Now that the list of the 2018 Grammy nominees has finally been announced, it's a time of celebration for many artists. There are also those, however, who may be wondering why their name wasn't listed. While male artists like Childish Gambino and Bruno Mars dominated the major categories — including Album Of The Year and Record Of The Year — fans may have been wondering where some of their favorite female artists were. Those are the names that may be added to the list of 2018 Grammy snubs, but, for all those names that were surprisingly missing, not every snub was a bad one.
Sure, it looks like what Taylor Swift did this year didn't seem to warrant a nomination, but it did allow new names like Julia Michaels, Alessia Cara, and SZA — all nominated for this year's Best New Artist — a chance to shine. Rihanna may have been an afterthought for her single "Wild Thoughts" with DJ Khaled, but Carrie Fisher may just earn her first Grammy a year after her untimely passing.
This is all to say that, when it comes to the Grammy nominations, like life, you have to take the good with the bad. And overall, this year's Grammys, which air Jan. 28 on CBS, may have been surprising, but wasn't all bad for your favorite female artists.
1Look At What The Grammys Did To Taylor Swift
Her album Reputation wasn't eligible for this year's Grammys, but her single "Look At What You Made Me Do" was released before the Sep. 30 deadline. That's why many believed that Swift would earn another nomination for Song Of The Year, which she's been up for four times, and/or Record Of The Year, which she's been up for three times. Especially considering the fact that she earned nominations for her singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "Shake It Off" in years where her album wasn't eligible. But no, this year, she didn't make the cut.
Don't feel too bad for Swift though. She still came away with two nominations for writing Little Big Town's "Better Man" and "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" with Zayn Malik.
2SZA Is The GRAMMYs MVP
With her debut album, CTRL, SZA earned five nominations: Best New Artist, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Performance, Best Urban Contemporary Album, and Best Rap/Sung Performance. With her nominations, SZA also earns the honor of being the most nominated woman of the 2018 Grammys.
3No Female Artists Were Nominated For Record Of The Year
Last year, Adele won this award with "Hello" beating out Beyoncé, Drake, Lukas Graham, and Twenty One Pilots. This year, a woman definitely won't be winning this award since not one woman was nominated. This is both a snub and surprise since the last time this happened was in 1983.
While this is disappointing, this year's Record Of The Year did make history for a good reason. It's the first time this category has been swept by non-white artists with Bruno Mars, Childish Gambino, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee all earning a nomination. Hopefully, next year that diversity will continue and also include female artists.
4Julia Michaels "Issues" Are Not With The Grammys
With her latest solo album, songwriter Julia Michaels earned two nominations for Best New Artist and Song Of The Year for "Issues." While she's been writing songs since she was a teenager for Gwen Stefani, Demi Lovato, and Fifth Harmony, the 24-year-old Michaels is finally being recognized on her own thanks to her debut single, which is one of the ten best-selling tracks of the year.
5Rihanna Was An Afterthought
Something that was wild, wild, wild this year was the fact that Rihanna wasn't nominated for her feature on DJ Khaled's single "Wild Thoughts." It absolutely dominated the radio, but apparently didn't hit the spot for Grammy voters.
She wasn't completely shut out of this year's awards, though. Rihanna earned a nomination for Best Rap/Sung Performance with Kendrick Lamar's "Loyalty." There's a good chance she could win this one, too, since she's the female artist with the most wins in this category. She's taken home four statues out of her eight total nominations.
6Carrie Fisher Could Win A Grammy
Just a year after her death, Carrie Fisher could win her first Grammy. The Star Wars star was nominated for Best Spoken Word Album for the audiobook recording of her memoir The Princess Diarist.
Fisher wouldn't be the first person to win a Grammy posthumously, Joan Rivers, Amy Winehouse, and David Bowie, who picked up two last year, have all won. Ray Charles, who died in 2004, has the record for the most posthumous wins taking home five Grammys in 2005 for his album Genius Loves Company.
7Lady Gaga Was Left Out Of The Major Categories
Lady Gaga is a staple of the Grammys, in just eight years she's earned 19 nominations, including three for Album Of The Year. Last year, her album Joanne wasn't eligible since it was released after the September 30 deadline, but knowing it could be nominated this year, it was assumed she'd earn a nomination in one of the major categories. Instead, she was shut out for Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Record Of The Year.
She wasn't shut out completely though, Gaga is nominated for two awards: Best Vocal Pop Album for Joanne and Best Pop Solo Performance for "A Million Reasons."
8Lorde's Only Nomination Is A Big One
One big surprise is that Lorde was only nominated for one Grammy this year. Especially since she was nominated for five awards at her first Grammys in 2014. She went away with two statues for Song Of The Year and Best Solo Pop Performance, both for her debut single "Royals."
But, her one nomination is certainly a notable one. Lorde is the only female artist nominated for Album Of the Year at this year's awards. It's the first time this has happened since 2013. What makes this race even more interesting is the fact that the last two years female artists — Taylor Swift in 2017, and Adele last year —have taken home this prize. Does that give Lorde an edge? We'll have to wait and see.
9It's Not Just Record Of The Year That Went Woman-Less
The nominees for Best Rock Album are also all men. Perhaps, why no one is mentioning this is because this isn't all that uncommon. The last time a female artist was nominated for Best Rock Album was 2004 when the female-led band Evanescence made the cut. The last time a female artist won this award was back in 1999 when Sheryl Crow took the prize.
The other rock categories didn't fare much better. While the Best Alternative Album category includes Arcade Fire, which has female members, no solo female artists or female-led bands were nominated in a year where critics couldn't stop talking about the wealth of female talent in the rock world. The New York Times even did a piece titled "Women Are Making The Best Rock Music Today" that featured Allison Crutchfield, Soccer Mommy, Palehound, and Waxahatchee, all eligible for this year's ceremony. I wish the Grammys and its voters would have taken note of this.
10Cardi B Could Make History
With her debut single "Bodak Yellow," Cardi B earned herself two nominations: Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. Cardi celebrated the noms on Instagram, writing "Two of them !! Thank you Lord. I️ couldn’t be more grateful."
Fans should be too since she's breaking records with "Bodak Yellow". According to W Magazine, she's the first solo woman nominee to be nominated for Best Rap Performance. While Nicki Minaj has been nominated for this award, it's always been along with featured artists, Cardi B is the only one nominated for "Bodak Yellow." This also means she'd be the first solo woman to win this award if she can beat out Big Sean, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and her fiancé's group Migos along with Lil Uzi Vert.
If she wins Best Rap Song, where she's credited under her songwriting name Washpoppin, she'd be the first female solo artist to win in the award's 13-year history. This is the perfect reason to wear some fancy shoes, specifically those expensive red bottoms, on the red carpet.
11Kesha's Back & The Grammys Noticed
While Kesha's discography is full of hits, she just earned her first Grammy nomination with her recent comeback album. And Kesha earned not just one, but two: Best Pop Vocal Album for Rainbow and Best Solo Pop Performance for "Praying." Kesha's back and we couldn't be happier for her.
12Beyoncé Is Still Slaying The Grammys
Even in a year where Beyoncé didn't put out a solo album, she still manages to get nominated for Best Rap/Sung Performance for Jay-Z's "Family Feud." This just increases her record-holding number of nominations for a female artist to 63. She'll need a few more nominations and wins to be the most awarded woman in Grammy history. Currently, that title goes to Alison Krauss who has won 27 Grammys; Bey has won 22.
For those fans who feel as if their favorite female artists were snubbed, it's OK to mourn for them. But clearly, there are still a lot of women to celebrate at the 2018 Grammys, so listen to their music ASAP.
