Kendrick Lamar, Adele, Brandi Carlile, Harry Styles, Mary J.Blige, ABBA, Taylor Swift, Kid Harpoon, Steve Lacy, H.E.R., Coldplay, Bad Bunny, Drake, Blake Slatkin amongst leading UMPG songwriters and artists nominated across major categories.
In the major categories, UMPG writers and producers contributed to all 10 of the Best Album Nominees, nine of the Record of The Year nominees and seven in Song of the Year.
In the inaugural Songwriter of the year category, UMPG has two of the five nominees with Nija Charles and Tobias Jesso Jr. represented.
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), Universal Music Group’s leading global music publishing division, received Grammy nominations for its family of songwriters and producers across all major categories, led by Kendrick Lamar, this year’s second-most nominated artist, who received eight nominations including for Record and Song of the Year for “The Heart Part 5.” and Album of the Year for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, which also featured songwriting and production contributions from UMPG’s Leon Ware, Arthur Ross, Baby Keem Hit-Boy, Jason Pounds, Florence Welch, Frano Huett, Donuts, Thundercat, Cardo, DJ Khalil, Boogie, Ra Charm & Duval Timothy. Kendrick Lamar is additionally nominated for Best Rap Album for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Best Rap Performance, Best Music Video and Best Rap Song for “The Heart Part 5” and Best Melodic Rap Performance for “Die Hard.”
Jody Gerson, Chairman and CEO, Universal Music Publishing Group said, “There are so many reasons to celebrate the breadth of these nominations, which recognize the role that UMPG’s artists, writers, composers, and producers have played in creating, shaping and influencing music culture over the past 18 months. I’d like to thank our global a&r teams, who have identified, signed and nurtured many of these nominees from the beginnings of their careers, our belief in putting songwriters first, creating opportunities and expanding the reach for each of them globally remains our focus and priority, as we look to support this incredible roster to continue to inspire music fans worldwide with their work.”
In the Record of the Year category, UMPG songwriters contributed to nine of the ten nominations: “Don’t Shut Me Down” (ABBA), “Easy On Me” (Adele Atkins), “Good Morning Gorgeous” (Mary J. Blige, H.E.R., Tiara Thomas), “You And Me One The Rock” (Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth, Dave Cobb), “Bad Habit” (Steve Lacy), “Woman” (Linden Jay), “The Heart Part 5” (Kendrick Lamar, Leon Ware & Arthur Ross), “About Damn Time” (Blake Slatkin) and “As It Was” (Harry Styles & Kid Harpoon).
UMPG songwriters contributed to seven of the ten nominations in the Song of the Year category: “Abcdefu” (co-written by Gayle), “About Damn Time” (Blake Slatkin), “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” (Taylor Swift), “As It Was” (Harry Styles & Kid Harpoon), “Bad Habit” (Steve Lacy), “Easy On Me” (Adele Atkins) and “The Heart Part 5” (Kendrick Lamar, Leon Ware & Arthur Ross).
In Album of the Year category, UMPG songwriters and producers contributed to all ten nominations in the category: Voyage – ABBA (ABBA), 30 – Adele (Adele Atkins, Tobias Jesso Jr., Ludwig Goransson), Un Verano Sin Ti – Bad Bunny (Bad Bunny, Elikai, SubeloNEO, Jesus Molina Prato, Alicea, Cheo, Kamil Assad, Bass Charity, DJ Joe, Nissi, MagicEnElBeat, Mora Alecxis Ramoz), Good Morning Gorgeous – Mary J. Blige (Mary J. Blige, H.E.R., Tiara Thomas, Shawn Butler, Ant Clemons, Cool &Dre, Charles Hinshaw), In These Silent Days – Brandi Carlile (Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth, Dave Cobb), Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – Kendrick Lamar (Kendrick Lamar, Leon Ware, Arthur Ross, Baby Keem, Hit-Boy, Jason Pounds, Florence Welch, Frano Huett, Donuts, Thundercat, Cardo, DJ Khalil, Boogie, Ra Charm & Duval Timothy), RENAISSANCE – Beyonce (Nija Charles, Raphael Saadiq), Special – Lizzo (Omar Fedi, Kid Harpoon, Blake Slatkin, Benny Blanco, William Bell, Booker T Jones, Jon Bellion, Rick Rubin, Adam “MCA” Horovitz), Harry’s House – Harry Styles (Harry Styles, Kid Harpoon, Tobias Jesso Jr., Mitch Rowland) and Music of the Spheres – Coldplay (Coldplay, Livvi Franc, Daniel Green, Metro Boomin, Apple Martin).
In the newly added Songwriter of the year category, UMPG has two of the five nominees with Nija Charles and Tobias Jesso Jr. represented for their contributions to the following:
Nija Charles for “Cozy” (Beyonce), “Ex For A Reason” (Summer Walker With JT From City
Girls), “Good Love” (City Girls Featuring Usher), “Iykyk” (Lil Durk Featuring Ella Mai & A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie), “Lobby” (Anitta & Missy Elliott), Ride For You (Meek Mill Featuring Kehlani), “Sweetest Pie” (Megan Thee Stallion & Dua Lipa), “Tangerine” (Kehlani) & “Throw It Away” (Summer Walker) and;
Tobias Jesso Jr. for his work on “Boyfriends” (Harry Styles), “Can I Get It” (Adele), “Careless” (FKA Twigs Featuring Daniel Caesar), “C'mon Baby Cry” (Orville Peck), “Dotted Lines” (King Princess), “Let You Go” (Diplo & TSHA), “No Good Reason” (Omar Apollo), “Thank You Song” (FKA Twigs) & “To Be Loved” (Adele)
UMPG-signed and represented songwriters, producers and composers contributed to many of the most important records of 2022, and were widely nominated across all categories including non-songwriting performance categories with Adele Atkins and Brandi Carlile both recognized with seven nominations, Harry Styles and Mary J. Blige each received six nominations, Taylor Swift, Drake, Kid Harpoon, H.E.R. and Steve Lacy received four nominations each, with Coldplay, Bad Bunny, Blake Slatkin, Kirk Franklin, Luke Combs, Maren Morris, Phil and Tim Hanseroth, Tobias Jesso Jr. each receiving three nominations.
ABBA received four nominations: Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Voyage and Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo for “Don’t Shut Me Down.” Taylor Swift was also nominated for “All Too Well (10 Minute Version),” for Best Music Video and Best Song Written for Visual Media for “Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing.
In the other Songwriting categories, UMPG has songwriters credited across 28 song nominations.
Elsewhere, UMPG writers were nominated broadly across genre categories including for “Broken Horses” (Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Haseroth), “Patient Number 9” (Chad Smith), “Black Summer” (Red Hot Chili Peppers - Michael “Flea” Balzary, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis & Chad Smith) in the Best Rock Song category, with Florence + The Machine’s “King” (Florence Welch) nominated for Best Alternative Performance. In Best R&B song: “Cuff It” (Raphael Saadiq) and “Good Morning Gorgeous” (Mary J. Blige, H.E.R., Tiara Thomas). In the rap song category: “Wait For U” (ATL Jacob, Future, Drake), “Pushin P” (Future, Young Thug), “Churchill Downs” (Drake) and “The Heart Part 5” (Kendrick Lamar, Leon Ware & Arthur Ross).
In Latin categories, UMPG writers picked up the following nominations, Bad Bunny was additionally nominated for Latin Album of The Year and Best Musica Urbana Album for Un Verano Sin Ti, Sebastian Yatra was nominated for Best Latin Pop Album for Dharma. In Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album: Rosalia’s Motomami, Cimafunk’s El Alimento and Mon Laferte’s 1940 Carmen while Un Canto Por Mexico – El Musical by Natalia Lafourcade was nominated for Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano). In addition, Rosalia’s Motomami (TikTok Live Performance) was nominated for Best Music Film.
In Best Country Song: “Circles Round This Town” (Maren Morris), “Doin’ This” (Luke Combs) and “I Bet You Think About Me - Taylor’s Version, From The Vault” (Taylor Swift). In Best Gospel Performance/Song: “Kingdom” (Kirk Franklin). In Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song: “Holy Forever” (Chris Tomlin), “Hymn of Heaven” (Chris Davenport), “God Really Loves Us” (David Crowder, Ben Glover & Jeff Sojka) and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song: “Fear Is Not My Future” (Kirk Franklin).
In Best American Roots Song: Brandi Carlile’s “You And Me On The Rock”(Brandi Carlile, Phillip Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth) receives a nomination, while in the Global categories, Nigeria’s Burna Boy received two nominations for Best Global Music Performance for “Last Last” and in Best Global Music Album for Love, Damini. Elsewhere composer Kevin Puts received two nominations for his work on Letters For The Future and Compact in Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Instrumental Solo, while Jlin’s contribution to “Perspectives” (Third Coast Percussion was nominated for Best Chamber Music, Solo Ensemble Performance.
Lastly congratulations to UMPG administered composer Nicholas Britell for his Best score soundtrack for Visual Media for Succession: Season 3 (published by HBO) and to UMPG signed songwriter Julia Michaels for her non-UMPG administered nomination in Best Country Song for her contribution to “Circles Round This Town”.
The 65th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 5, 2023 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live on CBS and streamed live and on-demand on Paramount+.