Beyonce’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ lifts her to top of Grammy nominations list

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Superstar singer Beyonce dominated the list of Grammy Award contenders unveiled on Friday, earning 11 nods including an album of the year nomination for her venture into country Music, “Cowboy Carter.”

Behind Beyonce, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Kendrick Lamar and Post Malone tied with seven nominations each. Pop phenomenon Taylor Swift and newcomers Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter scored six each.

Women dominated the album of the year category, the top Grammy honor. Beyonce, winner of more Grammys over her career than any other artist, has never taken home the album trophy. Swift has won the honor four times and is in the running again with her breakup album “The Tortured Poets Department.”

At the awards ceremony in February, the Beyonce and Swift records will compete with Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet,” “Brat” from Charli XCX, Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” and Roan’s “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.”

The two male artists nominated in the album field were rapper Andre 3000 with “New Blue Sun” and jazz artist Jacob Collier for “Djesse Vol. 4.”

Winners will be chosen by the roughly 13,000 singers, songwriters, producers, engineers and others who make up the Recording Academy.

Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter” was viewed by experts and fans as a reclamation and homage to an overlooked legacy of Black Americans within country music and culture. It became the first album by a Black woman to land at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart when it was released last spring.

The Beyonce album was snubbed, however, by voters for the Country Music Awards in September.

Beyonce’s other Grammy nods included record and song of the year for single “Texas Hold ‘Em.” Her 11 nominations brought her lifetime total to 99, more than any other artist. Prior to Friday, she had been tied for the lead with her husband, rapper Jay-Z, who has 88.

In the best new artist field, “Espresso” singer Carpenter will face fellow pop singer Roan, pop-rock singer Benson Boone, hip-hop/country artist Shaboozey, multi-genre musician Teddy Swims and others.

Another name on the Grammy nominations list? The Beatles. “Now and Then,” produced with artificial intelligence to bring the voice of John Lennon to life, was nominated for song of the year.