Grammys 2023: How to watch on TV and live, and what to expect on music’s biggest night of the year

The 65th edition Grammy Awards will be live on Sunday, February 5, honoring the best in the music industry, with comedian Trevor Noah returning as a guest. The show promises a full lineup of contemporary stars, iconic veterans and up-and-coming newcomers, and will include special performances by big names to celebrate hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.

The Grammys will air live from Los Angeles, starting at 8 p.m. ET Sunday, on CBS television channels and will stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

Beyonce son this year’s nominees, with nine nods from the Recording Academy. Kendrick Lamar is close behind with eight.

All eyes will be on a handful of races for top Grammy honors – and the results may prove less predictable than usual, for more than one reason.

Responding to public calls for inclusion, both front and back, The Recording Academy has undergone significant change in recent years. The academy’s electoral base, previously accused of racial and gender biaschanged dramatically last fall, when it welcomed a new membership class “composed of nearly 2,000 diverse creators and music professionals,” the organization said in a statement at the time, which noted that the move was part of a conscious and ongoing effort to continue “cultivating a community that embodies the ethnicities, genres and crafts that fuel the music industry”.

Sunday’s Grammys will be only the second to include more nominees – 10 – in each of the four major categories: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist . The Recording Academy has announced plans to increase the number of places from eight to 10 nominees in these categories at the end of 2021.

The competition is particularly tough this year. Here are the records, albums and artists to watch in the Big Four categories of the Grammys.

Disc of the year

The Grammy for Record of the Year considers the single-track artist, as well as the producers, recording engineers, mixers and mastering engineers who helped bring it to life. This year’s nominees, all of whom are also nominated for performance awards in their respective genres, include a number of industry legends.

Perhaps the most contentious rivalry – in this category as well as several others – will be between Adele and Beyoncé, who are once again battling it out for multiple awards. In this category, Adele’s ‘Easy On Me’, a critically adored ballad and the first single from her latest album ’30’, takes on Beyoncé’s dance-hall anthem ‘BREAK MY SOUL’, from “Renaissance,” which met with equally widespread success.

This is the ninth time Beyoncé has been nominated in this category, an all-time high, despite never having won before. Adele, this year’s two-time winner and only nominee who has already taken home the Record of the Year award, would join the ranks of Paul Simon and Bruno Mars in a tie for the most wins in the category’s history if she were to win a third time this Sunday.

Several other Record of the Year nominees also have a chance to win. The contenders are: “Don’t Shut Me Down” by ABBA, “Good Morning Gorgeous” by Mary J. Blige, “You And Me On The Rock” by Brandi Carlile featuring Lucius, “Woman” by Doja Cat, “Bad Habit” by Steve Lacy, “The Heart Part 5” by Kendrick Lamar, “About Damn Time” by Lizzo and “As It Was” by Harry Styles.

Alongside ‘Easy on Me’ and ‘BREAK MY SOUL’, a number of other nominated records were commercial hits, with ‘Bad Habit’, ‘About Damn Time’, ‘As It Was’ and ‘Woman’ at some time. in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone placed Lacy’s “Bad Habit” at No. 3 on its list of the 100 Best Songs of 2022.

Carlile, Lamar and Doja Cat have each been nominated twice before in this category, while ABBA, due to their highly anticipated four-decade comeback album, Blige and Lizzo have each been nominated once in the past seasons of rewards. Lucius, Lacy and Styles are nominated for record of the year for the first time.

album of the year

Album of the Year – an award given to artists, featured artists and songwriters of new material, as well as producers, recording engineers, mixers and mastering engineers – will be chosen from a pool of almost identical to nominations for Recording of the Year.

The nominees in this category are: “Voyage” by ABBA, “30” by Adele, “Un Verano Sin Ti” by Bad Bunny, “RENAISSANCE” by Beyoncé, “Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe)” by Mary J. Blige , “In These Silent Days” by Brandi Carlile, “Music Of The Spheres” by Coldplay, “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” by Kendrick Lamar, “Special” by Lizzo and “Harry’s House” by Harry Styles.

Many of this year’s nominees for Album of the Year have received previous nominations in the same category – this is Beyoncé’s fourth nomination, Adele and Coldplay’s third, and Carlile and Lizzo’s second. But Adele, who won the award for her last two studio albums, ’21’ and ’25’, is the only current nominee to have won the award before.

She somewhat notoriously won album of the year for “25” against Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” in 2017, a decision that sparked public backlash and accusations of bias against the Recording Academy. Even Adele seemed to disagree with the decision, saying in her acceptance speech: “The artist of my life is Beyoncé. ‘Lemonade’ was so monumental, Beyoncé, and so well thought out and so beautiful and so moving and we all got to see a different side of you. … I love you and I t always love I have and always will have.”

Making history in the running for album of the year 2023 is Bad Bunny, whose fourth studio album “Un Verano Sin Ti” – a chart-topping sensation and a critical acclaim, which held No. 1 on Billboard 200 for 13 consecutive weeks and whose hit single, “Titi Me Preguntó” leads Rolling Stone’s Best of 2022 compilation – is the first Spanish-language album ever nominated for this Grammys award.

song of the year

The Song of the Year award is given to songwriters, for singles or tracks that were released or first rose to prominence during a given Grammys eligibility period.

This year’s nominees are: “abcdefu” by GAYLE, “About Damn Time” by Lizzo, “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film)” by Taylor Swift, “As It Was” by Harry Styles, ” Bad Habit” by Steve Lacy, “BREAK MY SOUL” by Beyoncé, “Easy On Me” by Adele, “GOD DID” by DJ Khaled featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend and Fridayy, “The Heart Part 5” by Kendrick Lamar and “Just Like That” by Bonnie Raitt.

Swift has now received six Song of the Year nominations, despite never winning a Grammy in that particular category. Adele, meanwhile, won twice — for “Rolling in the Deep” on “21” and “Hello” on “25” — but, like her album of the year acceptance speech in 2017, the artist dedicated his remarks after winning Song of the Year for “Hello” to Beyoncé, who was nominated for “Formation.”

Beyoncé last won Song of the Year in 2010, for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”.

Best New Artist

The coveted Grammys Best New Artist honor is given annually to a performer whose music “has made a breakthrough in public consciousness and has notably had an impact on the musical landscape” during the eligibility period of a given season, according to the Recording Academy. It’s the award frequently recognized for propelling a newcomer to stardom, with past winners including Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Adele, Sam Smith, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and Megan Thee Stallion .

For the first time since 2017, none of the year’s Grammy nominees for Best New Artist received nominations in the other four categories.

The nominees for Best New Artist are: Anitta, Omar Apollo, DOMi & JD Beck, Muni Long, Samara Joy, Latto, Måneskin, Tobe Nwigwe, Molly Tuttle and Wet Leg.

Several contenders are also competing in the top album categories, with Wet Leg’s “Wet Let” nominated for Best Alternative Music Album; “Crooked Tree,” by Tuttle, nominated for Best Bluegrass Album; “Linger Awhile,” by Joy, nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album; and “Not Tight,” by DOMi & JD Beck, nominated for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.

Latto’s “Big Energy,” the rapper’s hit single from her “777” album, is also independently nominated in the Grammys category for Best Melodic Rap Performance. The popular track’s resounding success on the charts sets Latto apart from its top new artist competitors, although only two female rappers, Lauryn Hill and Megan Thee Stallion, have ever won in this category.

How to watch the 2023 Grammys

• What: The 65th Annual Grammy Awards
• Date: Sunday, February 5, 2023
• Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT
• Location: Nokia Theater, Los Angeles
• On TV: CBS TV stations – find your local station here
• Online stream: Live and on demand on Paramount+

The Grammys pre-streaming ceremony, at which many awards will also be announced, will take place from 4-6:30 p.m. ET and can be streamed live here on the Grammys website.