Grammy Nominations for Movie People !

by Nathaniel R

The Grammy Awards aren’t really a crucial topic for The Film Experience. Except when they are. We do love to share the movie adjacent stuff that doesn’t get much press (‘hey, I didn’t know that actor ____ recorded a spoken word album’ etcetera). So herewith some key movie adjacent bits.

Beyonce’s efforts for The Lion King are up for a few pop prizes but that's no surprise since Queen B is a Grammy favourite. Former movie star and still legendary chanteuse Barbra Streisand, another Grammy favourite, has her presumably umpteenth nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for her latest “Walls”... the one with the unexpected unintended Girl-in-the-pit Silence of the Lambs homage cover.  

But there are some less expected showings, too.

Iconic cult director John Waters is up for Best Spoken Word Album for “Mr Know-It-All” where he’s competing with Former First Lady Michelle Obama. That juxtaposition is insane and we couldn’t love it more...

Five time Oscar winner John Williams is up for  two Grammys for instrumental work with arrangements of previous Star Wars and Harry Potter tracks. And speaking of arrangement Grammys, two oft-covered Oscar winning songs “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz and “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany's have resulted in arrangement Grammy nominations for Jacob Collier and Vince Mendoza respectively. 

And here are the Grammy categories in full which relate to the showbiz world outside of music alone...

Best Comedy Album

• QUALITY TIME
  Jim Gaffigan

• RELATABLE
  Ellen DeGeneres

• RIGHT NOW
  Aziz Ansari

•  SON OF PATRICIA
  Trevor Noah

• STICKS & STONES
  Dave Chappelle

Best Musical Theater Album

• AIN'T TOO PROUD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS
  Saint Aubyn, Derrick Baskin, James Harkness, Jawan M. Jackson, Jeremy Pope & Ephraim Sykes, principal soloists; Scott M. Riesett, producer (Original Broadway Cast)

• HADESTOWN
  Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Amber Gray, Eva Noblezada & Patrick Page, principal soloists; Mara Isaacs, David Lai, Anaïs Mitchell & Todd Sickafoose, producers (Anaïs Mitchell, composer & lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast)

• MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL
  Danny Burstein, Tam Mutu, Sahr Ngaujah, Karen Olivo & Aaron Tveit, principal soloists; Justin Levine, Baz Luhrmann, Matt Stine & Alex Timbers, producers (Original Broadway Cast)

• THE MUSIC OF HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD - IN FOUR CONTEMPORARY SUITES
  Imogen Heap, producer; Imogen Heap, composer (Imogen Heap)

• OKLAHOMA!
  Damon Daunno, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Ali Stroker, Mary Testa & Patrick Vaill, principal soloists; Daniel Kluger & Dean Sharenow, producers (Richard Rodgers, composer; Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist) (2019 Broadway Cast)

Competitive. And, look at that we actually reviewed every one of those shows. Among these nominees though we admit we’re rooting hard for Oklahoma!

Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media

• THE LION KING: THE SONGS
  (Various Artists)

• QUENTIN TARANTINO'S ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
  (Various Artists)

• ROCKETMAN
  Taron Egerton

• SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
  (Various Artists)

• A STAR IS BORN
  Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

A fun batch of nominees but a year later our heart is totally still with A Star is Born. We’d be pleased with a Rocketman win, too. 

Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media

• AVENGERS: ENDGAME
  Alan Silvestri, composer

• CHERNOBYL
  Hildur Guðnadóttir, composer

• GAME OF THRONES: SEASON 8
  Ramin Djawadi, composer

• THE LION KING
  Hans Zimmer, composer

• MARY POPPINS RETURNS
  Marc Shaiman, composer

Silvestri, Shaiman, Zimmer are previous Grammy winners though a win for either Djawadi or Guðnadóttir would be their first.

Best Song Written For Visual Media

• THE BALLAD OF THE LONESOME COWBOY
  Randy Newman, songwriter (Chris Stapleton)
  Track from: Toy Story 4 

• GIRL IN THE MOVIES
  Dolly Parton & Linda Perry, songwriters (Dolly Parton)
  Track from: Dumplin'

• I'LL NEVER LOVE AGAIN (FILM VERSION)
  Natalie Hemby, Lady Gaga, Hillary Lindsey & Aaron Raitiere, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper)
  Track from: A Star Is Born

• SPIRIT
  Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Timothy McKenzie & Ilya Salmanzadeh, songwriters (Beyoncé)
  Track from: The Lion King 

• SUSPIRIUM
  Thom Yorke, songwriter (Thom Yorke)
  Track from: Suspiria

Grammys are always a mix (eligibility wise) of two different Oscar years. None of these tracks were Oscar nominees last year though Spirit or The Ballad of a Lonesome Cowboy could theoretically be up for the Oscar this year in Best Original Song. 

Best Music Video

• WE'VE GOT TO TRY
  The Chemical Brothers
  Ellie Fry, video director; Ninian Doff, video producer

• THIS LAND
  Gary Clark Jr.
  Savanah Leaf, video director; Alicia Martinez, video producer

• CELLOPHANE
  FKA twigs
  Andrew Thomas Huang, video director; Alex Chamberlain, video producer

• OLD TOWN ROAD (OFFICIAL MOVIE)
  Lil Nas X & Billy Ray Cyrus
  Calmatic, video director; Candice Dragonas, Melissa Larsen & Saul Levitz, video producers

• GLAD HE'S GONE
  Tove Lo
  Vania Heymann & Gal Muggia, video directors; Natan Schottenfels, video producer

Best Music Film

• HOMECOMING
  Beyoncé
  Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Ed Burke, video directors; Dora Melissa Vargas, video producer 

• REMEMBER MY NAME
  David Crosby
  A.J. Eaton, video director; Cameron Crowe, Michele Farinola & Greg Mariotti, video producers

• BIRTH OF THE COOL
  (Miles Davis)
  Stanley Nelson, video director; Nicole London, video producer

• SHANGRI-LA
  (Various Artists)
  Morgan Neville, video director; Emma Baiada, video producer 

• ANIMA
  Thom Yorke
  Paul Thomas Anderson, video director; Paul Thomas Anderson, Erica Frauman & Sara Murphy, video producers

And that’s that as far as movie connections go.

But we’d remiss if we didn’t leave you with the top four categories at the Grammy Awards, the ones that get roughly 95% of the attention. They are… 

Album Of The Year

• I,I
  Bon Iver 

• NORMAN F***ING ROCKWELL!
  Lana Del Rey

• WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
  Billie Eilish

• THANK U, NEXT
  Ariana Grande 

• I USED TO KNOW HER
  H.E.R. 

• 7
  Lil Nas X 

• CUZ I LOVE YOU (DELUXE)
  Lizzo 

• FATHER OF THE BRIDE
  Vampire Weekend

Record Of The Year (often confused for song of the year)
This one goes to the artist rather than the songwriter.

• HEY, MA
  Bon Iver 

• BAD GUY
  Billie Eilish

• 7 RINGS
  Ariana Grande 

• HARD PLACE
  H.E.R.

• TALK
  Khalid 

• OLD TOWN ROAD
  Lil Nas X Featuring Billy Ray Cyrus 

• TRUTH HURTS
  Lizzo 

• SUNFLOWER
  Post Malone & Swae Lee

Song Of The Year (often confused for record of the year)
This one goes to the songwriter rather than the artist -- in ye olden times the nominations for these two categories were often practically identical but this year at least they’re much different… the only repeat nominees are “Hard Place” and “Truth Hurts”

• ALWAYS REMEMBER US THIS WAY
  Natalie Hemby, Lady Gaga, Hillary Lindsey & Lori McKenna, songwriters (Lady Gaga) 

• BAD GUY
  Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

• BRING MY FLOWERS NOW
  Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth & Tanya Tucker, songwriters (Tanya Tucker)

• HARD PLACE
  Ruby Amanfu, Sam Ashworth, D. Arcelious Harris, H.E.R. & Rodney Jerkins, songwriters (H.E.R.)

• LOVER
  Taylor Swift, songwriter (Taylor Swift)

• NORMAN F***ING ROCKWELL
  Jack Antonoff & Lana Del Rey, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)

• SOMEONE YOU LOVED
  Tom Barnes, Lewis Capaldi, Pete Kelleher, Benjamin Kohn & Sam Roman, songwriters (Lewis Capaldi)

• TRUTH HURTS
  Steven Cheung, Eric Frederic, Melissa Jefferson & Jesse Saint John, songwriters (Lizzo)

Best New Artist

• BLACK PUMAS

• BILLIE EILISH

• LIL NAS X

• LIZZO

• MAGGIE ROGERS

• ROSALÍA

• TANK AND THE BANGAS

• YOLA

My money is on Lizzo to be buried in Grammys on the big night but you never know. 

Comments

[James]

This is Streisand's 46th Grammy nomination. Quincy Jones holds the all time record with 80 nods.

[Shmeebs]

So happy with the nod for "Always Remember Us This Way". So deserving.

Here's hoping Gaga performs it.

[Mareko]

LOL @ Lizzo, whom I love/worship, being up for “Best New Artist” when Coconut Oil dropped in 2016 (and she was releasing tracks like Let ‘em Say long before that).

[Peggy Sue]

I never understood why they have to overlap the Grammys with the movie awards race. I would move them to April when we're all miserable and bored.

(Apparently there's a John Waters Summer Camp and Kathleen Turner is attending)

[thevoid99]

Grammys... LAME!!!!!

[Manny]

Lord Almighty but those are the laziest score nominations in Grammys history. Did Hans Zimmer need a nomination for literally rescoring himself? His original score is peerless, but even my unconditional love won't stand for these shenanigans.

And that's just the start.

That being said, Suspirium is an awesome choice, but they do love their Thom Yorke so it figures.

[thevoid99]

Too much hippity hop and rap schmap. Don’t get me started on soul....

[George P.]

Just watched that Tove Lo music video and it is AMAZING!

[Glenn Dunks]

I don't quite understand how "Always Remember Us This Way" is the Song of the Year nominee, but "I'll Never Love Again" is the song from a movie nominee. Huh.

[MJ]

Glenn Dunks - Right. It’s also strange to see the soundtrack (which was an Album of the Year nominee last year) receive multiple nods this year. The eligibility window is a nightmare.

[Andrew Carden]

Poor Babs is about to see her 19th consecutive Grammys loss - she hasn't won one since THE BROADWAY ALBUM in '86.

[Tyler]

Why do you spell favorite with a "u"?

[Arlo]

Re: A Star is Born, they probably only submitted one song per relevant category like the Oscars. Pleasantly surprised to see "Always Remember Us This Way" pop up though. "I'll Never Love Again" makes sense in that category since it was a major moment in the film.

The only nods it received last year were for "Shallow" since it was released as a single before last year's eligibility window closed. It also wasn't eligible for Album of the Year previously and wasn't nominated for that last year or this year when it was eligible, which is a bit of a snub IMO.

[JF]

The "Netflixification" of entertainment has hurt the Grammys more than any other awards group.

Find two people who listen to the same music, agree about what makes music good, value the same genres, etc. Music fans live on completely different planets from one another. So the Grammys are a better indicator of what's "current" or what's "currently popular" than what's good, or worth rewarding. There's less consensus on that then ever. But they try.

[Ben]

Best Comedy Album is always a freaking joke.

Nothing against those nominees, but they are only the nominees because they are EXTREMELY successful. No comedian who is regularly playing in comedy clubs and puts out albums gets nominated. Every nominee plays theaters and stadiums.

It's always the most disappointing category.

[NATHANIEL R]

Tyler -- cuz i like the British spelling i dunno

[Gay Senior]

Barbra Streisand's WALLS album is actually one of her best. This is a political protest album heralding peace and love. Yes, it is also anti "you know who".... Barbra's passion is in every cut and many of the songs have great pop arrangements. Streisand is certainly on the right side of history here.

The collection also includes a great gay anthem "Love is Never Wrong". Too bad WALLS did not sell all that well. Barbra put a lot of energy and creativity into this work. Having not won a Grammy since 1986 it would be great to see her win for WALLS.

BTW great to see this article about the Grammy Nominations for Movie People! Well Done.

[brookesboy]

The Grammys have never recovered from the disastrous decision to remove the gender split for the vocal categories. It's completely absurd. This year's nominees are supreme proof of that. All are women because they are simply superior singers to men. Why, Grammys, why.

[ken s.]

Tangentially related, the recording of Tobias Picker's opera version of The Fantastic Mr Fox is also a nominee in the opera category.

[Raul]

"Homecoming" or "Anima." Tough choice. I'll go with "Homecoming," but "Anima" is quite a hypnotic short film.

[Suzanne]

MADAME X was robbed for ALBUM OF THE YEAR

[NATHANIEL R]

suzanne-- not a single nomination!

brookesboy - i hate that too. men's vocals and women's vocals are hard to compare. who compares sopranos to basses for example in other contexts?

[thevoid99]

Wait a minute, I didn't write that thing about hippity hop. I may not be a fan of today's hip-hop but Outkast are one of my boys.

[NATHANIEL R]

i suspect that what is happening is that someone who doesn't like that someone impersonated them one time is striking back by just doing it constantly to everyone else and that is deeply sad to me. I do not have the time for the drama or the time to search for a new coding solution for comments during this busiests of seasons.. It's hard enough to keep content up every day. Please i beg of you readers, stop and just post as yourselves. It's not even humorous to pretend to be other commenters.

[beyaccount]

I agree. People need to get a life

[MJ]

Arlo - Whoops. I mistook some of the “Shallow” noms last year for the entire body of work.

[W]

3 ROTY/SOTY overlap, not 2:

Bad Guy
Hard Place
Truth Hurts

I have a gut feeling that either Billie or Lizzo sweep both categories, and then that determines all the other Grammys won along with it. No "splits" this year.

[JJM]

So happy that Lana Del Rey is nominated for Album of the Year. I’d be shocked if she won, but it’s easily my favorite in that category.

Also happy to see a nomination for Big Thief.