2013 Grammy Nominations

Set to take place on Sunday February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the 2013 Grammy Awards have been a hot topic since the nominations were released at a glittering event on December 5 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Three new categories have been added to this, the 55th edition of what is widely considered to be the most important music event of the year – Best Latin Jazz Album, Best Classical Compendium and Best Urban Contemporary Album – bringing the total number of awards to 81. The 55th Annual Grammy Awards will be hosted by LL Cool J and will be broadcast on CBS.

Last year, Adele stole the show, claiming six Grammy awards including Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year. This year’s Album of the Year nominees include Mumford & Sons with Babel, Frank Ocean with channel ORANGE, The Black Keys with El Camino, fun. with Some Nights and Jack White with Blunderbuss. Having sold 600,000 copies in its first week of sales Babel appears to be one of the favorites among fans and was reportedly given the thumbs-up by chairman of S-Curve Records, Steve Greenberg.

American Idol winners Kelly Clarkson (season 1) and Carrie Underwood (season 4) have been nominated for a number of Grammys between them, confirming that American Idol serves a valuable role in uncovering new talent. Clarkson has been nominated for both Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You), and Best Pop Vocal Album for Stronger. The songwriters for the title song – Jörgen Elofsson, Ali Tamposi, David Gamson, and Greg Kurstin – have been nominated for Song of the Year. Underwood has been nominated for Best Country Solo Performance for Blown Away. The song has also earned a nomination for songwriters Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins. Best New Artist nominees are Alabama Shakes, fun., Hunter Hayes, Frank Ocean and The Lumineers. Of these, fun. and Frank Ocean are also nominees for Album of the Year. Multiple nominees include Jay-Z, Kanye West, Frank Ocean, Dan Auerback, Mumford & Sons and fun. – each with six Grammy nominations.