Olivia Rodrigo & FINNEAS Both Land 2022 Grammy Nominations in All Big Four Categories

Olivia Rodrigo and FINNEAS are both nominated in each of the Big Four categories at the 64th annual Grammy Awards – album, record and song of the year plus best new artist. Rodrigo was honored for her debut album Sour and its smash single “drivers license.” FINNEAS is up for producing and co-writing work with his sister, Billie Eilish, and for best new artist in his own right.

It’s only the second time in Grammy history that two artists have been nominated in each of the Big Four categories in the same year. Eilish and Lizzo both achieved the feat two years ago. (Eilish won in all four categories.)

Eilish is up for album, record and song of the year this year, as are Justin Bieber, Doja Cat and Lil Nas X.

Jon Batiste, who won an Oscar in April for Soul, received 11 nominations, more than anyone else. That’s the most nods anyone has amassed in one year since Kendrick Lamar scored 11 nods six years ago. Impressively, Batiste’s nominations span six “fields” (in addition to the Big Four) — R&B, jazz, American roots music, music for visual media, classical and music video/film.

Bieber, Doja Cat and H.E.R. are this year’s runners-up for most nominations with eight nods each.

The nominations were announced on Tuesday (Nov. 23) in a livestream on Grammy.com. The awards will be presented on Jan. 31 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Two follow-up albums to album of the year winners received album of the year nods. They are Taylor Swift’s evermore, her follow-up to Folklore, and Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, her follow-up to When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? These are the first follow-ups to an album of the year winner to receive an album of the year nod since Adele’s 25, her follow-up to 21, five years ago. (Both of Adele’s albums won.)

This is the first time Swift has received an album of the year nod for a follow-up to an album of the year winner. This is Swift’s fifth album of the year nod, which puts her just one nod behind Barbra Streisand as the female artist with the most album of the year nods. Surprisingly, evermore was passed over for a nod for best pop vocal album.

Kanye West landed his fourth album of the year nod for Donda, his first in 14 years. (This is the first time Swift and West, whose fraught relationship has played out over multiple award show stages, have been nominated in that top category in the same year.) West is the first rap star to receive four album of the year nods (as a lead artist).

Jay-Z received three nominations, bringing his career tally to 83. This makes him the individual with the most Grammy nods – a title he previously shared with Quincy Jones. Paul McCartney received two nominations, bringing his career tally to 81. This puts him in second place. Jones, still with 80 nods, is now in third place.

Chick Corea, who died on Feb. 9, is nominated for four awards – three in the jazz field plus best classical compendium. Corea has won 25 Grammys. Should he win in all four categories, he would become the second-most-awarded artist in Grammy history, behind only classical conductor Georg Solti (31). Currently, Beyoncé and Jones are tied for second place with 28 Grammys, followed by Alison Krauss with 27 and classical conductor Pierre Boulez with 26.

Jay-Z, who has won 23 Grammys, has three nods this year; West, who has won 22 Grammys, has five. Both also have a chance to move up smartly on the Grammy leaderboard.

In a sign of the times, 11 songwriters are nominated for co-writing the Bieber smash “Peaches,” setting a new record for the song of the year nominee with the most nominated songwriters. Nine songwriters were nominated last year for co-writing Beyoncé’s “Black Parade.”

Two songwriters each have two songs that are nominated for song of the year. Dernst Emile II is nominated for co-writing Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” and H.E.R.’s “Fight for You.” Brandi Carlile is nominated for co-writing both her own single “Right on Time” and “A Beautiful Noise” (which she recorded with Alicia Keys).

Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga’s “I Get a Kick Out of You” is up for record of the year, while their Love for Sale is up for album of the year. Not surprisingly, Bennett, 95, is the oldest nominee ever in both categories. Bennett broke his own record as the oldest album of the year nominee (as a lead artist). He was 68 when was nominated for (and won for) MTV Unplugged at the 1994 awards.

Bennett also has the longest span of nominations (60 years) in both of these marquee categories. He landed his first nods in both categories with 1962’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” and his album of the same name. The old record for the longest span of album of the year nominations was held by Ray Charles, who had nods spanning 44 years. Charles received his first nod in the category in 1961 for Genius + Soul = Jazz and his last, posthumously, in 2004 for Genius Loves Company.

“I Get a Kick Out of You” is Bennett’s fourth record of the year nominee; Gaga’s third. It’s the other way around in album of the year. Love for Sale is Bennett’s third nominee in the category; Gaga’s fourth.

Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” is nominated for record of the year. This is Bruno Mars’ sixth nomination in the category, a total equaled or bettered by only two acts in Grammy history — Frank Sinatra and Beyoncé, with seven nods each. Mars has now been nominated for record of the year with three collaborations, with this pairing with Anderson .Paak following collabs with B.o.B and Mark Ronson. Jay-Z and Rihanna have also been nominated for record of the year with three collabs.

This is the third year in a row that Eilish has been nominated for record of the year. She’s just the fifth artist in Grammy history to be nominated in that marquee category three or more years running. Frank Sinatra was nominated in four consecutive years (1958-61). Roberta Flack (1972-74), Steve Winwood (1986-88) and Post Malone (2018-20) were each nominated three years running.

Five of the nominees for record of the year are also nominated for best music video, the highest degree of overlap in history. The double nominees in these two categories are Batiste’s “Freedom,” Bennett & Gaga’s “I Get a Kick Out of You,” Bieber’s “Peaches” (featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon), Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever” and Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” Another of the best music video nominees, Rodrigo, is also up for record of the year, but with a different work. “good 4 u” is nominated for best music video; “drivers license” for record of the year.

Two teen artists – Rodrigo and The Kid LAROI, both 18 — are nominated for best new artist for the first time since 2002, when Avril Lavigne, 18, and Michelle Branch, 19, were both nominated. They face, among others, Jimmie Allen, who won a CMA Award for new artist of the year on Nov. 10, and Arlo Parks, who won breakthrough artist at the Brit Awards on May 11.

The 10 best new artist nominees span multiple genres, including pop (FINNEAS, The Kid LAROI and Olivia Rodrigo), rap (Baby Keem, Saweetie), alternative (Arlo Parks, Japanese Breakfast), rock (Glass Animals), country (Jimmie Allen) and global (Arooj Aftab).

Five of this year’s top six nominees are past or present best new artist nominees. They are Doja Cat (a 2020 nominee in the category), Bieber (2010), H.E.R. (2018), Eilish (2019) and Rodrigo (2021). Of the top six nominees, only Batiste has not been nominated for best new artist.

In the high-profile producer of the year, non-classical category, Jack Antonoff and Ricky Reed were each nominated for the third time; Mike Elizondo, for the second. Two producers received their first nods in the category – Rogét Chahayed and Hit-Boy (Chauncey Alexander Hollis). Chahayed is also nominated for record of the year for co-producing the irresistible Doja Cat/SZA smash “Kiss Me More.”

It’s always interesting when artists are nominated in marquee categories but are passed over for nods in down-ballot categories with the same work. Three record of the year nominees were passed over for nods in their performance categories. They are (together with the performance category in which they were snubbed): Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” (best pop solo performance), ABBA’s “I Still Have Faith in You” (best pop duo/group performance) and Batiste’s “Freedom” (best R&B performance).

Lil Nas X’s Montero was also passed over for a nod for best pop vocal album but wound up with a nod for album of the year.