammy Awards in 2020, is up for eight awards
In the record of the year category, this year’s nominees range from ages 18 to 95, with nonagenarian – and 18-time winner – Tony Bennett nominated alongside Lady Gaga for their version of I Get A Kick Out Of You, and Olivia Rodrigo, 18, in the running for her hit Drivers License.
Nominees for all the awards were chosen from nearly 22,000 eligible entries for music released between September 2020 and 2021.
Harvey Mason Jr, chief executive of the Recording Academy, which runs the awards, said: “This is an exciting day for music.
Image: Olivia Rodrigo, pictured performing at the American Music Awards earlier in November, is in the running for seven Grammys. Pic: AP Photo/Chris Pizzell
Image: Lady Gaga is nominated for her work with 95-year-old Tony Bennett. Pic: Christopher Polk/Invision for Westfield/AP Images
“These nominations beautifully reflect today’s broad and diverse musical landscape. I congratulate all of the nominees and everyone who submitted work. I’m also so proud of our voters. They voted in record numbers and brought their very best to evaluating the work of their peers, and I thank them on behalf of the entire music community.”
This year’s nominations come following the introduction of a new voting system, which allows the academy’s more than 11,000 members to vote for up to 10 categories in three genres; all voters can vote for the top four awards.
It replaces the anonymous nominations review committee – a group that determined the contenders for key awards.
Some had claimed committee members favoured projects based on personal relationships and promoted projects they favoured and worked on.
The Grammys, the biggest ceremony in the music industry calendar, will be awarded at a ceremony in Los Angeles on 31 January.
With 86 categories in total, there are a lot of awards to dish out. Here are the nominations in the some of the main categories.
Record Of The Year
I Still Have Faith In You – ABBA Freedom – Jon Batiste I Get A Kick Out Of You – Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga Peaches – Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon Right On Time – Brandi Carlile Kiss Me More – Doja Cat featuring SZA Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish Montero (Call Me By Your Name) – Lil Nas X Drivers License – Olivia Rodrigo Leave The Door Open – Silk Sonic
Image: ABBA made their comeback earlier in 2021. Pic: Baillie Walsh
Song Of The Year
Bad Habits – Ed Sheeran A Beautiful Noise – Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile Drivers License – Olivia Rodrigo Fight For You – H.E.R. Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish Kiss Me More – Doja Cat featuring SZA Leave The Door Open – Silk Sonic Montero (Call Me By Your Name) – Lil Nas X Peaches – Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon Right On Time – Brandi Carlile
Album Of The Year
We Are – Jon Batiste Love For Sale – Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) – Justin Bieber Planet Her (Deluxe) – Doja Cat Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish Back Of My Mind – H.E.R. Montero – Lil Nas X Sour – Olivia Rodrigo Evermore – Taylor Swift Donda – Kanye West
Best New Artist
Arooj Aftab Jimmie Allen Baby Keem FINNEAS Glass Animals Japanese Breakfast The Kid Laroi Arlo Parks Olivia Rodrigo Saweetie
Best Alternative Music Album Shore – Fleet Foxes If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power – Halsey Jubilee – Japanese Breakfast Collapsed In Sunbeams – Arlo Parks Daddy’s Home – St Vincent
Best Pop Vocal Album
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) – Justin Bieber Planet Her (Deluxe) – Doja Cat Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish Positions – Ariana Grande Sour – Olivia Rodrigo
Image: Ariana Grande pictured at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in 2020. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Best Progressive R&B Album New Light – Eric Bellinger Something To Say – Cory Henry Mood Valiant – Hiatus Kaiyote Table For Two – Lucky Daye Dinner Party: Dessert – Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder & Kamasi Washington Studying Abroad: Extended Stay – Masego
Best Jazz Vocal Album
Generations – The Baylor Project SuperBlue – Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter Time Traveler – Nnenna Freelon Flor – Gretchen Parlato Songwrights Apothecary Lab – Esperanza Spalding
Best Rap Album
The Off-Season – J Cole Certified Lover Boy – Drake King’s Disease II – Nas Call Me If You Get Lost – Tyler, The Creator Donda – Kanye West
Best Gospel Album
Changing Your Story – Jekalyn Carr Royalty: Live At The Ryman – Tasha Cobbs Leonard Jubilee: Juneteenth Edition – Maverick City Music Jonny x Mali: Live In LA – Jonathan McReynolds & Mali Music Believe For It – CeCe Winans
Best Latin Pop Album Vértigo – Pablo Alborán Mis Amores – Paula Arenas Hecho A La Antigua – Ricardo Arjona Mis Manos – Camilo Mendó – Alex Cuba Revelación – Selena Gomez
Best Música Urbana Album Afrodisíaco – Rauw Alejandro El Último Tour Del Mundo – Bad Bunny Jose – J Balvin KG0516 – KAROL G Sin Miedo (Del Amor Y Otros Demonios) 8 – Kali Uchis
Snoop Dogg has become a co-owner and investor of Swansea, with the US rapper hailing the Welsh football club as “an underdog that bites back, just like me”.
The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second tier, confirmed theUS rapper and producer plans to use his own money to invest in it, Sky Sports reports, although it didn’t disclose financial details.
“My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the music icon said in the announcement.
“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club.
“An underdog that bites back, just like me.
“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club.”
Swansea’s American owners, led by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, are trying to grow the Championship club’s global brand and increase commercial revenue.
Snoop Dogg, 53, who has 89m followers on Instagram and more than 20m on X, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend.
The club ownership group said: “To borrow a phrase from Snoop’s back catalogue, this announcement is the next episode for Swansea City as we seek to create new opportunities to boost the club’s reach and profile.”
Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April.
Police are taking no further action over Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.
Officers said they had investigated “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance” at the festival on 28 June.
However, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, they decided there is not enough evidence “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
It said they were looking at a possible public order incident.
Police said on Friday that the investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance was ongoing.
The London duo were widely criticised – and caused a BBC crisis – after leading on-stage chants of “death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).
Image: Kneecap’s Liam Og O Hannaidh appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June. Pic: PA
Kneecap posted a photograph on Instagram, which the group said was an email from police announcing the case was being dropped.
They said their packed Glastonbury gig was a “celebration of love and solidarity” and reporting used “wildly misleading headlines”.
Fears over what Kneecap might do or say during the performance had prompted the BBC not to show it live.
The group said: “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close… yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”
“There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts,” they added.
The police statement on Friday said they had informed Kneecap of their decision to drop the case.
A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.
Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.
Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.
Image: The fire gutted the main stage
Image: Fire crews attempt to bring the blaze under control
The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.
It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.
Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.
Image: Black smoke could be seen rising into the sky
The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.
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The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.
Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.
“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”
Image: Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told reporters ‘a lot of people are devastated’
Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.