The Grammys are on February 12, less than two weeks from now, and you can predict 32 categories that are being handed out by the recording academy (visit our predictions center now if you haven’t already). We’re predicting a good night for Beyonce, who leads the nominations with nine, but just how good will it be? Will she be the most awarded artist of the evening? Vote in our poll at the bottom of this post, and discuss who will come out on top in our forums.
Sign up to get Gold Derby’s free newsletter with experts’ latest predictions and breaking news
In the general field, Beyonce faces strong challenges from Adele for Record, Song and Album of the Year. Adele has won all of those awards before, and her latest album “25” and single “Hello” are undeniable blockbusters. But Adele only has five nominations overall, so even if she pulls off a clean sweep, that may not necessarily be enough to make her the evening’s top artist.
Meanwhile, Drake has eight nominations. Two of those are in the general field: Record of the Year for “Work” with Rihanna and Album of the Year for “Views.” He’s not projected to win either of those, but since he’s the only rap artist nominated in the top category he may have an advantage against his rivals in his rap and R&B fields.
Dish the Grammy nominations with Hollywood insiders in our notorious forums
Rihanna has eight nominations of her own, from Record of the Year all the way down to Best Recording Package. We don’t expect her to win in the general field — she’s up for Record as well as Album as a featured artist on “Views” — but she has plenty of chances elsewhere, especially in R&B categories, where the recording academy mysteriously snubbed Beyonce for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song, which could clear the way for Rihanna victories.
Chance the Rapper could also translate his general-field love into triumphs in rap races. The critically acclaimed breakthrough star is up for Best New Artist and has six more nominations in genre categories. His only problem is that he’s nominated three times for Best Rap Song, so like Adele the best he can do is five wins, unless there’s a tie for Best Rap Song and he takes home multiple trophies there.
Photo Gallery: Biggest Grammy Winners of All Time
Kanye West doesn’t have any nominations in the general field for his own work as an artist, but he’s all over the rap categories for music from his album “The Life of Pablo” in addition to collaborations with Drake and Chance. His eight nominations include a clean sweep of rap categories — Rap Performance, Rap/Sung Performance, Rap Song, Rap Album — as well as another for Album of the Year as a producer of Drake’s “Views.”But again, multiple nominations in some categories mean the best he can do is five, barring ties.
Who do you think will be the most awarded artist? Read some of our forum posters’ thoughts below, then vote in our poll and join the discussion in our message boards.
Photo Gallery: Top 20 Artists Who Never Won a Grammy
Gagamon: “Adele basically has won already two Grammys (Pop Album & Pop Solo) + she may be winning SOTY + ROTY, so I think Adele is winning four Grammys. Beyonce is 100% winning Rap/Sung Perf, Music Video, Music Film and Best Urban Contemporary Album + a very likely AOTY, so I think Beyonce is winning at least five Grammys. Drake’s album is the only rap album nominated for AOTY this year, so he may be winning at least Best Rap Album. He could be winning at least three awards. And Rihanna is also winning at least two to three awards.”
Seven: “Chance is campaigning so hard. I actually believe that he’ll go home with multiple awards.”
PoweR: “I don’t think Chance campaigning means he will win anything. Grammy campaigning isn’t really a thing with voters. It’s a nice try for him though. I do think there’s a chance he would be the Kacey Musgraves of the rap field. I think his best chance at any wins is either Rap Album and/or Best New Artist. We’ll see if they pull a Kendrick Lamar/Drake (in their debut years) on him [and shut him out completely].”
JohnnyAppleSeed: “Beyonce (four): AOTY, Urban Contemporary, Music Film and Music Video. Adele (four): ROTY, SOTY, Pop Solo, Pop Vocal Album. Drake (four): Rap Album, Rap Perf and Rap/Sung, Rap Song (Bey could possibly upset him in Rap/Sung). Rihanna (three): R&B Performance (Solange could upset but ‘Cranes’ feels too lightweight), R&B Song and Recording Package.”
Make your Grammy predictions now; change them till Feb. 12
Gold Derby readers just like YOU often turn out to be our smartest prognosticators, so it’s important that you give us your predictions. You can continue to update and change your forecasts as often as you like before winner are announced on Feb. 12. Just click “Save” when you’ve settled on your choices. You’ll compete to win a $100 Amazon gift certificate, bragging rights and a place of honor on our leaderboard. Our racetrack odds change as you make your predictions, just as they do when you bet on the Emmys, Oscars, Golden Globes and more. Be sure to read our contest rules and sound off on the Grammy race in our music forum.
