A Guide to the 2017 Grammys

Entertainment awards season is upon us, with the Golden Globes having already handed out awards a few weeks ago to the years greatest actors (congrats, Donald Glover!) and the Oscars fast approaching on February 26. While these two ceremonies have categories for music, composition, and scoring, the most coveted awards in music are definitely the Grammys, which will be handed out on February 12. Below you will find need-to-know information about the show, including nominations, performances, and presenters. 

This year, the Grammys have replaced long time host LL Cool J and are set to be hosted by James Corden, the late night talk show British expat that has gained popularity through the “Carpool Karaoke” segment of his show, which has featured big name artists such as Beyoncé, Adele, and Lady Gaga singing along to songs on the radio.

There are 83 (!) categories for the awards, and therefore 83 individual awards that are up for grabs the night of February 12. Most of these awards are given out in a pre-show ceremony that isn’t televised, and some of these categories are a little unexpected, like Best Spoken Word Album, which was actually won by President Obama in 2006 and 2008!

Performers for the ceremony were just announced this morning, and include hard rock staple Metallica, country crooners Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood, as well as John Legend. Metallica, Urban, and Underwood are all nominated for awards at this year’s ceremony.

Now for the most important part: the nominations. Beyoncé leads the pack, with a total of 9 nominations for her smash hit album Lemonade, which broke and set records across the board this year. She is expected to take the award in most of the categories she’s nominated for, which include Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Music Video of the Year. Drake and Rihanna follow closely behind, with 8 nominations each, then hometown hero Chance the Rapper with 7, and Adele with 5 nominations. As usual, Kanye West is also a contender in many categories, with 8 nominations this year. Sadly, Frank Ocean purposely released Blonde too late to be considered for nomination shortlisting, meaning that he isn’t nominated at all this year. Here is a full list of all the 2017 nominations.

So in the next few weeks leading up to the ceremony, give these records a listen, find your favorites (I’m personally pulling for Chance all the way), and hope for the best on awards night!