It’s the biggest night in music, with stars from all over the world vying for a prestigious Grammy award to boost their reputation and musical credentials.
Hosted by former host of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah, for the third time on the trot, Sunday’s ceremony will take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
So, who will be the big winner of the night? How will our British stars fare? And what kind of buzz can we expect around the show? Here’s what to look out for at the 65th annual Grammy Awards.
Beyonce making history
Leading the nominations, Beyonce is on the cusp of becoming the most decorated artist in Grammy history.
Already the show’s most awarded woman with 28 wins, if she bags just four of the nine categories she’s nominated in, she’ll break the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti’s record of 31 Grammys.
Beyonce’s is already tied with husband Jay-Z for the title of most nominated artist of all time.
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Queen Bey‘s game has been strong leading up to the awards, performing her first live gig in four years in Dubai and a two-night event in Los Angeles last month, all promoting her seventh album – Renaissance – which is up for album of the year.
Beyonce will also come up against Adele in the category again this year, with the British star using her acceptance speech for her 2017 album of the year win, to heap praise on Beyonce.
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Many – including Adele herself – said the US artist should have taken the prize for her surprise album Lemonade – loved by fans and critics alike. This year’s rematch is likely to make good viewing, as well as fostering plenty of headlines.
As well as album of the year for Renaissance, Beyoncé’s also up for record of the year, song of the year, and best dance/electronic recording for Break My Soul, best dance/electronic music album, best R&B performance for Virgo’s Groove, best traditional R&B performance for Plastic Off The Sofa, best R&B song for Cuff It, and best song written for visual media for Be Alive (from King Richard).
British stars winning big
British stars Harry Styles and Adele are among the frontrunners for the awards and shortlisted against Beyonce in three of the ceremony’s biggest prizes – album of the year (see above), song of the year, and record of the year.
After a spell away from the spotlight, Adele burst back onto the scene in 2021 with her fourth album 30, topping both the UK and US charts.
The 41-year-old powerhouse is also nominated for best pop solo performance for break-up ballad Easy On Me, best pop vocal album, best music video, and best music film, for Adele: One Night Only – which marked the singer’s comeback with an interview by Oprah Winfrey and a concert performance at the Griffith Observatory.
Styles has six Grammy nominations, following a standout year which saw him topping the charts with his third album Harry’s House and shortlisted for the prestigious Mercury Prize award.
Aside from his musical prowess, he also appeared in two movies, Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman.
In addition to the three big prizes of the night, Styles is also up for best pop solo performance, best pop vocal album and best music video. His pop rock fan pleaser As It Was is tipped to nab at least one prize.
Upcoming British indie rock duo Wet Leg – who count Iggy Pop and Barack Obama among their fans – also scored three nominations, including prestigious, best new artist.
Veteran rock band Coldplay are up for three awards, album of the year, best pop vocal album and best pop duo / group performance.
Kendrick Lamar taking centre stage
Rapper Kendrick Lamar is the second front-runner in the nominations stakes after Beyonce, up for eight awards.
The 35-year-old will come up against heavyweights Beyonce, Styles, Adele and Lizzo in the album of the year, song of the year, and record of the year categories.
Headlining at Glastonbury last year, he earned rave reviews and was labelled one of the most gifted rappers of his generation.
But while he has 14 Grammy wins to his name, he’s been snubbed for album of the year three times. He’ll be hoping his fifth album could break the pattern, but he’s clearly got stiff competition – particularly in the form of Grammy Queen Beyoncé.
Likely to win best rap performance for The Heart Part 5 (he’s racked up five wins in this category over the last eight years), Lamar’s also up for best melodic rap performance for Die Hard, best rap song, best rap album for Mr Morale & The Big Steppers and best music video.
Big name presenters and live performances
As well as some of the biggest stars of the music world, there’s also a diverse line-up of famous faces dishing out the awards.
James Corden, Cardi B and US first lady Jill Biden are among the presenters, with comedian Trevor Noah on hosting duties for the star-studded night.
Hollywood stars Viola Davis, Dwayne Johnson and Billy Crystal will also present awards as well as five-time Grammy winner Shania Twain and three-time winner Olivia Rodrigo.
Davis is also nominated in the best audiobook, narration, and storytelling recording category for her recent memoir Finding Me, while Crystal is among the best musical theatre album nominees alongside the cast of the stage musical Mr Saturday Night.
Confirmed live performances on the night include Harry Styles, Lizzo, Sam Smith and Kim Petras, Bad Bunny, Mary J Blige, Brandi Carlile, Luke Combs and Steve Lacy.
There will also be a special celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop’s beginnings featuring some of the genres biggest names and co-curated by Roots musician Questlove.
New categories
This year, in a bid to branch out, the Grammys have introduced five new categories – taking prizes given out on the night to a whopping 91.
Songwriters will get their own standalone category – songwriter of the year – and alternative and Americana music will also be celebrated with two new awards.
Post-pandemic, with the video game market booming and forecast to be worth $219bn (£180bn) by 2024, a brand-new category has been introduced to reflect the success of gaming and gaming-related music – best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media.
And songs that do good will get a nod in the new special merit award – best song for social change – based on lyrical content that addresses a timely social issue.
Meanwhile best new age album has been expanded to best new age, ambient or chant, and the classical and musical theatre fields have also been opened up to make more musical creatives eligible to win a Grammy.
Main category nominees:
Album Of The Year
Voyage – ABBA
30 – Adele
Un Verano Sin Ti – Bad Bunny
Renaissance – Beyonce
Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe) – Mary J Blige
In These Silent Days – Brandi Carlile
Music of the Spheres – Coldplay
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – Kendrick Lamar
Special – Lizzo
Harry’s House – Harry Styles
Record Of The Year
Don’t Shut Me Down – ABBA
Easy on Me – Adele
Break My Soul – Beyoncé
Good Morning Gorgeous – Mary J. Blige
You and Me On The Rock – Brandi Carlile featuring Lucius
Woman – Doja Cat
Bad Habit – Steve Lacy
The Heart Part 5 – Kendrick Lamar
About Damn Time – Lizzo
As It Was – Harry Styles
Song Of The Year (songwriter’s award)
abcdefu – Sara Davis, GAYLE and Dave Pittenger
About Damn Time – Lizzo, Eric Frederic, Blake Slatkin and Theron Makiel Thomas
All Too Well (10 Minute Version – The Short Film) – Liz Rose and Taylor Swift
As It Was – Tyler Johnson, Kid Harpoon and Harry Styles
Bad Habit – Matthew Castellanos, Brittany Foushee, Diana Gordon, John Carroll Kirby and Steve Lacy
Break My Soul – Beyonce, S Carter, Terius The Dream Gesteelde-Diamant and Christopher A Stewart
Easy On Me – Adele Adkins and Greg Kurstin
God Did – Tarik Azzouz, E Blackmon, Khaled Khaled, F LeBlanc, Jay-Z, John Stephens, Dwayne Carter, William Roberts and Nicholas Warwar
The Heart Part 5 – Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, Kendrick Lamar and Matt Schaeffer
BBC presenter Lauren Laverne has said she has been given the “all clear” after being diagnosed with cancer.
The 46-year-old said in a post on social media that she will return to work next week on The One Show and has been working on new episodes of BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.
She said she is set to also return to her 6 Music show in the new year.
She has not specified what type of cancer she had.
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Thanking medical staff, friends and all those who sent her get well wishes, Laverne said on Sunday she would most like to thank her husband Graeme and her two children, who she said have been “absolutely extraordinary throughout”.
“It’s been a difficult time but one that has taught me so much about what really matters,” she wrote.
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“I can’t say I suddenly regretted never having hiked the Inca Trail, more that I now see more beauty in ordinary things than I could have imagined, and feel more than ever that the small things in life – the connections we make and care we take with each other – are the big things really.”
A new episode of Desert Island Discs is due to air on 1 December, and will be a pre-recorded interview with comedian Mark Steel that is believed to have been done by Laverne before she went on leave.
She will return to record more episodes as well as Christmas editions of the series over the next few weeks.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “We’re delighted to welcome Lauren back to the studio this month for The One Show and Desert Island Discs, with new episodes airing on Radio 4 from 1 December, and we look forward to welcoming Lauren back to BBC Radio 6 Music in the new year.”
Zayn Malik paid tribute to former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne as he kicked off his solo tour.
Payne died last month of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage” after falling from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires, according to a post-mortem.
Images from Leeds’s O2 Academy on Saturday showed Malik – who delayed his Stairway To The Sky tour due to Payne’s funeral on Wednesday – shared a tribute.
A message was displayed with a heart on a large blue screen behind the singer reading: “Liam Payne 1993-2024. Love you bro.”
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Rapper Ye – formerly known as Kanye West – has been accused of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit that alleges he strangled a model on the set of a music video.
Warning: This story contains details that readers may find distressing
The lawsuit alleges the musician shoved his fingers in the claimant’s mouth at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City in 2010, in what it refers to as “pornographic gagging”, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported.
The model who brought the case – which was filed on Friday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York – was a background actor for another musician’s music video that Ye was guest-starring in, NBC said, citing the lawsuit.
She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages against the 47-year-old.
A representative for Ye was approached for comment by NBC News on Saturday.
The New York City Police Department said it took “sexual assault and rape cases extremely seriously, and urges anyone who has been a victim to file a police report so we can perform a comprehensive investigation, and offer support and services to survivors”.
The lawsuit alleges that a few hours into the shoot, the rapper arrived on set, took over control and ordered “female background actors/models, including the claimant, to line up in the hallway”.
The rapper is then believed to have “evaluated their appearances, pointed to two of the women, and then commanded them to follow him”.
The lawsuit adds the claimant, who was said to be wearing “revealing lingerie”, was uncomfortable but went with Ye to a suite which had a sofa and a camera.
When in the room, Ye is said to have ordered the production team to start playing the music, to which he did not know his lyrics and instead rambled, “rawr, rawr, rawr”.
The lawsuit claims: “Defendant West then pulled two chairs near the camera, positioned them across from each other, and instructed the claimant to sit in the chair in front of the camera.”
While stood over the model, the lawsuit clams Ye strangled her with both hands, according to NBC.
It claims he went on to “emulate forced oral sex” with his hands, with the rapper allegedly screaming: “This is art. This is f****** art. I am like Picasso.”
Universal Music Group is also named in the lawsuit as a defendant and is accused of failing to investigate the incident.
The corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment by NBC.
Jesse S Weinstein, a lawyer representing the claimant, said the woman “displayed great courage to speak out against some of the most powerful men and entities within the entertainment industry”.