Grammy Awards: Jon Batiste, Olivia Rodrigo and Justin Bieber lead

The nominations for the 2022 Grammy Awards were unveiled last night (November 23), with Olivia Rodrigo, Justin Bieber and Jon Batiste in the lead.

With 11 Grammy nominations across record and album of the year, and nods in roots, film score, R&B and jazz categories, Jon Batiste currently leads next year’s list. Batiste is followed closely by Justin Bieber with eight nominations, and Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish, each with seven nods.

Bieber has received nominations for ‘Peaches’ in the Record of the Year category, and nominations across Best R&B Performance and Best Pop Solo Performance, as well as a nomination for his 2021 album ‘Justice’ for Album of the Year.

Other frontrunners include Doja Cat and H.E.R., with nominations in eight categories. Doja Cat has joined the list of Best Pop Vocal Album nominees with ‘Planet Her’ as well as receiving nominations in other categories including Best Rap Song and Best Melodic Rap Performance. H.E.R’s ‘Back of My Mind’ has received a nomination for Album of the Year.

Lil Nas X has been nominated in the Album of the Year category with ‘Montero’, and has received nominations in the Song of the Year, Best Music Video and Record of the Year categories. 

Olivia Rodrigo’s nominations include Album of the Year (‘Sour’), Best New Artist, Song of the Year (‘Drivers License’) and Record of the Year (Drivers License’). Eilish has earned a nomination for ‘Happier Than Ever’ in the Album of the Year and Record of the Year categories, amongst others.

This year’s nominations process has seen changes following criticism over its lack of diversity. Secret-committee nominations for the four main categories will no longer take place, and two new awards have been introduced: Global Music Performance and Música Urbana Album. The awards’ voter pool has also expanded to include more people from diverse backgrounds.

Controversial nominees include Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald with three nominations for his work on ‘Kiss Me More’, ‘Best Friend’ and ‘Planet Her’. Four years after admitting to sexual misconduct, Louis CK has been nominated in the Best Comedy Album category.

History was made as ABBA received their first ever Grammy nomination, with their comeback single, ‘I Still Have Faith In You’, receiving recognition. 

Jay Z has also become the most nominated person in Grammy history, with two nominations in the best rap song category, bringing his total number of Grammy nominations to 83. The record was previously held by Quincy Jones, who has 80.

Paul McCartney’s nominations for next year’s ceremony in the best rock album and best rock song categories make him the second most nominated artist of all time with 81. 

The 2022 Grammy Awards will take place on January 31 in Los Angeles, with the ceremony broadcast on CBS.