As expected, Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish earn Grammy nominations

H.E.R., Doja Cat, and Jon Batiste score multiple nominations, while BTS fails to break into the big four categories

By Alex McLevy | November 23, 2021 | 6:31pm

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As expected, Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish earn Grammy nominations

Billie Eilish (Photo: Rich Fury/Getty), Doja Cat (Photo: Jim Bennet/FilmMagic via Getty Images), and Olivia Rodrigo (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty) Image: The A.V. Club

The nominees for the 64th annual Grammy Awards have been announced, and if you were paying attention to the pop music charts this past year, you probably have a fairly good sense of who got nominated. There weren’t many surprises, and while there were some announcements that made us happier than others, overall, this felt like a very safe roster of artists, even with the expansion from eight nominees to ten in the big four categories (Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Album Of The Year, and Best New Artist).

Unsurprisingly, both Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish earned multiple nominations, including for Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, and Song Of The Year (for their albums SOUR and Happier Than Ever, respectively, along with singles “Driver’s License” and Eilish’s title track). More impressive is that Doja Cat was right there alongside them in all three major categories, for her Planet Her album and single “Kiss Me More,” featuring SZA. Other artists to sweep those categories include Justin Bieber, Jon Batiste, and Lil Nas X. But it was TV bandleader Jon Batiste who actually ran away with the most nominations—11 in total.

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But if the major awards nominees were largely expected, Best Rock Album was downright fossilized. Foo Fighters, AC/DC, Chris Cornell, and Paul McCartney all earn noms—the only band to earn a nomination that hasn’t been around since at least the ’90s is Black Pumas, for their Live From Studio A album. (At least AC/DC’s record was pretty great.)

BTS fans hoping the K-pop act would finally receive its due, however, will have to wait another year. While the act was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, it was also shut out of the major categories, where “Butter” was considered a contender.

But Lady Gaga fans should feel consoled, with her final duet release with Tony Bennett getting multiple nominations, including Album Of The Year.

Justin Bieber’s mammoth hit “Peaches” received a nomination in just about every category for which it was eligible, as did his album Justice. He may not have tipped the scales for peach sales in Georgia, but this was an almost absurd number of noms. And, as usual, the Best Alternative Music Album was the place to find the most A.V. Club-endorsed acts, with nominations for Japanese Breakfast’s Jubilee, St. Vincent’s Daddy’s Home, and Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. (Also, a Best New Artist nod for Arooj Aftab, which is awesome.)

You can see the full list of nominees here.