SZA tops nominees with 9 nods for 66th Annual Grammy Awards

In a big morning for female artists, SZA topped all nominees Friday for the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, scoring a total of nine nominations, including spots in the top categories of album, song and record of the year.

Also sweeping their way into all three top categories were Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and Jon Batiste.

Phoebe Bridgers, Serban Ghenea and Victoria Monét each collected a total of seven nominations, followed by Jack Antonoff, Batiste, boygenius, Brandy Clark, Cyrus, Eilish, Rodrigo and Swift, who each earned six.

SZA’s “SOS” and Swift’s “Midnights” are considered the top contenders for the big prize of Album of the Year. If Swift takes home the award, she will become the first artist in Grammy history to win the honor four times. She previously won for “Fearless,” “1989” and “Folklore.” Swift is already the only female artist to win the award three times. The others to accomplish the feat are Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon.

Also nominated for Album of the Year were Batiste for “World Music Radio,” boygenius for “The Record,” Cyrus for “Endless Summer Vacation,” Lana Del Rey for “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” Janelle Monáe for “The Age of Pleasure” and Rodrigo for “Guts.”

Record of the Year nominations went to Batiste for “Worship,” boygenius for “Not Strong Enough,” Cyrus for “Flowers,” Eilish for “What Was I Made For? (From the Motion Picture `Barbie’),” Victoria Monét for “On My Mama,” Rodrigo for “Vampire,” Swift for “Anti-Hero” and SZA for “Kill Bill.”

Nominations for Song of the Year, which is awarded to the songwriter, went to Lana Del Rey’s “A&W,” Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” Batiste’s “Butterfly,” Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” Cyrus’ “Flowers,” SZA’s “Kill Bill,” Rodrigo’s “Vampire” and Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”

Competing for Best New Artist will be Gracie Abrams, Fred Again, Ice Spice, Jelly Roll, Coco Jones, Noah Kahan, Victoria Monét, The War and Treat.

Competition for the top categories was a little tougher this year, since the Santa Monica-based Recording Academy reduced the number of nominees from 10 to eight.

The Grammy nominations were announced during a virtual ceremony that included Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Jimmy Jam, Jon Bon Jovi, Jeff Tweedy and “Weird Al” Yankovic, along with “CBS Mornings” co-hosts Gayle King, Nate Burleson and Tony Dokoupil.

The Grammy Award ceremony — dubbed “Music’s Biggest Night” — will be held Feb. 4 at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.

“We are thrilled to kick off Grammy season with this year’s diverse and genre-bending slate of nominees, representing the best of their craft and an incredible year of music,” Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “From breakthrough acts to legacy artists, we are amazed by all the musicians recognized for their outstanding contributions to music today. We can’t wait to spotlight these remarkable creators and celebrate another amazing year in music on Feb. 4.”

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