Harry Styles and Adele among big Grammy 2023 nominees – as Beyonce sets record with husband Jay-Z
British stars Harry Styles and Adele are among the frontrunners for the 2023 Grammy Awards, shortlisted for the night’s biggest awards alongside Lizzo, Kendrick Lamar and Beyonce – who is now tied with husband Jay-Z for the title of most nominated artist of all time.
Beyonce leads the nominations with nine, taking her career total to 88 – now the same as her rapper husband, who earned five this year for his writing efforts on DJ Khaled’s song God Did, as well as his work on his wife’s album Renaissance and single Break My Soul.
She is up against Styles, Adele, Lamar and Lizzo in the album of the year, song of the year, and record of the year categories, three of the Grammy ceremony’s biggest prizes.
Kendrick Lamar headlined Glastonbury earlier this year. Pic: AP Photo/Scott Garfitt
The most decorated woman in the show’s history with 28 wins, Beyonce could break the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti’s record for most awards won if she takes home four gongs next year. Solti, with 31 Grammys, has held the record since 1997.
The nominations put her up against Adele once again – the British star won album of the year in 2017, but said on stage that the award should have gone to the US artists Lemonade.
Following her return to the spotlight in 2021 with fourth album 30, which topped both the UK and US charts, Adele was also nominated in categories including best pop vocal album, 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.
Meanwhile, Styles continued a standout year which saw him nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize; chart-topping third album Harry’s House scored a nod for best pop vocal album and best non-engineered album (non-classical), while the hit track As It Was received nominations for best pop solo performance, song of the year, best music video, and record of the year.
With 91 categories celebrating genres from rock and rap to country and comedy in 2023, Lamar is the second front-runner with eight nods, while Adele and Brandi Carlile have seven, and Styles joins other artists including Mary J Blige and DJ Khaled with six.
Wet Leg – Barack Obama is also a fan: Pic: Hollie Fernando
Upcoming British indie rock duo Wet Leg – who were also shortlisted for the Mercury Prize earlier this year, and tipped by Barack Obama, no less – also scored a nomination in one of the big categories, best new artist, alongside Eurovision 2021 winners Maneksin.
Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Doja Cat, Steve Lacy and Bad Bunny are also among the big-name nominees – with Bad Bunny making history with the first Spanish-language album of the year nomination for Un Verano Sin Ti.
Announced by stars including Olivia Rodrigo, John Legend, Cyndi Lauper, Machine Gun Kelly and Smokey Robinson, almost half of the 2023 nominees are women and more than half are people of colour, according to the Recording Academy, which organises the awards.
New categories include songwriter of the year and alternative music performance, which Recording Academy chief executive Harvey Mason Jr says will help diversify the 65th edition of the annual awards. There will also be a special merit award for best song for social change, based on lyrical content that addresses a timely social issue.
Joe Wadsworth, musicologist and founder of The Online Recording Studio, said that with Adele and Styles among the big nominees, next year’s awards ceremony could be “the most successful for UK artists in a generation”.
“Nods for Adele and Harry Styles were expected in many of the major categories but it is fantastic to also see recognition for the likes of Wet Leg,” he said. “The Isle of Wight band’s three nominations, including for best new artist, will surely make up for missing out on last month’s Mercury Prize.”
Main category nominees
ABBA are also among the album of the year nominees. Pic: Baillie Walsh
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
Just Like That – Bonnie Raitt
Best New Artist
Anitta
Omar Apollo
DOMi & JD Beck
Muni Long
Samara Joy
Latto
Månekskin
Tobe Nwigwe
Molly Tuttle
Wet Leg.
Songwriter Of The Year
Amy Allen
Nija Charles
Tobia Jesso Jr
The-Dream
Laura Veltz
The 65th annual Grammy Awards will take place on 5 February 2023 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
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John David Washington says he felt like he had to conceal his desire to act because of the external expectations of him being the child of Denzel and Pauletta Washington.
He tells Sky News it took some time for him to pursue an acting career, choosing football instead to assert his “independence” and create his own “identity” separate from his famous family.
“I’ve been wanting to do this my whole life… but I was hiding it,” he said.
“I had to conceal that passion based on my relationship to the world and more specifically, my folks being in the industry, so I chose ball.
“I loved ball, but I was sort of hiding my love for the arts under a helmet – literally an American football helmet – and so when I wanted to become an actor, when I decided to pursue it, that was a big shock to some people.”
The 40-year-old actor says when he decided to pursue an acting career, he kept the decision quiet.
“Some people didn’t know I was even pursuing it professionally until I got a job,” he said.
John David with fellow actor Danielle Deadwyler. Pic: David Lee/ Netflix
Since switching to acting, John David has starred in a number of notable roles including the protagonist in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, Ron Stallworth in BlacKkKlansman and Joshua in The Creator.
He also led the stage revival of the 2022 Tony-nominated play The Piano Lesson on Broadway alongside Samuel L Jackson.
“He [Jackson] originated the role [I play] in 1987 at Yale with Lloyd Richards and August Wilson,” John David said.
“So it was of great importance for us to learn from both he and Michael Potts about August Wilson. It was a great blessing for me, I think, for all of us to have him present on set.”
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The Piano Lesson is the third August Wilson play to be adapted for the screen by Denzel Washington’s production company Mundy Lane Entertainment.
It is part of a pledge made by the Gladiator II actor to make all 10 of the playwright’s works into films.
The Netflix project is directed by another Washington family member, Malcolm, and stars most of the cast from the Broadway revival.
The Piano Lesson is Malcolm Washington’s directorial debut. Pic: Katia Washington/ Netflix
Set in 1936 Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the Great Depression, the film centres on a family heirloom, a piano, that is etched with the carvings of their family history made by their enslaved ancestor.
Malcolm says he started reading the play for the first time during the pandemic and immediately wanted to be involved in the film adaptation.
“I think with this movie, reclamation of story and identity is so central to the theme and it’s something that’s central to my life where I both acknowledge the fertile ground that I was raised on and who I am today.
“That’s what Wining Boy [played by Michael Potts] really is trying to do, he’s trying to build on that legacy, so that’s a story that really resonated with me.”
The filmmaker added: “I take all the gifts that my ancestors laid in front of me, and I’m trying to build something for the next generation to pass down – all of their gifts, plus mine to the next generation and let them build on it.”
Malcolm has dedicated his directorial debut to his mother, Pauletta Washington. Pic: David Lee/Netflix
Malcolm says his goal was to put family at the forefront of the production. By dedicating his feature debut to “Mama”, he is acknowledging the dedication and sacrifices that mothers make for the growth of their families.
“There’s so much pointing to my mother in particular, who inspired this adaptation so much. I see so much of her life in Berniece’s character [played by Danielle Deadwyler] – and that became a guiding light for me in this adaptation,” he said.
“As we made this thing and started reconnecting with our ancestors, my mum became like a kind of representative of them.
“She’s the matriarch of our family. She tells me about my grandparents and great-grandparents and the line that I come from, and I see them in her.
“And when the movie ends, I want people to kind of have that moment of reflection for their own lives. So in dedicating it to her, I was trying to dedicate it to all mums everywhere.”
The Piano Lesson is now available on Netflix.
Blockbuster Wicked has landed the largest opening weekend of 2024 at Vue International.
The film, starring Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo and Grammy-winning pop star Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda, surpassed both Gladiator II and Paddington In Peru.
It has also had the largest opening weekend for a stage musical adaptation in the cinema chain’s history.
A boss for Vue International said it had seen a “sea of pink and green” over the weekend.
Ariana Grande (left) as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in the film. Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Released on Friday, Wicked is up 60% on Les Miserables’ opening weekend in 2012 and three times larger than the 2022 film adaptation of Matilda.
Founder and chief executive of Vue International Tim Richards said: “Vue has seen a sea of pink and green over the opening weekend of Wicked, which has shown continued high demand for the big screen experience.
“We saw record-breaking pre-sales for Wicked, followed by a chart-topping opening weekend – the biggest for 2024.”
The film is the first of two parts, with the second expected in November next year.
Wicked and Gladiator II – known together as Glicked – have reportedly failed to beat out Barbenheimer, Barbie and Oppenheimer, in its own opening weekend last summer.
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Glicked brought in £215m in worldwide ticket sales – with Wicked making the majority of that.
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