LOS ANGELES -When the 55th Annual Grammy Awards are announced on Sunday, music fans should be in for a wild ride. There is no heavy favorite to sweep the awards like Adele did last year, and the nominees this year for the big awards â€" best new artist, album, record and song of the year â€" include a heavy presence of alternative bands and young artists that are not yet household names.
The trio Fun. has a chance to become the first act since Chris Cross in 1981 to win all four of the major categories, and Frank Ocean, a critically acclaimed R&B newcomer, is nominated in three of them. Both have six nominations overall.
They are not alone. Others with six nominations include Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, Mumford & Sons, Kanye West and Jay-Z. Miguel, another young R&B singer, is up for five awards, and Nas, the vetean New York rapper, has a chance to sweep the rap category with four nods.
The drama over the awards are only a small part of the spectacle, however. Ken Ehrlich, the show’s executive producer, has planned 19 performances, including several imaginative collaborations. Taylor Swift, nominated for song of the year, is expected to open the show with a big production, and several other of nominees will have solo spots: the Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson and Jack White.
Some of the collaborations are predictable; others are head-scratchers. The Black Keys will perform their hit “Lonely Boy†with Dr. John and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Elton John with perform with Ed Sheeran, the 21-year-old British songwriter whose “The A-Team†is up for song of the year.
As usual there will be plenty of in memoriam tributes. Chick Core! a, Stanley Clarke and Kenny Garrett will honor Dave Brubeck by playing “Take Five.†And Levon Helm will be remembered with a Hootenanny version of “The Weight,†offered up by Mavis Staples, Mumford & Sons, Zac Brown, T-Bone Burnett and Brittany Howard, the vocalist for Alabama Shakes. There will also a Bob Marley tribute, starring Bruno Mars, Sting, Rihanna and Damian Marley.
Expect the finale to be the source of water-cooler talk on Monday. Producers are promising a fusion of rap, punk rock and electronica, with the rapper Chuck D., the electronic musician Z-Trip, the drummer Travis Barker of Blink 182, the guitarist Tom Morello from Rage against the Machine. LL Cool J, who is hosting the show, will join them.
The 55th Annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast on CBS on Sunday starting at 8 p.m. Join us here on ArtsBeat for live-blogging of the event from Dave Itzkoff and Jon Caramanica.
