13 biggest Grammy nominations surprises: We goofed by not predicting Mary J. Blige, Bonnie Raitt, ABBA (again!)
The Grammys are known for their wild left-field surprises and this year was no exception. Out of 40 nominees for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist, we were right 27 times (67.5% accuracy), which means we missed the boat on 13 nominees. Scroll down to see the list of artists, songs, and albums we didn’t see coming when the nominations were announced on November 15.
Our biggest mistake was underestimating veterans. After their surprise Record of the Year nomination in 2022, we knew ABBA had a chance for their album “Voyage” and their single “Don’t Shut Me Down,” but neither quite made our top 10s for Album of the Year or Record of the Year. We were even farther off when it came to Mary J. Blige, who shocked with bids for Album of the Year for “Good Morning Gorgeous” and Record of the Year for the title track. And the beloved Bonnie Raitt showed up unexpectedly in Song of the Year for “Just Like That.”
The toughest category to predict, as usual, was Best New Artist, where Domi and JD Beck and Italian rockers Maneskin scored noms, as did Samara Joy, Tobe Nwingwe, and Molly Tuttle, who flew under our radar. How many of these surprises did you see coming?
OUT OF NOWHERE
These were such surprises they weren’t in our predictions center.
RECORD OF THE YEAR
Mary J. Blige, “Good Morning Gorgeous”
SONG OF THE YEAR
DJ Khaled, “God Did”
Bonnie Raitt, “Just Like That”
BEST NEW ARTIST
Samara Joy
Tobe Nwingwe
Molly Tuttle
BIG SURPRISES
These nominees made the cut despite 100/1 odds.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Mary J. Blige, “Good Morning Gorgeous”
SONG OF THE YEAR
Gayle, “ABCDEFU”
BEST NEW ARTIST
Domi and JD Beck
Maneskin
CLOSE CALLS
We knew they had a shot, but they didn’t rank among our top 10 predicted nominees.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
ABBA, “Voyage”
RECORD OF THE YEAR
Doja Cat, “Woman”
ABBA, “Don’t Shut Me Down”