Grammy Awards: Nominations’ snubs, surprises

LOS ANGELES — While the Grammys are famous for out-of-nowhere choices for top prizes, this year’s nominations are largely down-the-middle consensus picks. Other than one former talk-show bandleader, all the contenders for the top three Grammy Awards — album, song and record of the year — come bearing Billboard Hot 100 mega-hits and/or critically acclaimed LPs that had a broad impact.

There’s very little to argue with in the actual nominations for the 66th Grammy Awards, scheduled for Feb. 4; you think Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and SZA weren’t going to be locks? But a few glaring absences suggest some blind spots, or at least a lack of enthusiasm for certain taste-making sounds this year.

Here are the notable snubs and surprises.

• Surprise: All those Jon Batiste nominations

Two years ago, Batiste left his gig on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and dove head-first into the Grammy spotlight, leading the field in nominations (11) and wins (five), including a head-turning victory for album of the year. This year, he’s back with a vengeance, collecting an album of the year nomination for the expansive “World Music Radio” and nods for both record of the year (“Worship”) and song of the year (“Butterfly”), neither of which had any commercial impact. In total, Batiste sits near the top of the leaderboard with six nominations, dead even with the likes of Swift, Rodrigo and Billie Eilish.

• Snub: Country music

The Grammys had many paths to acknowledge country music’s outstanding year. Luke Combs had a massive crossover hit with a cover of Tracy Chapman’s beloved “Fast Car.” Zach Bryan topped the streaming and Billboard charts with a thoughtful, ferocious album that featured a hit duet with Grammy fave Kacey Musgraves. Lainey Wilson just cleaned up at the CMA Awards, a victory lap after a decade in the Nashville trenches. And Morgan Wallen sold out stadiums and easily outstreamed Swift and SZA, to name two powerhouses.

And yet country came up almost totally empty. Jelly Roll and the War and Treaty got nods for best new artist, but otherwise, the genre was shut out in the four general field categories. Overall, Combs has one nomination, Wilson has two, Bryan has three and Brandy Clark has six — almost all in country and adjacent genre categories. Voters might still be ignoring Wallen for his N-word indiscretion, but it’s now clear they don’t seem to care much for country as a whole, even in a banner year.

• Surprise: Victoria Monét and Janelle Monáe

Monét recently told the Los Angeles Times she wants to win 16 Grammys in her career; with seven nominations this year, including for best new artist, she’s on her way to that lofty goal. It’s a welcome surprise to see her song of the year nomination for “On My Mama,” a slick ode to stepping out and looking right that peaked at No. 58 on the Hot 100. Formerly a songwriter for Ariana Grande, Fifth Harmony, et al., Monét has seized the spotlight with her solo debut, aided by her accomplished producer D’Mile, who helped power Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” to wins in 2022. And, kudos to the similarly surnamed Janelle Monáe, who earned her second straight album of the year nomination for “The Age of Pleasure.”

• Surprise/Snub: Men

Fun fact: There are more members of Boygenius than there are dudes nominated for album and record of the year (just one, Batiste). This year, women artists or groups make up an overwhelming majority of the top nominees, including SZA, who leads all artists with nine nods.