If there was any doubt that Houston’s Lizzo (she spent her adolescence in the Bayou City) is the unquestioned queen of this particular moment in pop, this should put it to rest: Nominees for the 2020 Grammy Awards were announced Wednesday, and Lizzo is up for eight different awards – more than any other artist. The categories include Album of the Year, Record of the Year (fellow Texans, Khalid and Post Malone are also nominated) and Best New Artist.
Speaking of the Best New Artist category, Austinites will recognize another nominee, soul duo Black Pumas, also known as Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada. Their self-titled debut album came out earlier this year, and should they win, they’d follow in the footsteps of another musician with Texas ties, bassist and vocalist, Esperanza Spalding, who won the prize in 2011. Spalding’s recent album, “12 Little Spells,” is nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
Dallas jazz artist Jazzmeia was also nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album for the recent “Love and Liberation.”
Two Texans were nominated for Best Gospel Album: Fort Worth’s Kirk Franklin and Houston’s Gene Moore.
Also, two Texas groups were nominated for Best Regional Mexican Album: La Energía Norteña and Intocable, and three artists were nominated for their blues albums: Delbert McClinton and Jimmie Vaughan in the “Traditional” blues category, and Sugaray Rayford in the “Contemporary” category.
Of course, it wouldn’t be the Grammys without Houston’s beloved Beyoncé; she has four nominations. And Austin native Gary Clark Jr. has several nominations, too.
In the country music categories, Texan Maren Morris was nominated for a song she cut with fellow Highwoman Brandi Carlile. But Tanya Tucker leads the pack with four nods, including Best Country Song for “Bring My Flowers Now.” Competing with her in that category is East Texas’ own Miranda Lambert. Last but not least, Willie Nelson received a nomination for Best Country Solo Performance for his song “Ride Me Back Home” – the title track from the Red Headed Stranger’s 69th studio album.
The winners will be announced Jan. 26 on CBS.
An earlier version of this story failed to include the Grammy nomination of Craig Hella Johnson. Johnson conducts Austin-based Conspirare. Johnson is nominated for Best Choral Performance for “The Hope of Loving”. He won the award in 2014 for the album “The Sacred Spirit of Russia.”
