The most anticipated award show for music is coming sooner than expected. The 66th annual Grammy Awards will be hosted at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 4. Predictions for who might be taking home the gold-plated music award have already been circulating on social media.
Record of the Year: ‘What Was I Made for’ by Billie Eilish is a sentimental song that has the potential to win. Eilish along with her brother, Finneas, wrote and produced the hit song featured during the ending credits of last year’s blockbuster hit, ‘Barbie.’ The song’s lyrics, paired with a montage of young girls and women for the movie, caused a hard-hitting revelation of what girlhood is. Record of the Year goes to the artist’s performance and the hard work of those behind the scenes in the studio, as well. The award seems to be based more on personal opinions of the academy rather than statistics.
Album of the Year: Based on my predictions, the Album of the Year category winner will be ‘Midnights’ by Taylor Swift. She had a monumental year wrapping up 2023 with her Era’s World Tour and becoming Spotify’s most listened-to artist. Debuting with over 1.5 million album sales, ‘Midnights’ made the singer-songwriter become the first artist to occupy the entire Top 10 on the Billboard 100 Singles charts. Featuring singles like ‘Anti-Hero’ and ‘Karma,’ Swift managed to deliver hit after hit of fan favorites.
Song of the Year: ‘Flowers’ by Miley Cyrus and ‘Kill Bill’ by SZA are coming in very close to each other in terms of winning this category. Cyrus made a stunning comeback releasing her first album under Columbia Records after leaving RCA. The main title track, ‘Flowers,’ quickly gained traction and debuted at number one on the Billboard Global 200 Chart. Maintaining its mark, ‘Flowers’ became Spotify’s most streamed song of the year for 2023. On the other side of the genre spectrum, SZA released ‘Kill Bill’, the main single of her R&B album, SOS. ‘Kill Bill’ came in second right under ‘Flowers’ but still broke records with a total of 1.6 billion streams globally. The single became SZA’s first solo song to top radio charts.
Best New Artist: While artists like Gracie Abrams, Victoria Monet and Noah Kahan have had their breakout year, this award has a certain rapper’s name written all over it. Ice Spice has grown a massive following in just a year with titles like ‘Deli’ and ‘Princess Diana.’ From going viral on the most popular social media platforms to being added to Coachella’s artist lineup, there is no doubt that she is definitely the front-runner for the accolade.
Best Pop Vocal Album: Upon sweeping three awards at the 2022 Grammys with her debut album ‘Sour,’ Olivia Rodrigo could be the winner for Best Pop Vocal Album of 2024. ‘GUTS,’ her sophomore album, has surpassed her debut achievements. Rodrigo has been able to win the hearts of Gen-Z, ranging from her vocals to her relatable lyrics of love. However, with Taylor Swift’s Midnights being such a commercial success, this category is going to be close.
With all nominations having an equal chance of winning, it’s important to note the artists and producers have already achieved so much by being considered for winning a Grammy. Year after year, viewers complain of controversial winner decisions so it will be interesting to see if any artists are ‘snubbed’ in any major categories.
Catch the Grammy’s on CBS at 7 p.m.
