By AFRO Staff
The Beyhive is all abuzz: Their Queen could emerge from the 2023 Grammy Awards on Feb. 5 as its most decorated artist ever.
Beyoncé leads all the show’s nominees with nine nods, including for Album of the Year for “Renaissance,” the singer’s homage to Black and queer club culture. And she has already won in two of those nine categories. During the Grammys pre-telecast ceremony, Beyoncé won for the first time ever in the best dance-electronic music recording category for “Break My Soul.” She also won for best traditional R&B performance for “Plastic Off the Sofa.”
The Queen Bey has garnered 88 nominations and 28 Grammys throughout her career and only needs four more wins to make history by bypassing Hungarian-British composer Georg Solti as the artist with the most Grammys. (Solti won his record-breaking 31st Grammy in 1997, according to The AP.)
On her coattails is rapper Kenrick Lamar, who received eight nominations, including Album of the Year for his “Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers.” Lamar will also face off with Queen Bey in the Record of the Year and Song of the Year categories for his “The Heart Part 5” and Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul.”
Fans of Mary J. Blige also will be excited to know that the “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul” joins Beyoncé and Lamar in the running for Album of the Year with her well-received “Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe).” It is Blige’s first nomination in that category, though she is no stranger to the Grammys stage, racking up 37 nominations and nine wins. Blige will also perform at the Feb. 5 show, which promises to be one of the night’s highlights.
In another moment of Black excellence, acclaimed Black actress Viola Davis can now officially claim the title of EGOT — a term for those who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony — after she won for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording during the pre-show awards. The actor gave an emotional speech and emphatically said “I just EGOT” after she marched on stage to collect her award for her memoir, “Finding Me.”
“Oh, my God,” she said. “I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola, to honor her, her life, her joy, her trauma, everything,” Davis said. “It has just been such a journey.”
It is Davis’ first Grammy Award nomination, but hardly the first recognition for her body of work. She won a 2015 Emmy for her role in ABC’s “How to Get Away With Murder,” a 2017 Oscar for “Fences” and has two Tony wins for 2001’s “King Hedley II” and 2010’s “Fences.”
Perhaps one of the most anticipated highlights of the show is a star-studded commemoration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. Questlove will serve as musical director and co-producer for a tribute that will feature LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel, Method Man, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott, Lil Wayne, Lil Baby, DJ Jazzy Jeff and many others.
Other hip-hop performances will include Migos member Quavo in collaboration with gospel collective, Maverick City Music. The performance will pay tribute to Quavo’s late groupmate and nephew, Takeoff, who was shot and killed last November at age 28, and shine a spotlight on gun violence.
Additionally, DJ Khaled will bring his vibes to the stage with a performance of his nominated single, “God Did,” featuring Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, John Legend and Fridayy.
This year’s Grammys have also introduced several new categories, including Songwriter of the Year, Best Alternative Music Performance, Best Spoken Word Poetry Album, Best Americana Music Performance and Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media.
Trevor Noah, who made late-night audiences laugh for seven years as host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” will helm the Grammys live show for the third time. The show will telecast live from downtown Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS and Paramount+. The show also will include performances by Bad Bunny, Sam Smith and Lizzo.
This year’s show marks a return to Los Angeles after the pandemic first delayed, then forced the Grammys to move to Las Vegas last year. Noah hosted the ceremony as well, which saw Jon Batiste take home album of the year.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.