64th GRAMMY Awards winner predictions: Expect Olivia Rodrigo, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett to score big
Jon Batiste leads the 64th GRAMMY nominations with 11, followed by Doja Cat, H.E.R., and Justin Bieber with eight each. The stage is also set for another Taylor Swift/Kanye West battle, this time in Album of the Year. Swift won the award last year (for folklore), her third overall, but this year evermore is her only nomination. West is also nominated in three rap categories, including Best Rap Album (Donda).
12-time GRAMMY-winning artist (and EGOT winner) John Legend will be receiving the first-ever Recording Academy Global Impact Award for his personal and professional achievements in the music industry.
I expect Olivia Rodrigo and Lady Gaga to do well on GRAMMY night but they’ll face fierce competition from Billie Eilish in the Album of the Year. I’m expecting Rodrigo to win here, based on the recent track record of this category but Gaga and Tony Bennett have a very good shot. It would mark his first win in this category since his 1995 MTV Unplugged live album and the first studio record of standards since Natalie Cole’s 1992 winner Unforgettable…with Love, comprised of covers of songs from her father, legendary crooner Nat King Cole. It’s going to be close, I thik. Record of the Year could be a battle between between the three superstars, where I think Gaga and Bennett will come out on top. Rodrigo seems prime for wins in Song of the Year, Best New Artist and Pop Vocal Album but again, will face a fight with Eilish and in BNA, with her brother Finneas.
Originally, the GRAMMYs ceremony was originally scheduled for January 31, 2022, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles; however, on January 5, 2022, the Recording Academy postponed the ceremony indefinitely due to health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 Omicron variant. On January 18, 2022, the ceremony was rescheduled to April 3, 2022, and switched its location to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. What didn’t change was the winner voting period, which started December 6, 2021 and ended a full three months ago, on January 5, 2022.
The Recording Academy will present the 2022 GRAMMY Awards show on Sunday, April 3, on the CBS Television Network and stream live and on demand on Paramount+ from 8–11:30 p.m. ET / 5–8:30 p.m. PT. Prior to the telecast, the GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony will be streamed live on GRAMMY.com and the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel.
Here are my winner predictions with possible spoilers for top categories of the 64th GRAMMY Awards.
Record Of The Year
“I Still Have Faith In You” — ABBA
“Freedom” — Jon Batiste
PREDICTED WINNER: “I Get A Kick Out Of You” — Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
“Peaches” — Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon
“Right On Time” — Brandi Carlile
“Kiss Me More” — Doja Cat Featuring SZA
“Happier Than Ever” — Billie Eilish
“Montero” (Call Me By Your Name) — Lil Nas X
POSSIBLE SPOILER: “drivers license” — Olivia Rodrigo
“Leave The Door Open” — Silk Sonic
Album Of The Year
We Are — Jon Batiste
POSSIBLE SPOILER: Love For Sale — Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) — Justin Bieber
Planet Her (Deluxe) — Doja Cat
Happier Than Ever — Billie Eilish
Back Of My Mind — H.E.R.
Montero — Lil Nas X
PREDICTED WINNER: Sour — Olivia Rodrigo
Evermore — Taylor Swift
Donda — Kanye West
Song Of The Year
“Bad Habits” — Fred Gibson, Johnny McDaid & Ed Sheeran, songwriters (Ed Sheeran)
“A Beautiful Noise” — Ruby Amanfu, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, Alicia Keys, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Linda Perry & Hailey Whitters, songwriters (Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile)
PREDICTED WINNER: “drivers license” — Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)
“Fight For You” — Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)
POSSIBLE SPOILER: “Happier Than Ever” — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
“Kiss Me More” — Rogét Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini, Lukasz Gottwald, Carter Lang, Gerard A. Powell II, Solána Rowe & David Sprecher, songwriters (Doja Cat Featuring SZA)
“Leave The Door Open” — Brandon Anderson, Christopher Brody Brown, Dernst Emile II & Bruno Mars, songwriters (Silk Sonic)
“Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” — Denzel Baptiste, David Biral, Omer Fedi, Montero Hill & Roy Lenzo, songwriters (Lil Nas X)
“Peaches” — Louis Bell, Justin Bieber, Giveon Dezmann Evans, Bernard Harvey, Felisha “Fury” King, Matthew Sean Leon, Luis Manual Martinez Jr., Aaron Simmonds, Ashton Simmonds, Andrew Wotman & Keavan Yazdani, songwriters (Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon)
“Right On Time” — Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)
Best New Artist
Arooj Aftab
Jimmie Allen
Baby Keem
POSSIBLE SPOILER: Finneas
Glass Animals
Japanese Breakfast
The Kid Laroi
Arlo Parks
PREDICTED WINNER: Olivia Rodrigo
Saweetie
Best Pop Vocal Album
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) — Justin Bieber
Planet Her (Deluxe) — Doja Cat
POSSIBLE SPOILER: Happier Than Ever — Billie Eilish
Positions — Ariana Grande
PREDICTED WINNER: Sour — Olivia Rodrigo
Best Pop Solo Performance
POSSIBLE SPOILER: “Anyone” — Justin Bieber
“Right On Time” — Brandi Carlile
“Happier Than Ever” — Billie Eilish
“Positions” — Ariana Grande
PREDICTED WINNER: “drivers license” — Olivia Rodrigo
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
PREDICTED WINNER: “I Get A Kick Out Of You” — Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
“Lonely” — Justin Bieber & benny blanco
POSSIBLE SPOILER: “Butter” — BTS
“Higher Power” — Coldplay
“Kiss Me More” — Doja Cat Featuring SZA
Best Dance/Electronic Recording
POSSIBLE SPOILER: “Hero” — Afrojack & David Guetta
“Loom” — Ólafur Arnalds Featuring Bonobo
“Before” — James Blake
“Heartbreak” — Bonobo & Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
PREDICTED WINNER: “You Can Do It” — Caribou
“Alive” — Rüfüs Du Sol
“The Business” — Tiësto
Best Alternative Music Album
Shore — Fleet Foxes
If I Can‘t Have Love, I Want Power — Halsey
POSSIBLE SPOILER: Jubilee — Japanese Breakfast
PREDICTED WINNER: Collapsed In Sunbeams — Arlo Parks
Daddy’s Home — St. Vincent
Best Rock Album
Power Up — AC/DC
Capitol Cuts – Live From Studio A — Black Pumas
PREDICTED WINNER: No One Sings Like You Anymore Vol. 1 — Chris Cornell
POSSIBLE SPOILER: Medicine At Midnight — Foo Fighters
McCartney III — Paul McCartney
Best R&B Performance
“Lost You” — Snoh Aalegra
“Peaches” — Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon
“Damage” — H.E.R.
PREDICTED WINNER: “Leave The Door Open” — Silk Sonic
POSSIBLE SPOILER: “Pick Up Your Feelings” — Jazmine Sullivan
Best Rap Performance
“Family Ties” — Baby Keem Featuring Kendrick Lamar
PREDICTED WINNER: “Up” — Cardi B
“m y . l i f e” — J. Cole Featuring 21 Savage & Morray
“Way 2 Sexy” — Drake Featuring Future & Young Thug
POSSIBLE SPOILER: “Thot S***” — Megan Thee Stallion
Best Rap Album
The Off-Season — J. Cole
Certified Lover Boy — Drake
King’s Disease II — Nas
PREDICTED WINNER: Call Me If You Get Lost — Tyler, The Creator
POSSIBLE SPOILER: Donda — Kanye West
Best Melodic Rap Performance
“P R I D E . I S . T H E . D E V I L” — J. Cole Featuring Lil Baby
POSSIBLE SPOILER: “Need To Know” — Doja Cat
PREDICTED WINNER: “Industry Baby” — Lil Nas X Featuring Jack Harlow
“Wusyaname” — Tyler, The Creator Featuring Youngboy Never Broke Again & Ty Dolla $ign
“Hurricane” — Kanye West Featuring The Weeknd & Lil Baby
Best Country Song
POSSIBLE SPOILER: “Better Than We Found It” — Jessie Jo Dillon, Maren Morris, Jimmy Robbins & Laura Veltz, songwriters (Maren Morris)
“camera roll” — Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves & Daniel Tashian, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
“Cold” — Dave Cobb, J.T. Cure, Derek Mixon & Chris Stapleton, songwriters (Chris Stapleton)
“Country Again” — Zach Crowell, Ashley Gorley & Thomas Rhett, songwriters (Thomas Rhett)
PREDICTED WINNER: “Fancy Like” — Cameron Bartolini, Walker Hayes, Josh Jenkins & Shane Stevens, songwriters (Walker Hayes)
“Remember Her Name” — Mickey Guyton, Blake Hubbard, Jarrod Ingram &Parker Welling, songwriters (Mickey Guyton)
Best Country Album
Skeletons — Brothers Osborne
Remember Her Name — Mickey Guyton
POSSIBLE SPOILER: The Marfa Tapes — Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall & Jack Ingram
PREDICTED WINNER: The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita — Sturgill Simpson
Starting Over — Chris Stapleton
Best Jazz Vocal Album
Generations — The Baylor Project
POSSIBLE SPOILER: SuperBlue — Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter
Time Traveler — Nnenna Freelon
Flor — Gretchen Parlato
PREDICTED WINNER: Songwrights Apothecary Lab — Esperanza Spalding
Best Latin Pop Album
PREDICTED WINNER: Vértigo — Pablo Alborán
Mis Amores — Paula Arenas
Hecho A La Antigua — Ricardo Arjona
Mis Manos — Camilo
Mendó — Alex Cuba
POSSIBLE SPOILER: Revelación — Selena Gomez
Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling)
Aftermath — LeVar Burton
Carry On: Reflections For A New Generation From John Lewis — Don Cheadle
Catching Dreams: Live At Fort Knox Chicago — J. Ivy
PREDICTED WINNER: 8:46 — Dave Chappelle & Amir Sulaiman
POSSIBLE SPOILER: A Promised Land — Barack Obama
Best Music Video
“Shot In The Dark” — AC/DC
“Freedom” — Jon Batiste
“I Get A Kick Out Of You” — Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
“Peaches” — Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon
“Happier Than Ever” — Billie Eilish
POSSIBLE SPOILER: “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” — Lil Nas X
PREDICTED WINNER: “Good 4 U” — Olivia Rodrigo
Best Music Film
POSSIBLE SPOILER: Inside — Bo Burnham
David Byrne‘s American Utopia — David Byrne
Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter To Los Angeles — Billie Eilish
Music, Money, Madness…Jimi Hendrix In Maui — Jimi Hendrix
PREDICTED WINNER: Summer Of Soul — Various Artists
For the full list of all 86 categories go to grammy.com.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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