Who will (and should) win Grammy gold in 2020
Lizzo leads the pack with eight nods, but as anyone with a spreadsheet and a bookie knows, music’s biggest night tends to thrive on surprises. Will the prizes go to a small Grande or a Lil Nas? A teenage Billie or a Bad Bunny? Read on to peer into EW’s crystal ball. The winners will be announced at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, airing Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. ET.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
• I, I — Bon Iver
• Norman F—ing Rockwell! — Lana Del Rey
• When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? — Billie Eilish
• Thank U, Next — Ariana Grande
• I Used To Know Her — H.E.R.
• 7 — Lil Nas X
• Cuz I Love You — Lizzo
• Father of the Bride — Vampire Weekend
WHO WILL WIN
Lizzo’s Cuz is the rare record that sparked joy in nearly every music-buying demographic, and it can’t (truth) hurt that it also contains some of the year’s most ubiquitous radio hits.
WHO SHOULD WIN
Don’t you want to hear Lana’s acceptance speech? Truly, though, no one here is undeserving — except Lil Nas X; that’s not an album, it’s an EP.
BEST NEW ARTIST
• Black Pumas
• Billie Eilish
• Lil Nas X
• Lizzo
• Maggie Rogers
• Rosalía
• Tank and the Bangas
• Yola
WHO WILL WIN
Ms. Eilish, your destiny (and a chaperone for the afterparty) awaits.
WHO SHOULD WIN
Bless Lizzo, but this is her third solo studio album, sheeple! Eighteen-year-old wunderkind Billie feels like the truest definition of what this prize is about, and she absolutely deserves it — though Maggie Rogers’ breezy melodies and intergenerational appeal could still thread the needle to victory in such a packed category.
RECORD OF THE YEAR
• “Hey, Ma” — Bon Iver
• “Bad Guy” — Billie Eilish
• “7 Rings” — Ariana Grande
• “Hard Place” — H.E.R.
• “Talk” — Khalid
• “Old Town Road” — Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus
• “Truth Hurts” — Lizzo
• “Sunflower” — Post Malone & Swae Lee
WHO WILL WIN
Did you hear the one about the gay black cowboy who spent 19 consecutive weeks smashing the top of the Hot 100 with Miley’s dad? Yeah, that one. Put your bets on “Old Town Road.”
WHO SHOULD WIN
The genre-smashing ubiquity of “Road” should earn Lil Nas at least one statuette. But “Hey, Ma”‘s gorgeously woozy layers do make the case for what is technically a production prize.
SONG OF THE YEAR
• “Always Remember Us This Way” — Natalie Hemby, Lady Gaga, Hillary Lindsey & Lori McKenna
• “Bad Guy” — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell
• “Bring My Flowers Now” — Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth & Tanya Tucker
• “Hard Place” — Ruby Amanfu, Sam Ashworth, D. Arcelious Harris, H.E.R. & Rodney Jerkins
• “Lover” — Taylor Swift
• “Norman F—ing Rockwell” — Jack Antonoff & Lana Del Rey
• “Someone You Loved” — Tom Barnes, Lewis Capaldi, Pete Kelleher, Benjamin Kohn & Sam Roman
• “Truth Hurts” — Steven Cheung, Eric Frederic, Melissa Jefferson & Jesse Saint John
WHO WILL WIN
100 percent that Lizzo.
WHO SHOULD WIN
Lana F—ing Del Rey.
BEST LATIN ROCK, URBAN OR ALTERNATIVE ALBUM
• X 100PRE ��� Bad Bunny
• Oasis — J Balvin & Bad Bunny
• Indestructible — Flor de Toloache
• Almadura — iLe
• El Mal Querer — Rosalía
WHO WILL WIN
Wonder-twin reggaeton powers, activate: Oasis is the sound of two superstars — Colombian-born J Balvin and Puerto Rico native Bad Bunny — taking over el mundo, one slow-grind anthem at a time.
WHO SHOULD WIN
Rabbit resistance is futile; Bunny and Balvin pretty much have a lock on this one. Though it would be thrilling to see 27-year-old Spaniard Rosalía — by far one of the most interesting international artists of the past several years, if not her entire pop generation — swerve in.
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM
• Desperate Man — Eric Church
• Stronger Than the Truth — Reba McEntire
• Interstate Gospel — Pistol Annies
• Center Point Road — Thomas Rhett
• While I’m Livin’ — Tanya Tucker
WHO WILL WIN
Tucker’s comeback narrative almost half a century into her career feels pretty unbeatable — plus she’s the only one here with nods in other major categories.
WHO SHOULD WIN
There are strong cases to be made for Church’s excellently stripped-down outlaw Americana or the Pistol Annies’ back-porch reveries. And Reba, like Tanya, is a beloved lifer in the business. But they’re all pretty much livin’ in Tucker’s shadow this year.
BEST SPOKEN WORD ALBUM
• Beastie Boys Book — Various Artists
• Becoming — Michelle Obama
• I.V. Catatonia: 20 Years as a Two-Time Cancer Survivor — Eric Alexandrakis
• Mr. Know It All — John Waters
• Sekou Andrews & the String Theory — Sekou Andrews & the String Theory
WHO WILL WIN
Only one of these nominees is a cultural supernova-slash-former First Lady whose memoir debut sold more than 10 million copies, and it’s not Sekou.
WHO SHOULD WIN
Is it fair to put Michelle Obama in a category filled out by classically trained musicians, cult filmmakers, old hip-hop heads, and [checks notes] actual spoken-word artists? It is not! She still deserves this win, though.
BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM
• The Lion King: The Gift — Beyoncé
• When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? — Billie Eilish
• Thank U, Next — Ariana Grande
• No. 6 Collaborations Project — Ed Sheeran
• Lover — Taylor Swift
WHO WILL WIN
Billie’s the sole nominee here also up for Album and Song of the Year, so signs point to her.
WHO SHOULD WIN
Ariana just took this last year, for Sweetener, and Sheeran’s more like the genial host at an all-star house party. The big question is whether voters will throw a consolation prize to onetime Grammy darling Swift, who is otherwise mostly snubbed for Lover, or make up for denying Beyoncé countless Album of the Year prizes by rewarding one of her weakest works.
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