Grammy Nominations 2019: The Biggest Snubs and Surprises

On Friday morning, the nominees for the 2019 Grammy Awards were announced across both CBS News and Apple Music. This time around, the ceremony will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 10, and while the night’s celebrity host has yet to be announced, James Corden took on the role in both 2017 and 2018 without causing any major drama, so there’s a good chance CBS will tap their silliest late night star for the job once again. In a major contrast to those years, however, the 2019 nominations comprise a much more even playing field: While Kendrick Lamar and Drake received the most nominations, all the major categories were flooded with female artists as well, hopefully signifying some much-needed changes to the gatekeepers of the music industry.

That said, the noms aren’t without their fair share of snubs and surprising inclusions. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the list.

King T’Challa reigns

Just 24 hours after Black Panther received only two of the many Golden Globes nominations it was expected to, the film’s soundtrack showed up eight times on the list of Grammy noms, making it and producer Kendrick Lamar—who also performed on several tracks—the most nominated at the 2019 ceremony. Among those are nods for album, record, and song of the year.

Americana the beautiful

The woman with the most nominations, with a total of six, is Brandi Carlile. Her album By the Way, I Forgive You is up for Album of the Year and Best Americana Album, and several of its songs received nods as well. The next most-nominated women are Cardi B, with five noms, and Kacey Musgraves, with four. Unlike the 2018 awards, when Lorde was the only woman in the Album of the Year category, every major category is at least 50 percent female on the 2019 list, with Janelle Monáe, H.E.R., and Ella Mai rounding out the squad.

Fallen pop princesses

The women of pop, however, weren’t so lucky. While the Recording Academy honored women of rap, folk, and country, with slews of nominations, those who work in pop were almost entirely left out of the major categories. Taylor Swift and her Reputation, somewhat shockingly, received only one nomination, for Best Pop Vocal Album, while Ariana Grande‘s Sweetener was nominated in that category and, for “God Is a Woman,” in Best Pop Solo Performance.

Single-nomination surprises

Swift has some unexpected company on the list of artists receiving a single Grammy nomination in 2019. The Backstreet Boys’s “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance; Fall Out Boy’s album Mania received a Best Rock Album nod; Björk’s Utopia is up for Best Alternative Music Album; and Mac Miller received a posthumous Best Rap Album nom for Swimming.

A Grammy is born

It’s been a big week for A Star Is Born: On Thursday, the film was nominated for five Golden Globes, and on Friday, it received four from the Grammys. In a twist of fate that would’ve seemed ludicrous only a year ago, that means that Bradley Cooper is up for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and two other awards, while Lady Gaga received those four noms, plus one more for Best Pop Solo Performance, for her “Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?).”

The Beyhive is buzzing

Against all odds, A Star Is Born tops Jay-Z and Beyoncé, the latter of whom was actually originally set to star opposite Cooper in the musical remake, in Grammy noms. The married duo’s album Everything Is Love, released under their joint name The Carters, received only three nods, none of which are in the major song, record, album, or artist of the year categories.

Related: The 25 Best Grammy Awards Beauty Moments of All Time, from Aretha Franklin to Selena Gomez