Republic RecordsWhen the Grammy Awards are handed out in January, you can probably expect Ariana Grande to be one of the top nominees…and maybe one of the top winners. But don’t look for her number one smash hit “thank u, next” to win the prestigious Record of the Year trophy…because it won’t even be in the category.
How can we be sure, considering Grammy nominations haven’t come out yet? Because according to Billboard, Ariana and her team haven’t submitted “thank u, next” for consideration in the Record of the Year category.
In an unusual move, Ariana’s hit “7 Rings” has been submitted for Record of the Year, but “thank u, next” and Ari’s current hit with Social House, “Boyfriend,” have been submitted in the Song of the Year category.
Record of the Year is an award for the artist and the producer, while Song of the Year goes solely to the songwriters. As Billboard notes, it’s standard practice to submit your biggest hit in both categories and hope to get enough votes to win one of them.
However, a handful of artists over the years have bucked the trend and come out on top. Two years ago, Bruno Mars entered “24K Magic” for Record of the Year and “That’s What I Like” for Song of the Year and ended up winning both. It was only the second time in Grammy history that an artist won those two categories for two different songs.
Other artists who’ve been successfully nominated for two different songs in those two categories over the years include JAY-Z, TLC, U2, Michael Jackson, Beyonce and The Beatles.
As Billboard notes, Taylor Swift is also splitting the difference: Her camp has entered “Lover” for Song of the Year, but “You Need to Calm Down” for Record of the Year.
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