Billie Eilish swept all the big ones. Leave it to the Grammys to once again make the vast, diverse world of music look so, so small. I get that the Grammys in their blundering way are trying to break from their long history of ignoring forward-looking music. It took The Beatles until 1968 to end Frank Sinatra’s streak of Best Album awards. In 1979, one of the most amazing years in music, the award went to the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack. Christopher Cross had a sweep in 1981, while Toto won in 1983, with Michael Jackson having to wait til the next year to be recognized. In 1985 Lionel Richie got the award over Prince. They gave Prince such a nice posthumous tribute tonight, they surely gave him the nod the next year? Nope, he wasn’t even nominated. Phil Collins won in 1986. Natalie Cole won in 1992, while Nirvana wasn’t even nominated. Radiohead did get nominated for Kid A in 2001, but Steely Dan won instead. Ouch! 2004 was a rare year in which Outkast won and Missy Elliott and The White Stripes were nominated. Radiohead were nominated for In Rainbows in 2009, and in 2011 The Arcade Fire won.
But overwhelmingly, the history of the Grammys is just a long list of bad decisions. Recognizing Eilish for one of the categories might make sense. But all of them? Yes she has a couple innovative singles. But her album should not have been even nominated at the expense of FKA twigs, who was allowed time on stage for a dance cameo during Usher’s Prince tribute, but didn’t sing. Sheila E., who contributed her signature drumming, said that FKA twigs declined to sing.
FKA twigs, Cate Le Bon, Weyes Blood, Solange, and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds are just a few of the artists with overwhelming critical acclaim who were snubbed. There’s also Brittany Howard, Fontaines D.C., Michael Kiwanuka, Sharon Van Etten, etc. And you know I would have a whole bunch to add if I could get my hands on the ballot choices.
The best Grammy-winning album here after Lizzo’s is Angélique Kidjo’s Celia. Just a year after covering Talking Heads’ iconic Remain In Light (1980) in its entirety, emphasizing its African roots, she gives a similar treatment to the catalog of Celia Cruz, the most famous Cuban singer ever. And damn, what a killer band she assembled. Meshell Ndegeocello on bass, Shabaka Hutchings of The Comet Is Coming and Sons Of Kemet on sax, and the legendary co-architect of Afrobeat with Fela, Tony Allen on drums. So why wasn’t she part of the televised ceremony? The performance would have been magnificent — they dropped the ball big time here. The performance below is just laid back and intimate, but Kidjo could certainly turn the showmanship up to 11.
Gary Clark Jr. won two of the three rock categories, along with Contemporary Blues Album, and also performed a great version of “This Land” at the ceremony. That’s fine, but what the actual fuck is up with Cage The Elephant winning Best Rock Album? Come on. I could come up with literally over a thousand artists more deserving of that award than them. Of the odd mix of nominees that include The Cranberries, Rival Sons would have been the best choice. Still you can see 388 other rock albums that I rated ahead of Feral Roots.
I’m only disappointed that Tool won Best Metal Performance because they’d already won a few times in the past, whereas it would have been amazing to see doom metal legends Candlemass be recognized, deservedly so. In 2007, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan skipped the ceremony to receive one of their awards, saying:
I think the Grammys are nothing more than some gigantic promotional machine for the music industry. They cater to a low intellect and they feed the masses. They don’t honor the arts or the artist for what he created. It’s the music business celebrating itself. That’s basically what it’s all about.
It’s pretty insulting that there are best album categories for New Age and Immersive Album (mixed for surround sound) but not hard rock or metal. Nevertheless, they have thrown a bone in the Best Metal Performance category in recent years to Slayer, Metallica, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Ghost, Megadeth, Mastodon and High On Fire. Avatarium posted this pic on Facebook:
Along with Lizzo’s fabulous opening performance and Gary Clark Jr.’s shredding, another performance highlight was Tyler, The Creator’s imaginative, weird production that included Boyz To Men on “Earfquake” while he and his dancers wore blond wigs resembling Daryl Hannah’s pleasure replicant from Bladerunner, then literally setting the stage ablaze during “New Magic Wand.”
Best Rock Performance: “This Land” by Gary Clark Jr.
Best Rock Song: “This Land” by Gary Clark Jr., songwriter (Gary Clark Jr.)
Best Rock Album: Social Cues by Cage The Elephant (One can see why some people in the mainstream think rock is dead. It crawled up the asses of the Recording Academy and died).
Best Metal Performance: “7empest” by Tool
Best Alternative Music Album: Father of the Bride by Vampire Weekend
Best R&B Performance: “Come Home” by Anderson .Paak Featuring André 3000
Best Traditional R&B Performance: “Jerome” by Lizzo
Best Urban Contemporary Album: Cuz I Love You (Deluxe) by Lizzo
Best R&B Album: Ventura by Anderson .Paak
Best Rap Album: IGOR by Tyler, The Creator
Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album: Rosalía – El Mal Querer
Bubbling under:
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Look Now by Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: Mettavolution by Rodrigo y Gabriela
Best New Age Album: Wings by Peter Kater
Best Jazz Vocal Album: 12 Little Spells by Esperanza Spalding
Best Jazz Instrumental Album: Finding Gabriel by Brad Mehldau (This was #21 in my Lucky 13. Once again they snubbed important artists like The Comet Is Coming).
Best Latin Jazz Album: Antidote by Chick Corea & The Spanish Heart Band
Best American Roots Performance: “Saint Honesty” by Sara Bareilles
Best Americana Album: Oklahoma by Keb’ Mo’
Best Traditional Blues Album: Tall, Dark & Handsome by Delbert McClinton & Self-Made Men + Dana
Best Contemporary Blues Album: This Land by Gary Clark Jr.
Best Reggae Album: Rapture by Koffee
Best World Music Album: Celia by Angelique Kidjo (Altın Gün was also nominated!)
Best Immersive Audio Album: Lux
Best Music Video: Old Town Road (beat out FKA twigs’ “Cellophane”
Best Music Film: Homecoming, Beyonce (beating Remember My Name – David Crosby, Birth of the Cool – Miles Davis)
Earlier in the day before the ceremony, I posted:
Two of the likely big winners for multiple rewards will be Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X. I like how both are unique weirdos, and do not play the usual traditional mainstream game of focusing on looks and sexuality. But honestly, I’ve listened to all their stuff, and maybe/probably they have potential, but do two singles gone viral via TikTok mean they deserve a Grammy? I’d say no, not yet.
My favorite nominee is Lizzo, who without a doubt will win in multiple categories. We’ll see if they patronize her and limit the awards to the R&B ones, or if she gets Song of the Year. I’m not a huge fan of Lana Del Rey, but I’d say if Eilish doesn’t win, she might have a chance. I do admire how her album kicks off with a kind of modern update to Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” —
“Godamn, man child
You fucked me so good that I almost said, “I love you”
You’re fun and you’re wild
But you don’t know the half of the shit that you put me through
Your poetry’s bad and you blame the news
But I can’t change that, and I can’t change your mood
Ah ah
‘Cause you’re just a man
It’s just what you do
Your head in your hands
As you color me blue
Yeah, you’re just a man
All through and through
Your head in your hands
As you color me blue
Blue, blue, blue”
FKA twigs deserved to be included in more categories than Best Video, and Cate Le Bon and Weyes Blood were missing among others. For Best New Artist, I’d go for Yola or Rosalía. Lizzo has had three albums so I don’t know why she’s there. Eilish will probably win.
April 2, 2026
Fester’s Lucky 13: 1986
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Fester’s Lucky 13: 1976
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Fester’s Lucky 13: 1966
