It's the old saying “Don't put all your eggs in one basket”.
Artists generally choose their biggest hit from the year and enter it into the Grammy competition for both record and song of the year. That's what artists like Billie Eilish (“Birds of a Feather”), Beyoncé (“Texas Hold 'Em”) and Ariana Grande (“We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”) did this year. This Grammy strategy can be summed up in immortal words by Pat Benatar: “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.”
But sometimes, artists enter different hits for record and song of the year. Sabrina Carpenter is taking that approach this year. “Espresso” claims the nod for the record of the year. “Please Please Please” is competing for the nod for song of the year.
Carpenter and Amy Allen were among the co-writers of both songs. They co-wrote “Please Please Please” with my Grammy favorite Jack Antonoff. They co-wrote 'Espresso' with Steph Jones and Julian Bunetta. That entry strategy may be good news for Antonoff, who is also up for song of the year for “Fortnight,” which he co-wrote with Taylor Swift and Post Malone. But it was bad news for Jones and Bunetta, possibly costing them a song of the year nomination. (There's no best pop song category, so it's safe to say that “Espresso” won't be up for a song Grammy.)
Allen and Jones hectare both are up for the nod for Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical. Allen was nominated to the class two years ago, which was the class's inaugural year.
Carpenter's camp also submitted “Espresso” (rather than “Please Please Please”) for best pop solo performance.
Let's scroll back through all the times an artist was nominated for record and song of the year with varying degrees of success. We include all songs that were at least jointly written by the artist (or a group member, in the case of groups). But we don't include songs that the artist didn't write or co-write because the song of the year nomination didn't go to them. The years shown are the years of the Grammy ceremony.
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The Beatles, 1965
Candidate for record of the year: “I want to hold your hand”
Nominated for Song of the Year: “A Hard Day's Night”
Notes: The Beatles' smash hit “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was nominated for record of the year, but the song of the year nod went to the title track of their first film. John Lennon and Paul McCartney co-wrote both songs, and both had multiple weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was the only Grammy nomination for “Hand”. “A Hard Day's Night” was also nominated for Best Performance by a Vocal Group and Best Rock & Roll Recording. Won the vocal group award.
Fun fact: “A Hard Day's Night” was the first rock song to earn a Grammy Song of the Year nod. The song failed to receive an Academy Award for Best Original Song. This was the loss of the Oscars – can you imagine the Fab Four taking the stage on April 5, 1965 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, which hosted the Oscars in those days? Even if they had lost to that year's winner, “Chim, Chim Cher-ee” by Mary Poppinsthey probably would have stolen the show. (No shade to The New Christy Minstrels, who performed “Chim” on the telecast.)
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Cyndi Lauper, 1985
Candidate for record of the year: “Girls just want to have fun”
Nominated for Song of the Year: “Time with time”
Notes: These were Lauper's first two hits on the Hot 100. “Girls” reached No. 2 (it failed to surpass Van Halen's “Jump”). “Time After Time” reached No. 1. That was the only nod for “Time After Time,” which Lauper co-wrote with Rob Hyman, best known as a founding member of The Hooters. “Girls” was also nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. Lauper performed “Time After Time” on the Grammy telecast in 1985.
Fun fact: Jazz legend Miles Davis recorded an instrumental version of “Time After Time” in 1985. “The greatest honor I ever felt was when Miles Davis covered it,” Lauper once said.
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TLC, 2000
Candidate for record of the year: “No rubbing”
Nominated for Song of the Year: “Inelegant”
Notes: Both of these hits were entered for (ie, claimed nominations for) both record and song of the year. Voters simply selected different successes in these two categories. Both hits spent several weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100. “No Scrubs” won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. “Unpretty” was nominated in two other categories – best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals and best short music video. Group member Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins co-wrote “Unpretty” with producer Dallas Austin. TLC performed a medley of the two hits on the 2000 Grammy telecast.
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U2, 2002
Record of the Year Winner: “Walk”
Nominated for Song of the Year: “Stuck in a moment you can't get out of”
Notes: Both of these hits were entered for both record and song of the year (as was a third U2 hit, “Elevation”). Ordinary voters chose different successes in these two categories. “Stuck” won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. “Walk On” was also nominated for Best Rock Song. “Walk On” wasn't much of a hit—it bottomed out on the Hot 100 at No. 118. “Stuck” fared better, peaking at No. 52 and staying on the chart for 20 weeks. U2 opened the 2002 Grammy telecast with a performance of “Walk On,” which gained extra resonance after the September 11 terrorist attacks the previous September.
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Beyoncé, 2010
Candidate for record of the year: “Halo”
Song of the Year Winner: “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
Notes: In a truly impressive move, “Single Ladies” did not make the record of the year. “Halo” and “If I Were a Boy” were. Both were big hits — both reached the top five on the Hot 100 — but not as big as “Single Ladies,” which spent four weeks at No. 1 and was propelled by an iconic video (“one of best videos of all time,” in the memorable words of a pop-culture authority.)
If “Single Ladies” had entered for record of the year, could it beat that year's winner, Kings of Leon's “Use Somebody”? We'll never know for sure, but it sure seems likely. Beyoncé co-wrote “Single Ladies” with Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, Terius “The-Dream” Nash and Thaddis Harrell. “Single Ladies” also won Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. “Halo” won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
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Jay-Z, 2018
Candidate for record of the year: “The Story of OJ”
Nominated for Song of the Year: “4:44”
Notes: “The Story of OJ” was Jay-Z's only record-breaking entry of the year. “4:44,” which Jay co-wrote with Dion (“No ID”) Wilson and Kanan Keeney, was his only entry for song of the year. Both hits received additional nominations. “OJ” was also nominated for Best Rap Song and Best Music Video. “4:44” was also nominated for Best Rap Performance. Both songs cracked the top 40 on the Hot 100. “OJ” peaked at No. 23. “4:44” hit No. 35.
Fun fact: This was the year Jay-Z went 0-8 at the Grammys. He made his displeasure known in his song “Apeshit”: “Tell the Grammys f–k that 0-for-eight shit.” “Apeshit” appeared on The Carters' Everything Is Lovewhich won a Grammy (phew) for Best Urban Contemporary album the following year.
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Bruno Mars, 2018
Record of the Year Winner: “24K Magic”
Song of the Year Winner: “I like this”
Notes: As with Jay-Z above, these were Mars' only entries in these two categories. This was the only Grammy nod for “24K Magic.” “That's What I Like” also won Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance. “That's What I Like” also fared better on the Hot 100. It reached No. 1, while “24K Magic” reached No. 4. Mars performed the then-new “That's What I Like” on last year's Grammy telecast year, which aired just two weeks after the song's release.
Fun fact: “That's What I Like” is, to date, the most co-written song of the year. It took eight people to come up with this dilemma: Mars co-wrote it with Philip Lawrence, Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Johnathan Yip, Ray Romulus, Jeremy Reeves and Ray McCullough II.
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Jon Batiste, 2024
Candidate for record of the year: “Worship”
Nominated for Song of the Year: “Butterfly”
Notes: As with Jay-Z and Mars above, these were Batiste's only entries in these categories. He co-wrote “Butterfly” with Dan Wilson, who won Song of the Year in 2007 for co-writing “Not Ready to Make Nice” with members of The Chicks. That was the only nod to 'Cult'. “Butterfly” was also nominated for the best American rootstock performance. Neither song entered the Hot 100. Despite winning an Oscar and five Grammys, Batiste has yet to conquer the Hot 100.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/lists/artists-nominated-grammys-record-song-of-the-year-different-hits/