The Recording Academy has announced its nominees for the 2023 Grammy Awards. Beyoncé leads the pack with a total of nine nods, while Kendrick Lamar follows with eight. Adele and Brandi Carlile nabbed seven nominations each, with Future, Harry Styles, Mary J. Blige, DJ Khaled, Terius “The-Dream” Gesteelde-Diamant, and Randy Merrill each earning six nominations. Jay-Z, who picked up five nominations, is now tied with Beyoncé for the most nominated artists in Grammy history, as they have both been nominated 88 times in total.
Notably, the 2023 Grammy Awards will be the first time Beyoncé and Adele will go head-to-head for Record, Album, and Song of the Year since 2017, when Adele swept all three categories. The upcoming Grammys ceremony will take place Sunday, February 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. Find the full list of nominees here.
Beyoncé’s nine nominations include three in the big four categories: Record of the Year (“Break My Soul”), Album of the Year (Renaissance), and Song of the Year (“Break My Soul”). She also earned nods for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (“Break My Soul”), Best Dance/Electronic Music Album (Renaissance), Best R&B Performance (“Virgo’s Groove”), Best Traditional R&B Performance (“Plastic Off the Sofa”), Best R&B Song (“Cuff It”), and Best Song Written for Visual Media (“Be Alive”).
This year marks the first time Beyoncé has been nominated in the Dance/Electronic categories. At the 2021 Grammys, she broke the record for most Grammys won by a female artist when she took home the award for Best R&B Performance. (The previous record holder was Alison Kraus, with 27 awards.) Beyoncé currently has 28 trophies, and, if she wins just three awards across her nine nominations, she will hold the solo record for most Grammy wins of all time.
With the second largest slate of nominations, Kendrick Lamar is up for Record of the Year (“The Heart Part 5”), Album of the Year (Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers), Song of the Year (“The Heart Part 5”), Best Rap Performance (“The Heart Part 5”), Best Melodic Rap Performance (“Die Hard”), Best Rap Song (“The Heart Part 5”), Best Rap Album (Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers), and Best Music Video (“The Heart Part 5”). Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is Lamar’s fourth consecutive solo album to be nominated in both the Album of the Year and Best Rap Album Categories. He currently has 14 Grammy victories under his belt.
Adele is back as a Grammy contender for the first time since 2017, when she won Album of the Year for 25, as well as Record of the Year and and Song of the Year for “Hello.” This time, she has earned seven nominations, for Record of the Year (“Easy on Me”), Album of the Year (30), Song of the Year (“Easy on Me”), Best Pop Solo Performance (“Easy on Me”), Best Pop Vocal Album (30), Best Music Video (“Easy on Me”), and Best Music Film (Adele One Night Only). The upcoming Grammys ceremony will mark the first time Adele and Beyoncé have faced off since 2017, when Adele’s victory sweep stirred up controversy within the music community. Adele called Bey “the artist of [her] life” during her Album of the Year acceptance speech and said the award should have gone to Lemonade.
In the Best Alternative Music Performance category, Big Thief were nominated for “Certainty,” while Arctic Monkeys got a nod for “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball,” and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for their Perfume Genius–featuring single “Spitting Off the Edge of the World.” Also nominated in the category are Florence and the Machine (“King”) and UK duo Wet Leg (“Chaise Lounge”).
Big Thief also earned a nomination for Best Alternative Music Album (Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You). They are up against Arcade Fire (WE), Björk (Fossora), Wet Leg (Wet Leg), and Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Cool It Down).
Indie favorite Four Tet snagged a Best Remixed Recording nomination for his recent rework of Ellie Goulding’s “Easy Lover,” while Arooj Aftab and Anoushka Shankar are up for Best Global Music Performance (“Udhero Na”). Tobias Jesso Jr. is named in the Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical roundup, while Koffee’s LP Gifted is under consideration for Best Reggae Album.
Follow along with all of Pitchfork’s coverage of the 2023 Grammy Awards.