The Grammys make history with all-female 2021 nominees for Best Rock Performance
Female artists also snagged all the nominations for Best Country Album.
Photo: Rich Fury / Getty Images
For the first time in history, all 2021 Grammy nominees for the category of Best Rock Performance are women.
Female solo artists and bands fronted by a female singer make up all six nominations of the usually male-dominated award category. It marks a watershed in Grammys and rock music history: the category has only been won once by a female artist in over 10 years, when the Alabama Shakes picked up the award in 2016 for their single Don’t Wanna Fight.
Three of five nominations for this year’s Best Rock Song and Best Alternative Album were also won by female artists.
The 2021 nominees for Best Rock Performance include Fiona Apple for Shameika, Phoebe Bridgers for Kyoto, HAIM for The Steps, Brittany Howard for Stay High, Grace Potter for Daylight and Big Thief, fronted by Adrienne Lenker, for Not.
Rock isn’t the only genre where female artists were dominating in nominations; all five nominations for Best Country Album were similarly won by women. Contending to win the division are Ingrid Andress for Lady Like, Brandy Clark for Your Life Is A Record, Miranda Lambert for Wildcard, Little Big Town for Nightfall and Ashley McBryde for Never Will
Meanwhile, Beyoncé leads in overall nominations for the 63rd Grammys with nine in total; Queen Bey is now tied with Paul McCartney as the second most-nominated artist of all time, behind rapper Jay-Z and legendary producer Quincy Jones, who each have 80 career nominations.
The results show for the 2021 Grammy Awards will be broadcast on 31 January.
See the full list of nominees at grammy.com
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