It will be a woman's world at the upcoming Grammys, with SZA scooping the most chances for gold ahead of the star-studded music gala with nine, as pop's superstars, including Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, dominated across the categories.
Olivia Rodrigo, Phoebe Bridgers and the indie rock supergroup boygenius also will be strong contenders at the February 4 event in Los Angeles, where music from the blockbuster film Barbie will almost certainly clean up, according to the nominations list released Friday.
SZA - the acerbic, R&B risk-taker whose layered tales of romance earned her acclaim with her debut Ctrl in 2017 and saw her top the charts again with 2022's SOS - is poised to rule the night, with nominations spanning the categories.
And Bridgers, one-third of the supergroup boygenius with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, earned seven nominations while the collective group earned six, both in the top fields as well as in the rock categories.
The already decorated Eilish has six chances for a Grammy thanks to her work on Greta Gerwig's summer smash Barbie film.
The soundtrack, which also features Dua Lipa, earned a total of 11 nominations in the major categories and the visual media fields.
Rodrigo, who already has three Grammy wins under her belt including Best New Artist, earned six nods this time around and will vie for the night's top awards.
In-demand producer Jack Antonoff scored six nominations for his work, notably with Swift and Lana Del Rey, the baroque pop singer whose album Did you know there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd earned her five nominations.
If Swift's Midnights wins Album of the Year, it would be a record-breaking fourth win of the prize for the 33-year-old, who's already the toast of the music world as she continues her monumental Eras tour.
She is currently tied as the top winner of the most prestigious Grammy with Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder.
Women on top
Jazz polymath Jon Batiste is the sole man up for Record and Album of the Year, two years after he beat out pop's royalty to dominate the 2022 gala.
He earned six nominations this go-around, as did Miley Cyrus and country singer-songwriter Brandy Clark.
Coveted engineer Serban Ghenea - who mixed Swift's Midnights - meanwhile earned seven nods.
Rising R&B star Victoria Monet also finished with seven nominations, including for the prestigious Record of the Year and Best New Artist prizes.
Industry watchers predict Ice Spice will win the latter category, after a banner year that saw the bubbly Bronx rapper go viral on loop and collaborate with Swift.
And pop futurist Janelle Monae earned her second Album of the Year nomination for The Age of Pleasure.
Rihanna picked up a nomination for the song she worked on for the Black Panther sequel, but the best visual media category will likely go to one of four songs from the Barbie movie.
That award is for songwriters and includes tracks performed by Eilish, Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, Dua Lipa and Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken in the film.
Bernie Sanders - yes, that Bernie Sanders - has a second chance to win a Grammy in the audiobook and narration category.
The leftist senator's reading of It's Ok to Be Angry About Capitalism is up against efforts by Michelle Obama, Meryl Streep, William Shatner and Rick Rubin in one of the night's quirkier categories.
The Rolling Stones earned a nomination for Best Rock Song for Angry, while Grammy catnip Foo Fighters is poised to take home prizes in the rock fields, where boygenius could also be a factor.
'Dang good music'
The banner year for music's women is a long time coming for many critics of the Recording Academy - the institution behind the Grammys - which for many years has faced flak that it overwhelmingly honours white, male acts.
"Women had dang good music - some of the biggest records of the year and the biggest songs," Recording Academy chief executive Harvey Mason Jr. told The Los Angeles Times.
"And our voters were obviously moved by a lot of it."
The sea change comes as scandal continues to brew within the ranks of the Academy.
In 2019, the former chief of the powerful institution, Neil Portnow, left his post after saying that women artists should "step up" if they want more recognition, comments he delivered at the #MeToo movement's peak.
This week, Portnow was sued in Manhattan for allegedly drugging and raping an unnamed woman artist in 2018.
The suit also accuses the Academy of negligence, saying it protected Portnow and dismissed accounts of his abuse. Both the organization and Portnow vehemently deny the allegations.
Here is a list of nominees in the major categories for the 66th annual Grammy Awards:
Album of the Year
World Music Radio - Jon Batiste
the record - boygenius
Endless Summer Vacation - Miley Cyrus
Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd - Lana Del Rey
The Age of Pleasure - Janelle Monae
GUTS - Olivia Rodrigo
Midnights - Taylor Swift
SOS - SZA
Record of the Year, recognizing overall performance on a song
Worship - Jon Batiste
Not Strong Enough - boygenius
Flowers - Miley Cyrus
What Was I Made For? (From The Motion Picture Barbie) - Billie Eilish
On My Mama - Victoria Monet
Vampire - Olivia Rodrigo
Anti-Hero - Taylor Swift
Kill Bill - SZA
Song of the Year, recognizing songwriting
A&W - Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey & Sam Dew, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)
Anti-Hero - Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
Butterfly - Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album) - Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Dua Lipa)
Flowers - Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein & Michael Pollack, songwriters (Miley Cyrus)
Kill Bill - Rob Bisel, Carter Lang & SZA, songwriters (SZA)
Vampire - Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)
What Was I Made For? (From The Motion Picture Barbie) - Billie Eilish & Finneas O'Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Best New Artist
Gracie Abrams
Fred Again..
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Coco Jones
Noah Kahan
Victoria Monet
The War and Treaty
Best Pop Solo Performance
Flowers - Miley Cyrus
Paint The Town Red - Doja Cat
What Was I Made For? (From The Motion Picture Barbie) - Billie Eilish
Vampire - Olivia Rodrigo
Anti-Hero - Taylor Swift
Best Pop Vocal Album
Chemistry - Kelly Clarkson
Endless Summer Vacation - Miley Cyrus
GUTS - Olivia Rodrigo
- (Subtract) - Ed Sheeran
Midnights - Taylor Swift
Best Music Video
I'm Only Sleeping - The Beatles
In Your Love - Tyler Childers
What Was I Made For? (From The Motion Picture Barbie) - Billie Eilish
Count Me Out - Kendrick Lamar
Rush - Troye Sivan
Best Rap Album
Her Loss - Drake & 21 Savage
Michael - Killer Mike
Heroes & Villains - Metro Boomin
King's Disease III - Nas
Utopia - Travis Scott
Best Rock Album
But Here We Are - Foo Fighters
Starcatcher - Greta Van Fleet
72 Seasons - Metallica
This Is Why - Paramore
In Times New Roman... - Queens Of The Stone Age
Best Global Music Album
Epifanias - Susana Baca
History - Bokante
I Told Them... - Burna Boy
Timeless - Davido
This Moment - Shakti
Artists with Most Nominations
SZA - 9
Phoebe Bridgers - 7
Serban Ghenea - 7
Victoria Monet - 7
Taylor Swift - 6
Miley Cyrus - 6
Billie Eilish - 6
Jack Antonoff - 6
Jon Batiste - 6
boygenius - 6
Brandy Clark - 6
Olivia Rodrigo - 6