Women nearly completely dominate the list of nominees for the 2024 Grammys, occupying almost all the spots in some of the top categories. In fact, in three of the four top fields, only one man manages to find space alongside some of the most celebrated and successful women in the music industry.
In Record, Song, and Album of the Year, Jon Batiste is the only male artist to appear. He scores nods in all three fields, standing out as a rarity among the many women who also created great work in the past tracking period.
Many of the same women appear in all three categories thanks to high-profile releases. Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Rodrigo and SZA all earn nods for Record, Song and Album of the Year this time around. Billie Eilish is back in both Record and Song of the Year, looking to win both prizes again. Lana Del Rey is present in both Song and Album of the Year, hoping to collect her first-ever trophies.
Of course, there are plenty of men working behind the scenes who are nominated in all three of these categories. Producers, songwriters, mixers and engineers all earn nods alongside the more famous names that front albums and songs when they’re nominated for various prizes, such as Record or Song of the Year. The focus is, of course, on the artists who front these projects, who this time around, are almost all women.
Outside of the big four categories, women are still in charge in some other fields as well. Female artists occupy all five spots in Best Pop Solo Performance, and they make up eight of the 10 artists up for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Only one man snags a Best Pop Vocal Album nod.
Of course, there are other genres, like rock, dance and rap, which are still predominantly led by men and male-fronted groups. They are not all entirely dominated by male acts, but it’s clear that women control pop music right now–at least according to the Grammys.
This level of representation for female talents is in stark contrast to only a few years ago when so many men were nominated, it caused a controversy. In 2018, then-leader of the Recording Academy Neil Portnow said to journalists, “I think it has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls — who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, producers, and want to be part of the industry on the executive level —to step up, because I think they would be welcome.” That comment was criticized by many, and Portnow stepped down from his position not much later, though not necessarily because of that statement.
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