Recording artist Beyoncé Knowles is leading the nominations for the 59th Annual Grammy Awards with a total of 9 nominations. Her visual album, Lemonade, was released in April 2016 to rave reviews, and several songs from the album have received nominations in a wide range of categories.
Beyoncé’s biggest competitor for this year’s Grammy Awards is Adele, the vocal powerhouse, whose critically acclaimed album, 25, was released in November of 2015. Adele has received 5 Grammy nominations.
The two artists will go head-to-head in several categories, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance. Although Adele’s album was released in 2015, and Beyoncé’s album was released in 2016, they fall into the same Grammy Awards cycle.
The most notable of all of the categories where both women are nominated is the Album of the Year category. Both 25 and Lemonade have been nominated for Album of the Year. It’s the most coveted Grammy Award, and it’s one that escaped Beyoncé when her self-titled visual album, Beyoncé, was nominated for the award. Adele snagged the award for Album of the Year in 2011 for her album 21. Beyoncé has won a total of 20 Grammy awards, but she has yet to win the award for Album of the Year.
Both Lemonade and 25 debuted at number one. However, 25 was a huge hit sales-wise, and has sold more than 20 million copies world-wide. Adele and Beyoncé both had strong world tours from these two albums, and both of them have a devoted fan base of supporters that will be rooting for them to win awards in their respective categories. To take home the Album of the Year award, one of them will have to beat out the other, along with Justin Bieber for his album Purpose, Drake for his album Views, and A Sailor’s Guide to Earth by Sturgill Simpson.
Fans will be thrilled if both singers perform at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, scheduled to air on Sunday, February 12, 2017, on CBS.
