BMI Writers Take Major GRAMMY Nominations

Posted in News on December 27, 2016

After another prolific year of incredible music, BMI songwriters made a strong showing in the nominations for the 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards, slated to be presented Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Earning multiple nods across the prestigious Recording Academy accolade’s 84 separate categories, the 2016 contributions by BMI affiliates span all genres and represent some of today’s best and brightest talent.

Leading the pack in multiple nominations come Kanye West and Rihanna, each cited for 8 separate awards. Officially becoming the second-most nominated male artist in GRAMMY history, West earned nods for Best Rap Album for The Life of Pablo, while his singles “Famous” and “Ultralight Beam” each earned nods for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Performance. Rihanna, meanwhile, is poised to claim Record of the Year for “Work,” Best Pop/Duo Group Performance for “Work,” Best R&B Performance for “Needed Me,” Best R&B Song for “Kiss It Better,” Best Urban Contemporary Album for Anti and, for her contributions to Kanye West’s “Famous,” awards for both Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song.

GRAMMY newcomer Chance the Rapper also runs the risk of having to make numerous trips to the stage on GRAMMY night, as he’s nominated for Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for “No Problem,” Best Rap Album for Coloring Book and three other awards for his contributions to Kanye West’s “Ultralight Beam” and “Famous.”

Also returning to the GRAMMY running is Adele, having earned five nominations including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Hello,” Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year for 25. Alternative duo Twenty One Pilots also earned five nominations, including Record of the Year, Best Rock Performance and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Stressed Out,” Best Rock Song and Best Song Written for Visual Media for “Heathens.”

Winners will be announced in a live broadcast on CBS on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2007, at 8pm ET/5pm PT.

Congratulations to all of the BMI writers nominated! Here is a complete list.

Record Of The Year
“Hello”
Adele (PRS)

“Work”
Rihanna Featuring Drake*

“Stressed Out”
Twenty One Pilots
Tyler Joseph, producer

Album Of The Year
25
Adele (PRS)

Lemonade
Beyoncé*
Jack White, Ben Billions, BOOTS, Jonny Coffer (PRS), Michael Dean, Alex Delicata, Diana Gordon, Hit-Boy, Melo-X, Pluss, producers

Purpose
Justin Bieber*
Halsey, Travis Scott, featured artists; Axident, Mike Dean, Nico Hartikainen, Mark “The Mogul” Jackson, Ian Kirkpatrick, Jeremy Snyder, producers; Mark “Exit” Goodchild, Josh Gudwin, engineers/mixers

Views
Drake*
Future, Kyla (PRS), Rihanna & Wiz Kid, featured artists; Axlfoliethc, Beat Bully, Daxz (SOCAN), Maneesh (SOCAN), Southside, Kanye West, Young Exclusive, producers

A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
Sturgill Simpson
Sturgill Simpson, producer

Song Of The Year
“Formation”
Khalif Brown, Asheton Hogan, songwriters (Beyoncé*)

“Hello”
Adele Adkin (PRS), songwriter (Adele)

“Love Yourself”
Ed Sheeran (PRS), songwriter (Justin Bieber*)

Best New Artist
The Chainsmokers
Chance the Rapper
Maren Morris
Anderson.Paak

Best Pop Solo Performance
“Hello”
Adele (PRS)

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
“Closer”
The Chainsmokers Featuring Halsey

“Work”
Rihanna Featuring Drake*

“Stressed Out”
Twenty One Pilots

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Stages Live
Josh Groban

Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin
Willie Nelson

Best Pop Vocal Album
25
Adele (PRS)

Best Dance Recording
“Tearing Me Up”
Bob Moses (SOCAN)

“Don’t Let Me Down”
The Chainsmokers Featuring Daya

“Rinse & Repeat”
Riton* Featuring Kah-Lo

“Drinkee”
Sophie Hawley (Sofi Tukker)

Best Dance/Electronic Album
Electronica 1: The Time Machine
Jean-Michel Jarre (SACEM)

Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future
Underworld (PRS)

Louie Vega Starring … XXVII
Louie Vega

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
When You Wish Upon a Star
Bill Frisell

Way Back Home: Live from Rochester, NY
Steve Gadd Band

Best Rock Performance
“Joe” (Live from Austin City Limits)
Alabama Shakes

“Blackstar”
David Bowie (PRS)

“Heathens”
Twenty One Pilots

Best Metal Performance
“Shock Me”
Baroness

“Rotting in Vain”
Korn

Best Rock Song
“Blackstar”
David Bowie (PRS), songwriter (David Bowie)

“Heathens”
Tyler Joseph, songwriter (Twenty One Pilots)

“My Name is Human”
Rich Meyer, Ryan Meyer & Johnny Stevens, songwriters (Highly Suspect)

Best Rock Album
Tell Me I’m Pretty
Cage The Elephant

Weezer
Weezer

Best Alternative Music Album
Blackstar
David Bowie (PRS)

Post Pop Depression
Iggy Pop

Best R&B Performance
“Permission”
Ro James

“Needed Me”
Rihanna

Best Traditional R&B Performance
“Sleeping With The One I Love”
Fantasia

Best R&B Song
“Exchange”
Bryson Tiller, songwriter
(Bryson Tiller)

“Kiss It Better”
Jeff Bhasker, Robyn Fenty & Natalia Noemi, songwriters (Rihanna)

“Luv”
Daystar Peterson, songwriter (Tory Lanez [Socan])

Best Urban Contemporary Album
Ology
Gallant

Malibu
Anderson.Paak

Anti
Rihanna

Best Rap Performance
“No Problem”
Chance The Rapper Featuring Lil Wayne

“Panda”
Desiigner

“Pop Style”
Drake* Featuring The Throne

“All the Way Up”
Fat Joe

“That Part”
Schoolboy Q* Featuring Kanye West

Best Rap/Sung Performance
“Broccoli”
D.R.A.M.* Featuring Lil Yachty

“Ultralight Beam”
Kanye West Featuring Chance The Rapper & Kirk Franklin

“Famous”
Kanye West Featuring Rihanna

Best Rap Song
“All The Way Up”
Joseph Cartagena, Edward Davadi, Karim Kharbouch, Andre Christopher Lyon, Reminisce Mackie & Marcello Valenzano, songwriters (Fat Joe & Remy Ma Featuring French Montana & Infared)

“Famous”
Chancelor Bennett, Ross Birchard (PRS), Ernest Brown, Andrew Dawson (PRS), Mike
Dean, Kanye West & Cydel Young, songwriters (Kanye West Featuring Rihanna)

“No Problem”
Chancelor Bennett & Dwayne Carter, songwriters (Chance The Rapper Featuring Lil Wayne)

“Ultralight Beam”
Chancelor Bennett, Mike Dean, Kirk Franklin, Samuel Griesemer, Derek Watkins, Kanye West & Cydel Young, songwriters (Kanye West Featuring Chance The Rapper, Kelly Price, Kirk Franklin & The-Dream*)

Best Rap Album
Coloring Book
Chance The Rapper

Major Key
DJ Khaled

Blank Face LP
Schoolboy Q

The Life of Pablo
Kanye West

Best Country Solo Performance
“Vice”
Miranda Lambert

“My Church”
Maren Morris

“Church Bells”
Carrie Underwood

“Blue Ain’t Your Color”
Keith Urban

Best Country Duo/Group Performance
“Different for Girls”
Dierks Bentley* Featuring Elle King

“Setting the World on Fire”
Kenny Chesney & P!nk

“Jolene”
Pentatonix Featuring Dolly Parton

“Think of You”
Chris Young With Cassadee Pope*

Best Country Song
“Die a Happy Man”
Sean Douglas, Thomas Rhett & Joe Spargur, songwriters (Thomas Rhett)

“Humble and Kind”
Lori McKenna, songwriter (Tim McGraw)

“My Church”
busbee & Maren Morris, songwriters (Maren Morris)

“Vice”
Miranda Lambert, songwriter (Miranda Lambert)

Best Country Album
Full Circle
Loretta Lynn

Hero
Maren Morris

A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
Sturgill Simpson

Ripcord
Keith Urban

Best New Age Album
Dark Sky Island
Enya (PRS)

Inner Passion
Peter Kater & Tina Guo*

Rosetta
Vangelis (BUMA)

Best Improvised Jazz Solo
“Countdown”
Joey Alexander, soloist

“In Movement”
Ravi Coltrane, soloist

“We See”
Fred Hersch, soloist

“I Concentrate on You”
Brad Mehldau, soloist

“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”
John Scofield, soloist

Best Jazz Vocal Album
Upward Spiral
Branford Marsalis Quartet* With Special Guest Kurt Elling

Harlem on My Mind
Catherine Russell

The Sting Variations
The Tierney Sutton Band

Best Jazz Instrumental Album
Book of Intuition
Kenny Barron Trio

Dr. Um
Peter Erskine

Sunday Night at The Vanguard
The Fred Hersch Trio

Nearness
Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau
[Nonesuch]

Country for Old Men
John Scofield

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
Real Enemies
Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society

Best Latin Jazz Album
Madera Latino: A Latin Jazz Perspective on the Music of Woody Shaw
Brian Lynch

30
Romero Lumbabo, NIlson Matta (Trio Da Paz)

Best Gospel Performance/Song
“It’s Alright, It’s Ok”
Shirley Caesar Featuring Anthony Hamilton; Stanley Brown & Courtney Rumble, songwriters

“God Provides”
Tamela Mann; Kirk Franklin, songwriter

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
“Priceless”
Luke Smallbone, songwriters

“King of the World”
Samuel Mizell, songwriter

“Thy Will”
Bernie Herms, songwriter

“Chain Breaker”
Zach Williams, Mia Fieldes, songwriters

Best Gospel Album
Listen
Tim Bowman Jr.

A Worshipper’s Heart [Live]
Todd Dulaney

Losing My Religion
Kirk Franklin

Demonstrate [Live]
William Murphy

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
Poets & Saints
All Sons & Daughters

Best Roots Gospel Album
Nature’s Symphony in 432
The Isaacs

Hymns and Songs of Inspiration
Gordon Mote

Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
Ilevitable
ile

Buenaventura
La Santa Cecilia
[Universal Music Latin Entertainment]

Los Rakas
Los Rakas

Amor Supremo
Carla Morrison

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)
Raíces
Banda El Recodo De Cruz Lizárraga

Generación Maquinaria Est. 2006
La Maquinaria Norteña

Tributo A Joan Sebastian Y Rigoberto Alfaro
Mariachi Divas De Cindy Shea

Best Tropical Latin Album
La Fantasia Homenaje A Juan Formell
Formell Y Los Van Van

Best American Roots Performance
“Mother’s Children Have a Hard Time”
Blind Boys Of Alabama

“Factory Girl”
Rhiannon Giddens

“House of Mercy”
Sarah Jarosz

“Wreck You”
Lori McKenna

Best American Roots Song
“City Lights”
Jack White, songwriter (Jack White)

“Gulfstream”
Eric Adcock & Roddie Romero, songwriters (Roddie Romero And The Hub City All-Stars)

“Kid Sister”
Vince Gill, songwriter (The Time Jumpers)

“Wreck You”
Lori McKenna, songwriter (Lori McKenna)

Best Americana Album
This Is Where I Live
William Bell

The Cedar Creek Sessions
Kris Kristofferson

The Bird & The Rifle
Lori McKenna

Kid Sister
The Time Jumpers

Best Bluegrass Album
Original Traditional
Blue Highway

Burden Bearer
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver

North By South
Claire Lynch

Coming Home
O’Connor Band With Mark O’Connor

Best Traditional Blues Album
Can’t Shake This Feeling
Lurrie Bell

Blues & Ballads (A Folksinger’s Songbook: Volumes I & II)
Luther Dickinson

The Soul of Jimmie Rodgers
Vasti Jackson

Porcupine Meat
Bobby Rush

Best Contemporary Blues Album
Love Wins Again
Janiva Magness

Bloodline
Kenny Neal

Everybody Wants a Piece
Joe Louis Walker

Best Folk Album
Silver Skies Blue
Ari Hest

Factory Girl
Rhiannon Giddens

Undercurrent
Sarah Jarosz

Best Regional Roots Music Album
Broken Promised Land
Barry Jean Ancelet & Sam Broussard

Gulfstream
Roddie Romero And The Hub City All-Stars

I Wanna Sing Right: Rediscovering Lomax in the Evangeline Country
(Various Artists)
Joel Savoy, producer

Best Reggae Album
Sly & Robbie Presents … Reggae for Her
Devin Di Dakta & J.L

Everlasting
Raging Fyah

Falling Into Place
Rebelution

Best World Music Album
Dois Amigos, Um Seculo De Musica: Multishow Live
Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil

Best Children’s Album
Explorer of The World
Frances England

Press Play
Seth Farber and Liz Queler (Brady Rymer And The Little Band That Could)

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling)
In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem and Fun in The Sandbox
Carol Burnett

Best Musical Theater Album
The Color Purple
Allee Willis, composers/lyricists (New Broadway Cast)

Fiddler on the Roof
Jerry Bock, composer; Sheldon Harnick, lyricist (2016 Broadway Cast)

Kinky Boots
Matt Henry, principal soloist; Cyndi Lauper, producer (Original West End Cast)

Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media
Amy
(Various Artists)
Salaam Remi, Mark Ronson, producers

Vinyl: The Essentials Season 1
(Various Artists)
Stewart Lorma, producer

Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media
Bridge of Spies
Thomas Newman, composer

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
John Williams, composer

Best Song Written For Visual Media
“Heathens”
Tyler Joseph, songwriter (Twenty One Pilots)

“Just Like Fire”
P!nk, songwriter (P!nk)

“Purple Lamborghini”
Shamann Cooke, William Roberts, songwriters (Skrillex* & Rick Ross)

“The Veil”
Peter Gabriel (PRS), songwriter (Peter Gabriel)

Best Recording Package
Anti (Deluxe Edition)
Robyn Fenty, art director (Rihanna)

Human Performance
Andrew Savage, art director (Parquet Courts)

Best Album Notes
Ork Records: New York, New York
Rob Sevier & Ken Shipley, album notes writers
(Various Artists)

Best Historical Album
The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12 (Collector’s Edition)
Steve Berkowitz, compilation producers (Bob Dylan)

Ork Records: New York, New York
Rob Sevier & Ken Shipley, compilation producers
(Various Artists)

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Blackstar
David Bowie (PRS), Tony Visconti, engineers (David Bowie)

Hit N Run Phase Two
Booker T., Justin Stanley, engineers; (Prince*)

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical
Ricky Reed

Best Remixed Recording
“Nineteen Hundred Eighty-Five” (Timo Maas & James Teej Remix)
Timo Maas (GEMA), remixer (Paul McCartney & Wings*)

“Only” (Kaskade X Lipless Remix)
Ryan Raddon, remixer (Ry X*)

“Wide Open” (Jod Goddard Remix)
Joe Goddard (PRS), remixer (The Chemical Brothers*)

Best Engineered Album, Classical
Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles
Fred Vogler, engineer

Best Classical Compendium
Wolfgang: Passing Through
(Various Artists); Gernot Wolfgang, producer

Best Contemporary Classical Composition
“Daugherty: Tales of Hemingway”
Michael Daugherty, composer (Zuill Bailey, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)

“Winger: Conversations with Nijinsky”
C. F. Kip Winger, composer (Martin West & San Francisco Ballet Orchestra)

Best Music Video
“Upside Down & Inside Out”
OK Go
Damian Kulash Jr. & Trish Sie, video directors

In addition to the above nominations, the following Special Merit Award recipients were announced.

Lifetime Achievement Award
Ahmad Jamal
Jimmie Rodgers
Sly Stone
The Velvet Underground

Trustees Award
Thom Bell
 Ralph S. Peer 


*Not affiliated with BMI

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