Music’s biggest night will take place on Monday February 15 and this past year was full of great music. Many of your favorite artists are nominated and it seems like it will be too hard to tell who will walk away with the coveted award. Kendrick Lamar leads the pack with 11 nominations while Taylor Swift and The Weeknd are both nominated for 7 awards each. Here are some of the artists that are nominated.
Kendrick Lamar (Nominated for Album of the Year, two Best Music 
Video, Best Rap Album, two Best Rap Song, Best Rap/Song Collaboration, Best Rap Performance, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Song of the Year and Best Dance Recording)
Lamar tops all of the nominees with the most nominations this year due to his highly acclaimed album that came out last year. This is the second year in a row that he has been nominated and last year he took home awards for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. The Compton native’s second album received many great reviews and spent a few weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It’s no surprise why he has numerous nominations this year!
Taylor Swift (Nominated for Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Music Video).
Not only does she dominate with her “squad”, she also dominates the charts. 1989 was a huge album for Swift spending 52 consecutive weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart. Singles that were released off of the album include: “Shake it Off”, “Blank Space”, “Style”, “Bad Blood”, “Wildest Dreams” and “Out of the Woods”. With a few Grammy wins in the past, it will be interesting to see how many more she will add to her collection.
The Weeknd (Nominated for Recor
d of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Song Written for Visual Media, Best Pop Solo Performance, Best R&B Performance, Best R&B Song and Best Urban Contemporary Album)
This is the first time that The Weeknd has been nominated for any Grammy awards. Attracting many with hits like “Can’t Feel My Face” and “Earned It”, it has been a good year for the Canadian singer. The artist has collaborated with other well-known hit makers like Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Ray and Labyrinth on his recent album Beauty Behind the Madness, which debuted at No. 1. “The Hills” are definitely alive with this breakout artist!
Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth (Nominated for Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media)
Delivering with an emotional and powerful song “See You Again”, Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth knocked it out of the park with a tribute to Paul Walker for the film Furious 7. The song quickly shot to No.1 on the charts and was one of the many contenders for song of the summer. The duo performed the song on different occasions including the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, “Ellen”, and most recently on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”. It would be shocking if this song didn’t win at least one award.
Chris Stapleton (Nominated for Album of the Year, Best Country Solo Performance, Best Country Song and Best Country Album)
No stranger to country music, Chris Stapleton has surely taken over the genre this past year with many awards already under his belt, one of them being Album of the Year at the CMA Awards. Previously with The SteelDrivers and The Jompson Brothers, Stapleton decided to make a name for himself and that has clearly paid off. His album Traveler, which is up for a few awards, soared to No. 1 and became the first debut country album to hit No. 1on the Billboard 200 in over four years. Stapleton will also be performing on the show with a tribute to B.B. King.
Little Big Town (Nominated for Song of the Year, Best Country Album, Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance)
Little Big Town has had a great year and their hit song, “Girl Crush”, caused quite a stir in the country music industry. The song is meant to be about jealousy amongst women and many were thinking about it in a different light. Many artists close to Little Big Town, including Miranda Lambert, were quick to stand by their side by wearing trucker caps that said “Girl Crush” on them. The song has already won a few awards so clearly there’s no harm in it.
James Bay (Nominated for Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song and Best New Artist)
British singer-songwriter James Bay captivated audiences with his debut album which reached No. 1 in the U.K and was one of the top-selling albums according to Billboard.
The fedora wearing artist has hits like “Let it Go” and “Hold Back the River” and currently “Let it Go” sits at No. 75 on The Hot 100 Billboard chart. Bay performed in Chicago back in November and is set to play Coachella in April.
Elizabeth Granato
Deputy Features Editor