British stars Harry Styles and Adele are among the frontrunners for the 2023 Grammy Awards, shortlisted for the night’s biggest awards alongside Lizzo, Kendrick Lamar and Beyonce – who is now tied with husband Jay-Z for the title of most nominated artist of all time.
Beyonce leads the nominations with nine, taking her career total to 88 – now the same as her rapper husband, who earned five this year for his writing efforts on DJ Khaled’s song God Did, as well as his work on his wife’s album Renaissance and single Break My Soul.
She is up against Styles, Adele, Lamar and Lizzo in the album of the year, song of the year, and record of the year categories, three of the Grammy ceremony’s biggest prizes.
The most decorated woman in the show’s history with 28 wins, Beyonce could break the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti’s record for most awards won if she takes home four gongs next year. Solti, with 31 Grammys, has held the record since 1997.
The nominations put her up against Adele once again – the British star won album of the year in 2017, but said on stage that the award should have gone to the US artists Lemonade.
Following her return to the spotlight in 2021 with fourth album 30, which topped both the UK and US charts, Adele was also nominated in categories including best pop vocal album, and best music film, for Adele: One Night Only – which marked the singer’s comeback with an interview by Oprah Winfrey and a concert performance at the Griffith Observatory.
Meanwhile, Styles continued a standout year which saw him nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize; chart-topping third album Harry’s House scored a nod for best pop vocal album and best non-engineered album (non-classical), while the hit track As It Was received nominations for best pop solo performance, song of the year, best music video, and record of the year.
With 91 categories celebrating genres from rock and rap to country and comedy in 2023, Lamar is the second front-runner with eight nods, while Adele and Brandi Carlile have seven, and Styles joins other artists including Mary J Blige and DJ Khaled with six.
Upcoming British indie rock duo Wet Leg – who were also shortlisted for the Mercury Prize earlier this year, and tipped by Barack Obama, no less – also scored a nomination in one of the big categories, best new artist, alongside Eurovision 2021 winners Maneksin.
Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Doja Cat, Steve Lacy and Bad Bunny are also among the big-name nominees – with Bad Bunny making history with the first Spanish-language album of the year nomination for Un Verano Sin Ti.
Announced by stars including Olivia Rodrigo, John Legend, Cyndi Lauper, Machine Gun Kelly and Smokey Robinson, almost half of the 2023 nominees are women and more than half are people of colour, according to the Recording Academy, which organises the awards.
New categories include songwriter of the year and alternative music performance, which Recording Academy chief executive Harvey Mason Jr says will help diversify the 65th edition of the annual awards. There will also be a special merit award for best song for social change, based on lyrical content that addresses a timely social issue.
Joe Wadsworth, musicologist and founder of The Online Recording Studio, said that with Adele and Styles among the big nominees, next year’s awards ceremony could be “the most successful for UK artists in a generation”.
“Nods for Adele and Harry Styles were expected in many of the major categories but it is fantastic to also see recognition for the likes of Wet Leg,” he said. “The Isle of Wight band’s three nominations, including for best new artist, will surely make up for missing out on last month’s Mercury Prize.”
Main category nominees
Album Of The Year
Voyage – ABBA
30 – Adele
Un Verano Sin Ti – Bad Bunny
Renaissance – Beyonce
Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe) – Mary J Blige
In These Silent Days – Brandi Carlile
Music of the Spheres – Coldplay
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – Kendrick Lamar
Special – Lizzo
Harry’s House – Harry Styles
Record Of The Year
Don’t Shut Me Down – ABBA
Easy on Me – Adele
Break My Soul – Beyoncé
Good Morning Gorgeous – Mary J. Blige
You and Me On The Rock – Brandi Carlile featuring Lucius
Woman – Doja Cat
Bad Habit – Steve Lacy
The Heart Part 5 – Kendrick Lamar
About Damn Time – Lizzo
As It Was – Harry Styles
Song Of The Year (songwriter’s award)
abcdefu – Sara Davis, GAYLE and Dave Pittenger
About Damn Time – Lizzo, Eric Frederic, Blake Slatkin and Theron Makiel Thomas
All Too Well (10 Minute Version – The Short Film) – Liz Rose and Taylor Swift
As It Was – Tyler Johnson, Kid Harpoon and Harry Styles
Bad Habit – Matthew Castellanos, Brittany Foushee, Diana Gordon, John Carroll Kirby and Steve Lacy
Break My Soul – Beyonce, S Carter, Terius The Dream Gesteelde-Diamant and Christopher A Stewart
Easy On Me – Adele Adkins and Greg Kurstin
God Did – Tarik Azzouz, E Blackmon, Khaled Khaled, F LeBlanc, Jay-Z, John Stephens, Dwayne Carter, William Roberts and Nicholas Warwar
The Heart Part 5 – Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, Kendrick Lamar and Matt Schaeffer
Just Like That – Bonnie Raitt
Best New Artist
Anitta
Omar Apollo
DOMi & JD Beck
Muni Long
Samara Joy
Latto
Månekskin
Tobe Nwigwe
Molly Tuttle
Wet Leg.
Songwriter Of The Year
Amy Allen
Nija Charles
Tobia Jesso Jr
The-Dream
Laura Veltz
The 65th annual Grammy Awards will take place on 5 February 2023 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.