songwriter

Neil Sedaka, an irrepressible songsmith who parlayed his compositional skills into pop stardom during the height of the Brill Building era in the 1960s and later staged an easy-listening comeback in the 1970s, has died at age 86. No cause of death was immediately available.

A chipper melodicist who never attempted to disguise his sentimental streak, Sedaka emerged at the moment rock ’n’ roll’s initial big bang started to fizzle. As a songwriter and performer, Sedaka treated rock ’n’ roll as another fad to be exploited, crafting cheerful, vivacious tunes targeted at teens who’d bop along to “Stupid Cupid” and swoon to “Where the Boys Are,” to name two songs he and lyricist Howard Greenfield wrote for early-’60s pop idol Connie Francis. Sedaka himself became a star through such bright confections as “Calendar Girl,” “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen” and “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” the 1962 chart-topper that became his signature song.

Already falling out of fashion by the time the Beatles arrived in the United States, Sedaka didn’t weather the rise of the British Invasion: By the end of the 1960s, his lack of a record label caused him to leave the States for England. Unlike his Brill Building peer Carole King — he wrote “Oh! Carol,” his first big hit, about her — Sedaka wasn’t able to refashion himself as a hip singer-songwriter. Instead, he relied on showbiz hustle and savvy commercial instincts, teaming up with the musicians that became the iconoclastic hitmakers 10cc on records that positioned Sedaka squarely in the soft-rock mainstream. Elton John signed the veteran vocalist to his fledgling label Rocket and Sedaka immediately had two No. 1 hits with “Laughter in the Rain” and “Bad Blood,” a success compounded by Captain & Tennille taking “Love Will Keep Us Together,” a tune from one of Sedaka’s albums with 10cc, to No. 1 in 1975.

Sedaka’s second stint in the spotlight didn’t last much longer than his first flush of stardom — by 1980, he was no longer a Top 40 artist — but his ’70s comeback cemented his status as a showbiz fixture, allowing him to carve out a career onstage and, at times, onscreen. Occasionally, the world would turn and place Sedaka back in the mainstream, as when he appeared on “American Idol” in the early 2000s or when his 1971 composition “(Is This the Way to) Amarillo?” was rejiggered into the World Cup novelty anthem (“(Is This the Way to) The World Cup”) in 2006.

Neil Sedaka in 1960.

(Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

A descendant of Turkish and Ashkenazi Jews, Neil Sedaka was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on March 13, 1939. Growing up in Brighton Beach, Sedaka exhibited a musical proclivity at an early age, earning a piano scholarship to Juilliard’s children’s division when he was 8 years old. He studied classical piano for the next few years, his ears being drawn to pop music all the while. At the age of 13, he happened to meet a neighbor when they were both vacationing at a Catskills resort. She brought him to meet her son, an aspiring lyricist named Howard Greenfield, and the pair quickly became a songwriting team, with Greenfield writing the words and Sedaka handling the music.

As Sedaka and Greenfield developed their creative partnership, Sedaka sang in the Linc-Tones, a vocal group that evolved into the Tokens just prior to his departure; he left them prior to their hit single “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” Although he didn’t abandon his dreams of performing, Sedaka concentrated on songwriting with Greenfield. Attempting to gain a foothold in the Brill Building, the pair first caught the attention of Jerry Wexler, who had Clyde McPhatter and LaVern Baker cut a couple of their tunes. Mort Shuman and Doc Pomus suggested to Sedaka and Greenfield that they would have better luck at 1650 Broadway, where Al Nevins and Don Kirshner had just opened their publishing company Aldon Music.

Aldon signed Sedaka and Greenfield to a publishing deal — still a minor, Sedaka needed his mother to sign in his stead — and the pair had their first big hit when Connie Francis took “Stupid Cupid” into the Top 20 in 1958. Not long after, Sedaka signed with RCA Records as a performer. “The Diary,” inspired by Francis refusing Sedaka and Greenfield access to her diary, became Sedaka’s first hit single in 1958 after the doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials passed on the chance to record it first. Sedaka had difficulty delivering a successful sequel to his initial hit for RCA, so he constructed “Oh! Carol” to mimic the lovelorn yet sweet sounds filling the charts in 1959. Sedaka’s gambit paid off: “Oh! Carol” was a Top 10 hit, popular enough to generate an answer record — King’s husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote “Oh! Neil,” which failed to be a hit for King.

With many of rock ’n’ roll’s initial stars waylaid — Elvis Presley was in the Army, Chuck Berry was embroiled in legal problems, Little Richard left the music behind for church, Jerry Lee Lewis’s career imploded — Sedaka stepped into the breach, offering well-scrubbed, buoyant tunes designed to mirror teenage concerns. “Stairway to Heaven,” “Calendar Girl,” “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” and “Next Door to an Angel” all bounced to a bright beat and boasted ornate arrangements that highlighted Sedaka’s youthful cheer.

While he was ensconced in the Top 10, Sedaka continued to write hits for other artists, remaining a regular composer for Francis but also reaching the charts with Jimmy Clanton. He’d occasionally moonlight in the studio too: He plays piano on “Dream Lover,” one of Bobby Darin‘s biggest hits.

By the time the Beatles and the British Invasion took over teen bedrooms and the pop charts in 1964, Sedaka’s hit-making streak had run dry. Panicked, he recorded “It Hurts to Be in Love,” an operatic pop song co-written by Greenfield and Helen Miller. Rushing into a nearby demo studio, Sedaka cut a version that was ready for radio, but RCA refused to release it, on the grounds that it only released records made in its studios. Gene Pitney took the track, subbed his vocals for Sedaka’s and wound up with a Top 10 hit at a time Sedaka couldn’t break the Top 40. Sedaka later claimed, “It was horrible. That would have been my No. 1 song, my comeback song.”

After his deal with RCA expired in 1966, Sedaka started playing hotels in the Catskills and clubs on the East Coast, venues that grew progressively smaller with each passing year. He continued to get work as a songwriter, penning songs for the Monkees (“The Girl I Left Behind Me,” “When Love Comes Knockin’ at Your Door”) with lyricist Carole Bayer, and the 5th Dimension (“Workin’ on a Groovy Thing”) with Roger Atkins.

Faced with dwindling prospects in the United States, Sedaka began to regularly tour England and Australia in the late 1960s. By the dawn of the ’70s, he realized that the times had changed around him: “The era of the singer-songwriter had begun and I was being left behind. I needed to be part of it. I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted it with a vengeance!” He returned to RCA with “Emergence,” a mellow record designed to follow King’s “Tapestry” onto the radio, but that airplay never materialized: Sedaka was still seen as a relic of the early ’60s.

Olivia Newton-John and Neil Sedaka performing in a BBC television studio in 1971.

(Warwick Bedford/Radio Times via Getty Images)

Frustrated with the disinterest in “Emergence,” Sedaka decamped to the U.K., working its club circuit until he was introduced to Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley, a group of British pop veterans who soon would form the art-pop outfit 10cc. The quartet brought Sedaka into their Strawberry Studios — a place where they recorded a number of bizarre bubble-gum hits under such pseudonyms as Crazy Elephant and Hotlegs — and backed him on 1972’s “Solitaire” album, whose title track was his first collaboration with lyricist Phil Cody; it’d later be covered by Elvis Presley.

“Solitaire” gave Sedaka his first U.K. hit in nearly a decade with “That’s When the Music Takes Me.” Encouraged, the singer-songwriter reunited with 10cc in 1973 for “The Tra-La-La Days are Over,” an album that featured the bubbly “Love Will Keep Us Together.” By the time Sedaka released “Laughter in the Rain” in 1974, he had severed ties with 10cc and found a new benefactor in Elton John.

Then at the height of his phenomenal 1970s popularity, John signed Sedaka to his recently launched American imprint Rocket Records. Rocket repackaged highlights from the 10cc records as “Sedaka’s Back,” adding “Laughter in the Rain” for good measure. The lush number slowly worked its way up the charts, eventually reaching No. 1 on Billboard in 1975. “Bad Blood,” a lively duet with an uncredited Elton John, followed “Laughter in the Rain” to the top of the pop charts later in ’75, arriving just after Captain & Tennille had a No. 1 with “Love Will Keep Us Together.”

Elton John and Neil Sedaka in 1975.

(Richard E. Aaron/Redferns via Getty Images)

Sedaka’s comeback cooled as quickly as it had ignited. He reached the lower rungs of the Top 40 a couple of times in 1976, parted ways with Rocket, then signed to Elektra in 1977, releasing a series of records that found him countering his satiny easy listening with a louche streak on such songs as “Sleazy Love,” “One Night Stand” and “Junkie for Your Love.”

“Should’ve Never Let You Go,” a duet with his daughter, Dara, became his last charting hit in 1980. He published a memoir, “Laughter in the Rain: My Own Story,” in 1982 and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983. By the mid-’80s, he had drifted toward the oldies circuit, revisiting his hits in the studio and onstage, turning his songbook into stage productions: The jukebox musical “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” arrived in 2005, and the musical biography “Laughter in the Rain” followed five years later. He returned to classical music for 1995’s “Classically Sedaka.” He recorded a collection of Yiddish songs, “Brighton Beach Memories,” in 2003, and a children’s album, “Waking Up Is Hard to Do,” in 2009.

Neil Sedaka performing in 2014.

(Robin Little/Redferns via Getty Images)

Occasionally, Sedaka would reemerge on a bigger stage. In 2003, he showed up as a guest judge on the second season of “American Idol,” declaring its runner-up Clay Aiken was “ear delicious.” A few years later, “(Is This the Way to) Amarillo?,” a bubble-gum song Sedaka wrote and Tony Christie recorded in 1971, was revived in 2006, when it was used as the basis for the novelty “Is This the Way to the World Cup?”

On Oct. 26, 2007, Lincoln Center honored Sedaka’s 50 years in showbiz with a gala concert featuring Natalie Cole, David Foster and Clay Aiken. He continued to work steadily over the next two decades, releasing a handful of new records but focusing on concerts. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, he took his show online, holding mini-concerts on social media.

Sedaka is survived by his wife, Leba, daughter Dara and son Marc, and three grandchildren.

IT’S FAIR to say that Robbie Williams’ iconic song Angels is the most famous of his back catalogue and always gets everyone singing.

However, the man who claims to have originally wrote the song almost 30 years ago has reignited the decades old feud this week as he gave fans the inside story in a slew of new TikTok videos.

Irish singer-songwriter Ray Heffernan has always maintained that he wrote the first version of Angels in 1996.

However, although former Take That star Robbie confirmed that he recorded a demo with Ray, he has maintained he rewrote it significantly with Guy Chambers.

The singer also bought the rights to Angels from Ray for £7,500 before it was released in 1997.

However, over the years there has been a lot of bad blood between the two men concerning the song, and this week the feud over the iconic tune was reignited.

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It came when Robbie appeared on Radio 2 to talk about his debut album, and said: “I spoke a lot about the album I wanted to make, but the one I did make was Life Through A Lens.

“My memories of making it are, it took me less than two weeks with Guy Chambers to write the whole album.

“That didn’t necessarily mean that it was going to be a success. My album came out and it sold 33,000 copies in three months and that is not what EMI expected to do.”

Continuing with his story, the singer said: “I was about to be dropped and then fortunately I dropped The Angels, didn’t I?

“And it gave me the career that I’ve got today. I’m incredibly grateful for that song.”

But it was this last comment that appeared to really annoy Ray.

Sharing a POV video, the songwriter was seen on his couch reacting in response to Robbie’s comment about Angels, as he wagged his finger at the video and tutted with disapproval.

Since then, Ray has been dropping videos on TikTok, where he has been talking about Angels and how he “signed his rights away” to the song.

He also posted a throwback video of Robbie from 1997 where the singer talked about how he “wrote Angels in a couple of hours”.

Ray captioned the short clip with: “Body language never lies.”

The Sun has reached out to representatives of Robbie Williams for comment.

The last time the pair’s Angels feud was reignited was three years ago – again following Rob’s comments about writing the song.

It came after Ray was left incensed after listening to a Gary Barlow podcast in 2023 where the subject of who wrote Angels popped up again.

Robbie told his former Take That bandmate: “I was off my head basically, the record company has spent a lot of money signing me.

“I made a big song and dance about leaving Take That and wanting to do my own thing, and I hadn’t done anything.

“I thought I’d better get down to it, figure out my voice, and whether I can actually do this … I was at my sister’s house in the garden with a pen and a paper and I thought, right then, I’d better come up with something..(so I wrote) ‘I sit and wait .”…

Robbie then reportedly branded Ray a “fantasist” in the comments section of the podcast, after the songwriter revealed he was unhappy with what had been said.

Ray told The Irish Sun at the time: “How can Robbie Williams call me a fantasist?

“I have always maintained that as a young man, I wrote a song with Robbie, that went on to become his hit song Angels and my story of how that came about has never changed.

“Robbie now says publicly that I’m a fantasist. My question is what part of this am I making up?”

Ray also previously shared with The Irish Sun a picture featuring himself, Robbie and his family on the day he says they wrote the song together.

It was during Christmas 1996 when he met the singer in Dublin’s Globe pub.

Later the same evening, Ray claims that he invited Robbie around to his mum’s place to hear a song he’d just written.

Ray recalled: “We didn’t waste any time, starting that night where I got the guitar out in my mum’s house and played him this song I had been working on.

“This picture was taken the next night day when we played this new song. Robbie loved the song so much, he booked a studio to record his own version the next day.”

A few months later, Ray found out that Robbie was going to record Angels for his next album.

“I contacted Robbie’s management and his people said they would give us an amount of money if I signed a waiver denouncing any rights I had to the song,” he told us.

Robbie later worked on the song Angels with songwriter Guy Chambers.

The song went on to become the singer’s biggest selling single to date AND one of the biggest songs of the 90s.

Speaking about selling the rights to the song, Ray said: “I accepted a deal worth £7,500 to pay me for ‘all and any creative input’ into the song.

“I have the legal documents to prove it. So I am not making this up. You could certainly call me a dreamer in life but not a fantasist. I have never lied about this story, and every part of it is true”.

Back in 2017, Robbie defended the decision to pay Ray for Angels.

“We could have gone to court, and it all would have been down to whether what way the judge wakes up that day out of bed … So I gave him some money, and he went away,” the singer said.

Billy Steinberg, who wrote the lyrics to some of the biggest pop hits of the 1980s — including Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” and Heart’s “Alone” — died Monday at his home in Brentwood. He was 75.

His death was confirmed by his lawyer, Laurie Soriano, who said the cause was cancer.

A master of the melodramatic power ballad, Steinberg wrote vividly about the experience of being overwhelmed by love. In “Like a Virgin,” the narrator sings of having been lost in the wilderness — “I was beat, incomplete / I’d been had, I was sad and blue” — only to meet someone who makes the singer feel “shiny and new.” In “Alone,” the narrator lies in a dark room late at night, listening to the clock tick as they ponder an unconfessed infatuation.

“Like a Virgin,” which Steinberg co-wrote with his frequent creative partner Tom Kelly, spent six weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100 in late 1984 and early 1985. With Kelly, Steinberg went on to score four more No. 1s on the Hot 100: “True Colors,” “Alone,” Whitney Houston’s “So Emotional” and the Bangles’ “Eternal Flame.”

Among the other hits he wrote were the Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand by You,” the Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself,” and “I Drove All Night,” which was recorded by both Lauper and Roy Orbison.

Born in Fresno in 1950, Steinberg moved as a child with his family to Palm Springs, where his father had a business growing table grapes in the Coachella Valley. He started writing songs while studying literature at Bard College in the late ’60s. Yet after his junior year he began having severe anxiety attacks and dropped out of school, as he wrote in a 2004 essay posted on his website. He moved home to Palm Springs and worked on his dad’s vineyards, writing lyrics as he drove around in a red Ford pickup truck.

In the late ’70s, Steinberg formed a new wave band called Billy Thermal — the name pointed to the Coachella Valley town where the vineyards were located — that eventually got signed to the producer Richard Perry’s Planet Records. Billy Thermal made an album that went unreleased, though Linda Ronstadt and Pat Benatar recorded several of the band’s songs; Ronstadt’s version of “How Do I Make You,” from her “Mad Love” LP, hit No. 10 on the Hot 100 in early 1980.

After Billy Thermal broke up, Steinberg formed a group called i-Ten with Kelly, whom he’d met at a party thrown by Fleetwood Mac’s onetime producer, Keith Olsen. The duo released an album in 1983 that featured an early version of “Alone.”

Steinberg won a Grammy Award in 1997 for his work on Celine Dion’s “Falling Into You,” which was named album of the year. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011. His survivors include his wife, Trina, and his sons Ezra and Max.

THE guitarist and songwriter who founded the American rock band Cake has died aged 56.

Greg Brown passed away after a short illness, according to a statement on the band’s official Instagram account.

“Greg was an integral part of Cake’s early sound and development,” it read.

“His creative contributions were immense, and his presence—both musical and personal—will be deeply missed. Godspeed, Greg.”

Established in Sacramento in 1991, Greg founded the alt-funk band alongside vocalist John McCrea, trumpeter/keyboardist Vince DiFiore and Frank French – Gabe Nelson joined in 1992.

Current members of the band include guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Daniel McCallum and drummer Todd Roper.

He played his distinctive guitar on the band’s first two albums – Motorcade of Generosity in 1994 and the 1996 follow-up, Fashion Nugget.

Greg received a solo credit for writing the 1996 single The Distance, which reached number four on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart, as reported by Billboard.

The Distance crafted an incessant, ever-present throbbing of sound and compulsion. The instrumentation chugs ever forward, growing and receding, but never ending, VICE reported.

He also co-wrote several songs with McCrea including Jolene, Is This Love?, Mr. Mastodon Farm and Open Book.

He left the band before the third album was released but contributed on a song on the 2011 album Showroom of Compassion.

“I might have told you one thing back when I was 27 years old, and I left hot headed and mad about what I considered to be irreconcilable personality problems or whatever,” he said in 2021. 

“As 51-year-old me, I see a much larger context of what was going on in my life. Rather than get into all of it, I would just say there was a lot of turmoil at the time, and I felt like leaving Cake would be a decision that would be good for my health.”

In the years following his departure, Greg formed the band Deathray in 2000 and released a solo EP in 2023.

More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online.

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This year’s Grammy Awards are sure to be defined by historic firsts and lasts.

Music’s biggest night returns to L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, broadcast live on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ starting at 5 p.m. Pacific. After more than half a century on CBS, the awards show will move to Disney outlets in 2027. Trevor Noah will also be hosting for the sixth and final time.

Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar With SZA, Chappell Roan and the duo of Rosé and Bruno Mars vie for the coveted record of the year, while Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Carpenter, Clipse, Pusha T and Malice, Lady Gaga, Lamar, Leon Thomas and Tyler, the Creator compete in the album of the year category.

Lamar leads nominations with nine, followed by Lady Gaga and producers Cirkut and Jack Antonoff, each of whom has seven. Bad Bunny, Carpenter, Thomas and recording engineer Serban Ghenea are tied with six.

Record of the year

“DtMF” — Bad Bunny
“Manchild” — Sabrina Carpenter
“Anxiety” — Doechii
“Wildflower” — Billie Eilish
“Abracadabra” — Lady Gaga
“Luther” — Kendrick Lamar With SZA
“The Subway” — Chappell Roan
“Apt.” — Rosé, Bruno Mars

Album of the year

“Debí Tirar Más Fotos” — Bad Bunny
“Swag” — Justin Bieber
“Man’s Best Friend” — Sabrina Carpenter
“Let God Sort Em Out” — Clipse, Pusha T and Malice
“Mayhem” — Lady Gaga
“GNX” — Kendrick Lamar
“Mutt” — Leon Thomas
“Chromakopia” — Tyler, the Creator

Song of the year

“Abracadabra” — Lady Gaga, Henry Walter and Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga)
“Anxiety” — Jaylah Hickmon, songwriter (Doechii)
“Apt.” — Amy Allen, Christopher Brody Brown, Rogét Chahayed, Omer Fedi, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Chae Young Park, Theron Thomas and Henry Walter, songwriters (Rosé, Bruno Mars)
“DtMF” — Marco Daniel Borrero, Scott Dittrich, Benjamin Falik, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Hugo René Sención Sanabria, Tyler Thomas Spry and Roberto José Rosado Torres, songwriters (Bad Bunny)
“Golden [From “KPop Demon Hunters”]” — Ejae and Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (Huntr/x: Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami)
“Luther” — Jack Antonoff, Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Matthew Bernard, Scott Bridgeway, Sam Dew, Ink, Kendrick Lamar, Solána Rowe, Mark Anthony Spears and Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar With SZA)
“Manchild” — Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff and Sabrina Carpenter, songwriters (Sabrina Carpenter)
“Wildflower” — Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

Best new artist

Olivia Dean
Katseye
The Marías
Addison Rae
Sombr
Leon Thomas
Alex Warren
Lola Young

Producer of the year, nonclassical

Dan Auerbach
Cirkut
Dijon
Blake Mills
Sounwave

Songwriter of the year, nonclassical

Amy Allen
Edgar Barrera
Jessie Jo Dillon
Tobias Jesso Jr.
Laura Veltz

Pop solo performance

“Daisies” — Justin Bieber
“Manchild” — Sabrina Carpenter
“Disease” — Lady Gaga
“The Subway” — Chappell Roan
“Messy” — Lola Young

Pop duo/group performance

“Defying Gravity” — Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
“Golden [From “KPop Demon Hunters”]” — Huntr/x: Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami
“Gabriela” — Katseye
“Apt.” — Rosé, Bruno Mars
“30 for 30” — SZA With Kendrick Lamar

Pop vocal album

“Swag” — Justin Bieber
“Man’s Best Friend” — Sabrina Carpenter
“Something Beautiful” — Miley Cyrus
“Mayhem” — Lady Gaga
“I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 2)” — Teddy Swims

Dance/electronic recording

“No Cap” — Disclosure and Anderson .Paak
“Victory Lap” — Fred Again.., Skepta and Plaqueboymax
“Space Invader” — Kaytranada
“Voltage” — Skrillex
“End of Summer” — Tame Impala

Dance pop recording

“Bluest Flame” — Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco
“Abracadabra” — Lady Gaga
“Midnight Sun” — Zara Larsson
“Just Keep Watching (From “F1 The Movie”)” — Tate McRae
“Illegal” — PinkPantheress

Dance/electronic album

“Eusexua” — FKA twigs
“Ten Days” — Fred Again..
“Fancy That” — PinkPantheress
“Inhale / Exhale” — Rüfüs Du Sol
“F— U Skrillex You Think Ur Andy Warhol but Ur Not!! <3” — Skrillex

Remixed recording

“Abracadabra (Gesaffelstein Remix)” — Gesaffelstein, remixer (Lady Gaga and Gesaffelstein)
“Don’t Forget About Us” — Kaytranada, remixer (Mariah Carey and Kaytranada)
“A Dreams a Dream – Ron Trent Remix” — Ron Trent, remixer (Soul II Soul)
“Galvanize” — Chris Lake, remixer (The Chemical Brothers and Chris Lake)
“Golden – David Guetta Rem/x” — David Guetta, remixer (Huntr/x: Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami)

Rock performance

“U Should Not Be Doing That” — Amyl and the Sniffers
“The Emptiness Machine” — Linkin Park
“Never Enough” — Turnstile
“Mirtazapine” — Hayley Williams
“Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back to the Beginning” — Yungblud Featuring Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman and II

“Night Terror” — Dream Theater
“Lachryma” — Ghost
“Emergence” — Sleep Token
“Soft Spine” — Spiritbox
“Birds” — Turnstile

Rock song

“As Alive as You Need Me to Be” — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, songwriters (Nine Inch Nails)
“Caramel” — Vessel1 and Vessel2, songwriters (Sleep Token)
“Glum” — Daniel James and Hayley Williams, songwriters (Hayley Williams)
“Never Enough” — Daniel Fang, Franz Lyons, Pat McCrory, Meg Mills and Brendan Yates, songwriters (Turnstile)
“Zombie” — Dominic Harrison and Matt Schwartz, songwriters (Yungblud)

Rock album

“Private Music” — Deftones
“I Quit” — Haim
“From Zero” — Linkin Park
“Never Enough” — Turnstile
“Idols” — Yungblud

Alternative music performance

“Everything Is Peaceful Love” — Bon Iver
“Alone” — The Cure
“Seein’ Stars” — Turnstile
“Mangetout” — Wet Leg
“Parachute” — Hayley Williams

Alternative music album

“Sable, Fable” — Bon Iver
“Songs of a Lost World” — The Cure
“Don’t Tap the Glass” — Tyler, the Creator
“Moisturizer” — Wet Leg
“Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party” — Hayley Williams

R&B performance

“Yukon” — Justin Bieber
“It Depends” — Chris Brown Featuring Bryson Tiller
“Folded” — Kehlani
“Mutt (Live From NPR’s Tiny Desk)” — Leon Thomas
“Heart of a Woman” — Summer Walker

Traditional R&B performance

“Here We Are” — Durand Bernarr
“Uptown” — Lalah Hathaway
“Love You Too” — Ledisi
“Crybaby” — SZA
“Vibes Don’t Lie” — Leon Thomas

R&B song

“Folded” — Darius Dixson, Andre Harris, Kehlani Parrish, Donovan Knight, Don Mills, Khris Riddick-Tynes and Dawit Kamal Wilson, songwriters (Kehlani)
“Heart of a Woman” — David Bishop and Summer Walker, songwriters (Summer Walker)
“It Depends” — Nico Baran, Chris Brown, Ant Clemons, Ephrem Lopez Jr., Ryan Press, Bryson Tiller, Elliott Trent and Dewain Whitmore Jr., songwriters (Chris Brown Featuring Bryson Tiller)
“Overqualified” — James John Abrahart Jr. and Durand Bernarr, songwriters (Durand Bernarr)
“Yes It Is” — Jariuce Banks, Lazaro Andres Camejo, Mike Hector, Peter Lee Johnson, Rodney Jones Jr., Ali Prawl and Leon Thomas, songwriters (Leon Thomas)

Progressive R&B album

“Bloom” — Durand Bernarr
“Adjust Brightness” — Bilal
“Love on Digital” — Destin Conrad
“Access All Areas” — Flo
“Come as You Are” — Terrace Martin and Kenyon Dixon

R&B album

“Beloved” — Giveon
“Why Not More?” — Coco Jones
“The Crown” — Ledisi
“Escape Room” — Teyana Taylor
“Mutt” — Leon Thomas

Rap performance

“Outside” — Cardi B
“Chains & Whips” — Clipse, Pusha T and Malice Featuring Kendrick Lamar and Pharrell Williams
“Anxiety” — Doechii
“TV Off” — Kendrick Lamar Featuring Lefty Gunplay
“Darling, I” — Tyler, the Creator Featuring Teezo Touchdown

Melodic rap performance

“Proud of Me” — Fridayy Featuring Meek Mill
“Wholeheartedly” — JID Featuring Ty Dolla Sign and 6Lack
“Luther” — Kendrick Lamar With SZA
“WeMaj” — Terrace Martin and Kenyon Dixon Featuring Rapsody
“Somebody Loves Me” — PartyNextDoor and Drake

Rap song

“Anxiety” — Jaylah Hickmon, songwriter (Doechii)
“The Birds Don’t Sing” — Gene Elliott Thornton Jr., Terrence Thornton, Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder, songwriters (Clipse, Pusha T and Malice Featuring John Legend and Voices of Fire)
“Sticky” — Aaron Bolton, Dudley Alexander Duverne, Gloria Woods, Dwayne Carter Jr., Janae Wherry, Tyler Okonma and Rex Zamor, songwriters (Tyler, the Creator Featuring Glorilla, Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne)
“TGIF” — Lucas Alegria, Dillon Brophy, Yakki Davis, Gloria Woods, Jess Jackson, Ronnie Jackson, Mario Mims and Jorge M. Taveras, songwriters (Glorilla)
“TV Off” — Jack Antonoff, Larry Jayy, Kendrick Lamar, Dijon McFarlane, Sean Momberger, Mark Anthony Spears and Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar Featuring Lefty Gunplay)

Rap album

“Let God Sort Em Out” — Clipse, Pusha T and Malice
“Glorious” — GloRilla
“God Does Like Ugly” — JID
“GNX” — Kendrick Lamar
“Chromakopia” — Tyler, the Creator

Spoken word poetry album

“A Hurricane in Heels: Healed People Don’t Act Like That (Partially Recorded Live @City Winery & Other Places)” — Queen Sheba
“Black Shaman” — Marc Marcel
“Pages” — Omari Hardwick and Anthony Hamilton
“Saul Williams Meets Carlos Niño & Friends at Treepeople” — Saul Williams, Carlos Niño and Friends
“Words For Days Vol. 1” — Mad Skillz

Jazz performance

“Noble Rise” — Lakecia Benjamin Featuring Immanuel Wilkins and Mark Whitfield
“Windows – Live” — Chick Corea, Christian McBride and Brian Blade
“Peace of Mind / Dreams Come True” — Samara Joy
“Four” — Michael Mayo
“All Stars Lead to You – Live” — Nicole Zuraitis, Dan Pugach, Tom Scott, Idan Morim, Keyon Harrold and Rachel Eckroth

Jazz vocal album

“Elemental” — Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap
“We Insist 2025!” — Terri Lyne Carrington and Christie Dashiell
“Portrait” — Samara Joy
“Fly” — Michael Mayo
“Live at Vic’s Las Vegas” — Nicole Zuraitis, Dan Pugach, Tom Scott, Idan Morim, Keyon Harrold and Rachel Eckroth

Jazz instrumental album

“Trilogy 3 (Live)” — Chick Corea, Christian McBride and Brian Blade
“Southern Nights” — Sullivan Fortner Featuring Peter Washington and Marcus Gilmore
“Belonging” — Branford Marsalis Quartet
“Spirit Fall” — John Patitucci Featuring Chris Potter and Brian Blade
“Fasten Up” — Yellowjackets

Large jazz ensemble album

“Orchestrator Emulator” — The 8-Bit Big Band
“Without Further Ado, Vol 1” — Christian McBride Big Band
“Lumen” — Danilo Pérez and Bohuslän Big Band
“Basie Rocks!” — Deborah Silver and the Count Basie Orchestra
“Lights on a Satellite” — Sun Ra Arkestra
“Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores” — Kenny Wheeler Legacy Featuring the Royal Academy of Music Jazz Orchestra and Frost Jazz Orchestra

Latin jazz album

“La Fleur de Cayenne” — Paquito D’Rivera and Madrid-New York Connection Band
“The Original Influencers: Dizzy, Chano & Chico” — Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Featuring Pedrito Martinez, Daymé Arocena, Jon Faddis, Donald Harrison and Melvis Santa
“Mundoagua – Celebrating Carla Bley” — Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
“A Tribute to Benny Moré and Nat King Cole” — Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Yainer Horta and Joey Calveiro
“Vanguardia Subterránea: Live at the Village Vanguard” — Miguel Zenón Quartet

Alternative jazz album

“Honey From a Winter Stone” — Ambrose Akinmusire
“Keys to the City Volume One” — Robert Glasper
“Ride Into the Sun” — Brad Mehldau
“Live-Action” — Nate Smith
“Blues Blood” — Immanuel Wilkins

Traditional pop vocal album

“Wintersongs” — Laila Biali
“The Gift of Love” — Jennifer Hudson
“Who Believes in Angels?” — Elton John and Brandi Carlile
“Harlequin” — Lady Gaga
“A Matter of Time” — Laufey
“The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume 2” — Barbra Streisand

Contemporary instrumental album

“Brightside” — Arkai
“Ones & Twos” — Gerald Clayton
“Beatrio” — Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda, Antonio Sánchez
“Just Us” — Bob James and Dave Koz
“Shayan” — Charu Suri

Musical theater album

“Buena Vista Social Club” — Marco Paguia, Dean Sharenow and David Yazbek, producers (Original Broadway Cast)
“Death Becomes Her” — Taurean Everett, Megan Hilty, Josh Lamon, Christopher Sieber, Jennifer Simard and Michelle Williams, principal vocalists; Noel Carey, Sean Patrick Flahaven, Julia Mattison and Scott M. Riesett, producers; Noel Carey and Julia Mattison, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast)
“Gypsy” — Danny Burstein, Kevin Csolak, Audra McDonald, Jordan Tyson and Joy Woods, principal vocalists; David Caddick, Andy Einhorn, David Lai and George C. Wolfe, producers (Jule Styne, composer; Stephen Sondheim, lyricist) (2024 Broadway Cast)
“Just in Time” — Emily Bergl, Jonathan Groff, Erika Henningsen, Gracie Lawrence and Michele Pawk, principal vocalists; Derik Lee, Andrew Resnick and Bill Sherman, producers (Bobby Darin, composer and lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast)
“Maybe Happy Ending” — Marcus Choi, Darren Criss, Dez Duron and Helen J. Shen, principal vocalists; Deborah Abramson, Will Aronson, Ian Kagey and Hue Park, producers; Hue Park, lyricist; Will Aronson, composer and lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)

Country solo performance

“Nose on the Grindstone” — Tyler Childers
“Good News” — Shaboozey
“Bad as I Used to Be [From “F1 The Movie”]” — Chris Stapleton
“I Never Lie” — Zach Top
“Somewhere Over Laredo” — Lainey Wilson

Country duo/group performance

“A Song to Sing” — Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton
“Trailblazer” — Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert and Lainey Wilson
“Love Me Like You Used to Do” — Margo Price and Tyler Childers
“Amen” — Shaboozey and Jelly Roll
“Honky Tonk Hall of Fame” — George Strait and Chris Stapleton

Country song

“Bitin’ List” — Tyler Childers, songwriter (Tyler Childers)
“Good News” — Michael Ross Pollack, Sam Elliot Roman and Jacob Torrey, songwriters (Shaboozey)
“I Never Lie” — Carson Chamberlain, Tim Nichols and Zach Top, songwriters (Zach Top)
“Somewhere Over Laredo” — Andy Albert, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson and Lainey Wilson, songwriters (Lainey Wilson)
“A Song to Sing” — Jenee Fleenor, Jesse Frasure, Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton, songwriters (Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton)

Traditional country album

“Dollar a Day” — Charley Crockett
“American Romance” — Lukas Nelson
“Oh What a Beautiful World” — Willie Nelson
“Hard Headed Woman” — Margo Price
“Ain’t in It for My Health” — Zach Top

Contemporary country album

“Patterns” — Kelsea Ballerini
“Snipe Hunter” — Tyler Childers
“Evangeline vs. the Machine” — Eric Church
“Beautifully Broken” — Jelly Roll
“Postcards From Texas” — Miranda Lambert

American roots performance

“Lonely Avenue” — Jon Batiste Featuring Randy Newman
“Ancient Light” — I’m With Her
“Crimson and Clay” — Jason Isbell
“Richmond on the James” — Alison Krauss & Union Station
“Beautiful Strangers” — Mavis Staples

Americana performance

“Boom” — Sierra Hull
“Poison in My Well” — Maggie Rose and Grace Potter
“Godspeed” — Mavis Staples
“That’s Gonna Leave a Mark” — Molly Tuttle
“Horses” — Jesse Welles

American roots song

“Ancient Light” —Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan and Sara Watkins, songwriters (I’m With Her)
“Big Money” —Jon Batiste, Mike Elizondo and Steve McEwan, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
“Foxes in the Snow” — Jason Isbell, songwriter (Jason Isbell)
“Middle” — Jesse Welles, songwriter (Jesse Welles)
“Spitfire” — Sierra Hull, songwriter (Sierra Hull)

Americana album

“Big Money” — Jon Batiste
“Bloom” — Larkin Poe
“Last Leaf on the Tree” — Willie Nelson
“So Long Little Miss Sunshine” — Molly Tuttle
“Middle” — Jesse Welles

Bluegrass album

“Carter & Cleveland” — Michael Cleveland and Jason Carter
“A Tip Toe High Wire” — Sierra Hull
“Arcadia” — Alison Krauss & Union Station
“Outrun” — The Steeldrivers
“Highway Prayers” — Billy Strings

Traditional blues album

“Ain’t Done With the Blues” — Buddy Guy
“Room on the Porch” — Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’
“One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey” — Maria Muldaur
“Look Out Highway” — Charlie Musselwhite
“Young Fashioned Ways” — Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Bobby Rush

Contemporary blues album

“Breakthrough” — Joe Bonamassa
“Paper Doll” — Samantha Fish
“A Tribute to LJK” — Eric Gales
“Preacher Kids” — Robert Randolph
“Family” — Southern Avenue

Folk album

“What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow” — Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson
“Crown of Roses” — Patty Griffin
“Wild and Clear and Blue” — I’m With Her
“Foxes in the Snow” — Jason Isbell
“Under the Powerlines (April 24 – September 24)” — Jesse Welles

Regional roots music album

“Live at Vaughan’s” — Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet
“For Fat Man” — Preservation Brass and Preservation Hall Jazz Band
“Church of New Orleans” — Kyle Roussel
“Second Line Sunday” — Trombone Shorty and New Breed Brass Band
“A Tribute to the King of Zydeco” — (Various Artists)

Gospel performance/song

“Do It Again” — Kirk Franklin; Kirk Franklin, songwriter
“Church” — Tasha Cobbs Leonard, John Legend; Anthony S. Brown, Brunes Charles, Annatoria Chitapa, Kenneth Leonard Jr., Tasha Cobbs Leonard and Jonas Myrin, songwriters
“Still (Live)” — Jonathan McReynolds and Jamal Roberts; Britney Delagraentiss, Jonathan McReynolds, David Lamar Outing III, Orlando Joel Palmer and Terrell Demetrius Wilson, songwriters
“Amen” — Pastor Mike Jr.; Adia Andrews, Michael McClure Jr., David Lamar Outing II and Terrell Anthony Pettus, songwriters
“Come Jesus Come” — Cece Winans Featuring Shirley Caesar

Contemporary Christian music performance/song

“I Know a Name” — Elevation Worship, Chris Brown, Brandon Lake; Hank Bentley, Steven Furtick, Brandon Lake and Jacob Sooter, songwriters
“Your Way’s Better” — Forrest Frank; Forrest Frank and Pera, songwriters
“Hard Fought Hallelujah” — Brandon Lake With Jelly Roll; Chris Brown, Steven Furtick, Benjamin William Hastings, Jason Bradley Deford and Brandon Lake, songwriters
“Headphones” — Lecrae, Killer Mike, T.I.; Tyshane Thompson, Bongo ByTheWay, Michael Render, Lecrae Moore, William Roderick Miller and Clifford Harris, songwriters
“Amazing” — Darrel Walls, PJ Morton; PJ Morton and Darrel Walls, songwriters

Gospel album

“Sunny Days” — Yolanda Adams
“Tasha” — Tasha Cobbs Leonard
“Live Breathe Fight” — Tamela Mann
“Only on the Road (Live)” — Tye Tribbett
“Heart of Mine” — Darrel Walls, PJ Morton

Contemporary Christian music album

“Child of God II” — Forrest Frank
“Coritos Vol. 1” — Israel & New Breed
“King Of Hearts” — Brandon Lake
“Reconstruction” — Lecrae
“Let the Church Sing” — Tauren Wells

Roots gospel album

“I Will Not Be Moved (Live)” — The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
“Then Came the Morning” — Gaither Vocal Band
“Praise & Worship: More Than a Hollow Hallelujah” — The Isaacs
“Good Answers” — Karen Peck & New River
“Back to My Roots” — Candi Staton

Latin pop album

“Cosa Nuestra” — Rauw Alejandro
“Bogotá (Deluxe)” — Andrés Cepeda
“Tropicoqueta” — Karol G
“Cancionera” — Natalia Lafourcade
“¿Y ahora qué?” — Alejandro Sanz

Música urbana album

“Debí Tirar Más Fotos” — Bad Bunny
“Mixteip” — J Balvin
“Ferxxo Vol X: Sagrado” — Feid
“Naiki” — Nicki Nicole
“EUB Deluxe” — Trueno
“Sinfónico (En Vivo)” — Yandel

Latin rock or alternative album

“Genes Rebeldes” — Aterciopelados
“Astropical” — Bomba Estéreo, Rawayana and Astropical
“Papota” — Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso
“Algorhythm” — Los Wizzards
“Novela” — Fito Paez

Música Mexicana album (including Tejano)

“Mala Mía” — Fuerza Regida, Grupo Frontera
“Y Lo Que Viene” — Grupo Frontera
“Sin Rodeos” — Paola Jara
“Palabra De To’s (Seca)” — Carín León
“Bobby Pulido & Friends Una Tuya Y Una Mía – Por La Puerta Grande (En Vivo)” — Bobby Pulido

Tropical Latin album

“Fotografías” — Rubén Blades, Roberto Delgado and Orquesta
“Raíces” — Gloria Estefan
“Clásicos 1.0” — Grupo Niche
“Bingo” — Alain Pérez
“Debut y Segunda Tanda, Vol. 2” — Gilberto Santa Rosa

Global music performance

“EoO” — Bad Bunny
“Cantando en el Camino” — Ciro Hurtado
“Jerusalema” — Angélique Kidjo
“Inmigrante Y Que?” — Yeisy Rojas
“Shrini’s Dream (Live)” — Shakti
“Daybreak” — Anoushka Shankar Featuring Alam Khan and Sarathy Korwar

African music performance

“Love” — Burna Boy
“With You” — Davido Featuring Omah Lay
“Hope & Love” — Eddy Kenzo and Mehran Matin
“Gimme Dat” — Ayra Starr Featuring Wizkid
“Push 2 Start” — Tyla

Global music album

“Sounds of Kumbha” — Siddhant Bhatia
“No Sign of Weakness” — Burna Boy
“Eclairer le monde – Light the World” — Youssou N’Dour
“Mind Explosion (50th Anniversary Tour Live)” — Shakti
“Chapter III: We Return to Light” — Anoushka Shankar Featuring Alam Khan and Sarathy Korwar
“Caetano e Bethânia Ao Vivo” — Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethânia

Reggae album

“Treasure Self Love” — Lila Iké
“Heart & Soul” — Vybz Kartel
“Blxxd & Fyah” — Keznamdi
“From Within” — Mortimer
“No Place Like Home” — Jesse Royal

New age, ambient or chant album

“Kuruvinda” — Kirsten Agresta-Copely
“According to the Moon” — Cheryl B. Engelhardt, GEM and Dallas String Quartet
“Into the Forest” — Jahnavi Harrison
“Nomadica” — Carla Patullo Featuring the Scorchio Quartet and Tonality
“The Colors in My Mind” — Chris Redding

Children’s music album

“Ageless: 100 Years Young” — Joanie Leeds and Joya
“Buddy’s Magic Tree House” — Mega Ran
“Harmony” — Fyütch and Aura V
“Herstory” — Flor Bromley
“The Music of Tori and the Muses” — Tori Amos

Comedy album

“Drop Dead Years” — Bill Burr
“Postmortem” — Sarah Silverman
“Single Lady” — Ali Wong
“What Had Happened Was…” — Jamie Foxx
“Your Friend, Nate Bargatze” — Nate Bargatze

Audio book, narration and storytelling recording

“Elvis, Rocky & Me: The Carol Connors Story” — Kathy Garver
“Into the Uncut Grass” — Trevor Noah
“Lovely One: A Memoir” — Ketanji Brown Jackson
“Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama” — Dalai Lama
“You Know It’s True: The Real Story of Milli Vanilli” — Fab Morvan

“A Complete Unknown” — Timothée Chalamet
“F1 The Album” — (Various Artists)
“KPop Demon Hunters” — (Various Artists)
“Sinners” — (Various Artists)
“Wicked” — (Various Artists)

“How to Train Your Dragon” — John Powell, composer
“Severance: Season 2” — Theodore Shapiro, composer
“Sinners” — Ludwig Göransson, composer
“Wicked” — John Powell and Stephen Schwartz, composers
“The Wild Robot” — Kris Bowers, composer

“Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – Secrets of the Spires” — Pinar Toprak, composer
“Helldivers 2” — Wilbert Roget, II, composer
“Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” — Gordy Haab, composer
“Star Wars Outlaws: Wild Card & a Pirate’s Fortune” — Cody Matthew Johnson and Wilbert Roget, II, composers
“Sword of the Sea” — Austin Wintory, composer

“As Alive as You Need Me to Be [From “Tron: Ares”]” — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, songwriters (Nine Inch Nails)
“Golden [From “KPop Demon Hunters”]” — Ejae and Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (Huntr/x: Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami)
“I Lied to You [From “Sinners”]” — Ludwig Göransson and Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Miles Caton)
“Never Too Late [From “Elton John: Never Too Late”]” — Brandi Carlile, Elton John, Bernie Taupin and Andrew Watt, songwriters (Elton John, Brandi Carlile)
“Pale, Pale Moon [From “Sinners”]” — Ludwig Göransson and Brittany Howard, songwriters (Jayme Lawson)
“Sinners [From “Sinners”]” — Leonard Denisenko, Rodarius Green, Travis Harrington, Tarkan Kozluklu, Kyris Mingo and Darius Povilinus, songwriters (Rod Wave)

Music video

“Young Lion” — Sade; Sophie Muller, video director; Sade and Aaron Taylor Dean, video producers
“Manchild” — Sabrina Carpenter; Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia, video directors; Aiden Magarian, Nathan Scherrer and Natan Schottenfels, video producers
“So Be It” — Clipse; Hannan Hussain, video director; Daniel Order, video producer
“Anxiety” — Doechii; James Mackel, video director; Pablo Feldman, Jolene Mendes and Sophia Sabella, video producers
“Love” — OK Go; Aaron Duffy, Miguel Espada and Damian Kulash Jr., video directors; Petra Ahmann, video producer

Music film

“Devo” — Devo; Chris Smith, video director; Danny Gabai, Anita Greenspan, Chris Holmes and Chris Smith, video producers
“Live at the Royal Albert Hall” — Raye; Paul Dugdale, video director; Stefan Demetriou and Amy James, video producers
“Relentless” — Diane Warren; Bess Kargman, video director; Peggy Drexler, Michele Farinola and Kat Nguyen, video producers
“Music by John Williams” — John Williams; Laurent Bouzereau, video director; Sara Bernstein, Laurent Bouzereau, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Meredith Kaulfers, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg and Justin Wilkes, video producers
“Piece by Piece” — Pharrell Williams; Morgan Neville, video director; Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Mimi Valdes and Pharrell Williams, video producers

Recording package

“And the Adjacent Possible” — Hà Trinh Quoc Bao, Damian Kulash Jr., Claudio Ripol, Wombi Rose and Yuri Suzuki, art directors (OK Go)
“Balloonerism” — Bráulio Amado and Alim Smith, art directors (Mac Miller)
“Danse Macabre: De Luxe” — Rory McCartney, art director (Duran Duran)
“Loud Is As” — Farbod Kokabi and Emily Sneddon, art directors (Tsunami)
“Sequoia” — Tim Breen and Ken Shipley, art directors (Various Artists)
“The Spins (Picture Disc Vinyl)” — Miller McCormick, art director (Mac Miller)
“Tracks II: The Lost Albums” — Meghan Foley and Michelle Holme, art directors (Bruce Springsteen)

Album cover

“Chromakopia” — Shaun Llewellyn and Luis “Panch” Perez, art directors (Tyler, the Creator)
“The Crux” — William Wesley II, art director (Djo)
“Debí Tirar Más Fotos” — Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, art director (Bad Bunny)
“Glory” — Cody Critcheloe and Andrew J.S., art directors (Perfume Genius)
“Moisturizer” — Hester Chambers, Ellis Durand, Henry Holmes, Matt de Jong, Jamie-James Medina, Joshua Mobaraki and Rhian Teasdale, art directors (Wet Leg)

Album notes

“Adios, Farewell, Goodbye, Good Luck, So Long: On Stage 1964-1974” — Scott B. Bomar, album notes writer (Buck Owens and His Buckaroos)
“After the Last Sky” — Adam Shatz, album notes writer (Anouar Brahem, Anja Lechner, Django Bates and Dave Holland)
“Árabe” — Amanda Ekery, album notes writer (Amanda Ekery)
“The First Family: Live at Winchester Cathedral 1967” — Alec Palao, album notes writer (Sly & the Family Stone)
“A Ghost Is Born (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)” — Bob Mehr, album notes writer (Wilco)
“Miles ‘55: The Prestige Recordings” — Ashley Kahn, album notes writer (Miles Davis)

Historical album

“Joni Mitchell Archives – Volume 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980)” — Patrick Milligan and Joni Mitchell, compilation producers; Bernie Grundman, mastering engineer (Joni Mitchell)
“The Making of Five Leaves Left” — Cally Callomon and Johnny Chandler, compilation producers; Simon Heyworth and John Wood, mastering engineers (Nick Drake)
“Roots Rocking Zimbabwe – The Modern Sound of Harare’ Townships 1975-1980 (Analog Africa No.41)” — Samy Ben Redjeb, compilation producer; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Various Artists)
“Super Disco Pirata – De Tepito Para El Mundo 1965-1980 (Analog Africa No. 39)” — Samy Ben Redjeb, compilation producer; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Various Artists)
“You Can’t Hip a Square: The Doc Pomus Songwriting Demos” — Will Bratton, Sharyn Felder and Cheryl Pawelski, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Doc Pomus)

Best engineered album, nonclassical

“All Things Light” — Jesse Brock, Jon Castelli, Tyler Johnson, Nick Lobel, Simon Maartensson, Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell, Anders Mouridsen, Ryan Nasci, Ernesto Olivera-Lapier, Ethan Schneiderman and Owen Stoutt, engineers; Dale Becker, mastering engineer (Cam)
“Arcadia” — Neal Cappellino and Gary Paczosa, engineers; Brad Blackwood, mastering engineer (Alison Krauss & Union Station)
“For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)” — Joseph Lorge, Blake Mills and Sebastian Reunert, engineers; Patricia Sullivan, mastering engineer (Japanese Breakfast)
“That Wasn’t a Dream” — Joseph Lorge and Blake Mills, engineers; Patricia Sullivan, mastering engineer (Pino Palladino, Blake Mills)

Best engineered album, classical

“Cerrone: Don’t Look Down” — Mike Tierney, engineer; Alan Silverman, mastering engineer (Sandbox Percussion)
“Eastman: Symphony No. 2; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2” — Gintas Norvila, engineer; Jennifer Nulsen, mastering engineer (Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra)
“Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” Shawn Murphy & Nick Squire, engineers; Tim Martyn, mastering engineer (Andris Nelsons, Kristine Opolais, Günther Groissböck, Peter Hoare, Brenden Gunnell and Boston Symphony Orchestra)
“Standard Stoppages” — Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, Bill Maylone, Judith Sherman and David Skidmore, engineers; Joe Lambert, mastering engineer (Third Coast Percussion)
“Yule” — Morten Lindberg, engineer; Morten Lindberg, mastering engineer (Trio Mediaeval)

Producer of the year, classical

Blanton Alspaugh
Sergei Kvitko
Morten Lindberg
Dmitriy Lipay
Elaine Martone

Immersive audio album

“All American F—boy” — Andrew Law, immersive mix engineer (Duckwrth)
“Immersed” — Justin Gray, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Justin Gray, Drew Jurecka and Morten Lindberg, immersive producers (Justin Gray)
“An Immersive Tribute to Astor Piazzolla (Live)” — Andrés Mayo and Martín Muscatello, immersive mix engineers; Andrés Mayo and Martín Muscatello, immersive producers (Various Artists)
“Tearjerkers” — Hans-Martin Buff, immersive mix engineer; Hans-Martin Buff, immersive producer (Tearjerkers)
“Yule” — Morten Lindberg, immersive mix engineer; Morten Lindberg, immersive mastering engineer; Arve Henriksen and Morten Lindberg, immersive producers (Trio Mediaeval)

Instrumental composition

“First Snow” — Remy Le Boeuf, composer (Nordkraft Big Band, Remy Le Boeuf and Danielle Wertz)
“Live Life This Day: Movement I” — Miho Hazama, composer (Miho Hazama, Danish Radio Big Band and Danish National Symphony Orchestra)
“Lord, That’s a Long Way” — Sierra Hull, composer (Sierra Hull)
“Opening” — Zain Effendi, composer (Zain Effendi)
“Train to Emerald City” — John Powell and Stephen Schwartz, composers (John Powell and Stephen Schwartz)
“Why You Here / Before the Sun Went Down” — Ludwig Göransson, composer (Ludwig Göransson Featuring Miles Caton)

Arrangement, instrumental or a cappella

“Be Okay” — Cynthia Erivo, arranger (Cynthia Erivo)
“A Child Is Born” — Remy Le Boeuf, arranger (Nordkraft Big Band and Remy Le Boeuf)
“Fight On” — Andy Clausen, Addison Maye-Saxon, Riley Mulherkar and Chloe Rowlands, arrangers (The Westerlies)
“Super Mario Praise Break” — Bryan Carter, Charlie Rosen and Matthew Whitaker, arrangers (The 8-Bit Big Band)

Arrangement, instruments and vocals

“Big Fish” — Erin Bentlage, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick, Nate Smith and Amanda Taylor, arrangers (Nate Smith Featuring Säje)
“How Did She Look?” — Nelson Riddle, arranger (Seth MacFarlane)
“Keep an Eye on Summer” — Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier)
“Something in the Water (Acoustic-Ish)” — Clyde Lawrence, Gracie Lawrence and Linus Lawrence, arrangers (Lawrence)
“What a Wonderful World” — Cody Fry, arranger (Cody Fry)

Orchestral performance

“Coleridge-Taylor: Toussaint L’Ouverture; Ballade Op. 4; Suites From ’24 Negro Melodies’” — Michael Repper, conductor (National Philharmonic)
“Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie” — Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
“Ravel: Boléro, M. 81” — Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra Of Venezuela)
“Still & Bonds” — Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)
“Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements” — Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)

Opera recording

“Heggie: Intelligence” — Kwamé Ryan, conductor; Jamie Barton, J’Nai Bridges and Janai Brugger; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Houston Grand Opera; Gene Scheer)
“Huang Ruo: An American Soldier” — Carolyn Kuan, conductor; Hannah Cho, Alex DeSocio, Nina Yoshida Nelsen and Brian Vu; Adam Abeshouse, Silas Brown and Doron Schachter, producers (American Composers Orchestra; David Henry Hwang)
“Kouyoumdjian: Adoration” — Alan Pierson, conductor; Miriam Khalil, Marc Kudisch, David Adam Moore, Omar Najmi, Naomi Louisa O’Connell and Karim Sulayman; Mary Kouyoumdjian, producer (Silvana Quartet; The Choir of Trinity Wall Street)
“O’Halloran: Trade & Mary Motorhead” — Elaine Kelly, conductor; Oisín Ó Dálaigh and John Molloy; Alex Dowling and Emma O’Halloran, producers (Irish National Opera Orchestra; Mark O’Halloran)
“Tesori: Grounded” — Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Ben Bliss, Emily D’Angelo, Greer Grimsley and Kyle Miller; David Frost, producer (the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; the Metropolitan Opera Chorus; George Brant)

Choral performance

“Advena – Liturgies for a Broken World” — Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Simon Barrad, Emily Yocum Black and Michael Hawes; Conspirare)
“Childs: In the Arms of the Beloved” — Grant Gershon, conductor (Billy Childs, Dan Chmlellnskl, Christian Euman, Larry Koonse, Lyris Quartet, Anne Akiko Meyers, Carol Robbins and Luciana Souza; Los Angeles Master Chorale)
“Lang: Poor Hymnal” — Donald Nally, conductor (Steven Bradshaw, Michael Hawes, Lauren Kelly, Rebecca Siler and Elisa Sutherland; the Crossing)
“Ortiz: Yanga” — Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Grant Gershon, chorus master (Los Angeles Philharmonic and Tambuco Percussion Ensemble; Los Angeles Master Chorale)
“Requiem of Light” — Steven Fox, conductor; Emily Drennan and Patti Drennan, chorus masters (Brian Giebler and Sangeeta Kaur; the Clarion Choir)

Chamber music/small ensemble performance

“Dennehy: Land Of Winter” — Alan Pierson and Alarm Will Sound
“La Mer – French Piano Trios” — Neave Trio
“Lullabies for the Brokenhearted” Lili Haydn and Paul Cantelon
“Slavic Sessions” — Mak Grgić and Mateusz Kowalski
“Standard Stoppages” — Third Coast Percussion

Classical instrumental solo

“Coleridge-Taylor: 3 Selections From ’24 Negro Melodies’” — Curtis Stewart; Michael Repper, conductor (National Philharmonic)
“Hope Orchestrated” — Mary Dawood Catlin; Jesús David Medina and Raniero Palm, conductors (Venezuela Strings Recording Ensemble)
“Inheritances” — Adam Tendler
“Price: Piano Concerto in One Movement in D Minor” — Han Chen; John Jeter, conductor (Malmö Opera Orchestra)
“Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos” — Yo-Yo Ma; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
“Shostakovich: The Piano Concertos; Solo Works” — Yuja Wang; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)

Classical solo vocal album

“Alike – My Mother’s Dream” — Allison Charney, soloist; Benjamin Loeb, conductor (National Symphonia Orchestra)
“Black Pierrot” — Sidney Outlaw, soloist; Warren Jones, pianist
“In This Short Life” — Devony Smith, soloist; Danny Zelibor, pianist; Michael Nicolas, accompanist
“Kurtág: Kafka Fragments” — Susan Narucki, soloist; Curtis Macomber, accompanist
“Schubert Beatles” — Theo Hoffman, soloist; Steven Blier, pianist (Rupert Boyd, Julia Bullock, Alex Levine, Andrew Owens, Rubén Rengel and Sam Weber)
“Telemann: Ino – Opera Arias for Soprano” — Amanda Forsythe, soloist; Robert Mealy, Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, conductors (Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra)

Classical compendium

“Cerrone: Don’t Look Down” — Sandbox Percussion; Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, Christopher Cerrone, Ian Rosenbaum, Terry Sweeney and Mike Tierney, producers
“The Dunbar/Moore Sessions, Vol. II” — Will Liverman; Jonathan Estabrooks, producer
“Ortiz: Yanga” — Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Dmitriy Lipay, producer
“Seven Seasons” — Janai Brugger, Isolde Fair, MB Gordy and Starr Parodi; Nicholas Dodd, conductor; Jeff Fair, Starr Parodi and Kitt Wakeley, producers
“Tombeaux” — Christina Sandsengen; Shaun Drew and Christina Sandsengen, producers

Contemporary classical composition

“Cerrone: Don’t Look Down” — Christopher Cerrone, composer (Conor Hanick and Sandbox Percussion)
“Dennehy: Land of Winter” — Donnacha Dennehy, composer (Alan Pierson and Alarm Will Sound)
“León: Raíces (Origins)” — Tania León, composer (Edward Gardner and London Philharmonic Orchestra)
“Okpebholo: Songs in Flight” — Shawn E. Okpebholo, composer (Will Liverman, Paul Sánchez and Various Artists)
“Ortiz: Dzonot” — Gabriela Ortiz, composer (Alisa Weilerstein, Gustavo Dudamel and Los Angeles Philharmonic)