“If it’s meant to be, it’ll be,” sing Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line on their country collaboration “Meant to Be.” But we’re not so sure it’s meant to be at the Grammys, where the song is up for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. Despite its crossover success, it trails in our racetrack odds, which have been determined by combining the predictions of thousands of Gold Derby users. Instead, we think Grammy voters would rather have a stiff drink: “Tequila” by Dan and Shay.
“Meant to Be” made history as the longest-running number-one hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart: 50 weeks on top — almost an entire year. It also reached number-two on the Hot 100 singles chart that tracks hits from all genres. Country songs that do so well on the pop charts often do well at the Grammys too, like Record of the Year winners “Not Ready to Make Nice” by the Dixie Chicks (2007) and “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum (2011), but “Meant to Be” wasn’t nominated in the general field. It’s not even nominated for Best Country Song. This is its only nomination.
“Meant to Be” even lost both of its nominations at the Country Music Association Awards last fall: Single of the Year and Musical Event of the Year. So even the country music industry proved ambivalent about the hit. Meanwhile, Dan and Shay enjoyed the biggest hit of their careers with “Tequila,” which was their first number-one hit on the Hot Country Songs chart, even though it didn’t cross over quite the way “Meant to Be” did. It earned the duo their first Grammy nominations: Best Country Duo/Group Performance and Best Country Song.
Dan and Shay may also have the benefit of being an established duo instead of an artist collaboration. In the last seven years this award only went to a collaboration once: in 2017 when it went to Pentatonix and Dolly Parton‘s rendition of “Jolene.” All that leads our users to favor “Tequila” for the prize. It gets leading odds of 16/5, though “Meant to Be” is a close second with 37/10 odds.
The Expert journalists we’ve polled as of this writing are split down the middle between the two tunes. However, our Top 24 Users, who got the highest scores predicting last year’s Grammy winners, overwhelmingly pick “Tequila.” So do our All-Star Top 24 who got the highest scores predicting Grammy champs over the last two years. So maybe it really is “Meant to Be,” but there’s a good chance the recording academy will order a round of something else.
Be sure to make your Grammy predictions so that Hollywood record executives and top name stars can see how their music is faring in our Grammy odds. Don’t be afraid to jump in now since you can keep changing your predictions until winners are announced on Sunday, February 10. And join in the fierce debate over the 2019 Grammys taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our music forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
