Nicole Biesek

Grammy season has rolled around and the nominations are jam packed with queer women taking the awards by storm.

Yesterday (November 24), the Recording Academy announced its nominees for the 2021 Grammy Awards, and it’s fair to say that LGBTQ+ women have swiped up more than a handful of nominations.

Sitting across a variety of categories, former GAY TIMES Magazine cover star Chika, Brittany Howard, Phoebe Bridgers, Lido Pimienta, Tiana Major9, Arca, Brandi Carlile, and many others have made their mark on the 2021 Grammys.

If you haven’t had time to catch up, here’s out quick-fire guide of whose been nominated:

Phoebe Bridgers has created quite an impact this year. Following the success of her record Punisher, the American singer-songwriter racked up a total of four nominations for Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Alternative Music Album.

Brittany Howard was another name to reappear as she swept up five nominations, which two acknowledgements in the rock category for  Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song, and Best Alternative Music Album for Jaime. However, the artist also crossed the genre boundaries and achieved a further two nominations for Best R&B Performance and Best American Roots Performance.

Lido Pimienta and trans artist Arca were both nominees for Best Latin Rock Album and Best Dance/Electronic Album categories. While Best New Artist saw the welcoming arrival of Chika and Megan Thee Stallion. Both women have been key musical and cultural influencers this year.

Lady Gaga secured two nominations this time around. Her iconic duet with Ariana Grande, Rain On Me, is up for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Chromatica has been tipped for Best Pop Vocal Album.

A much overlooked nominee this year has been Katie Pruitt who is in the running for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical with her record Expectations.

Another interesting nominee is country singer Brandy Clark, who received nominations for Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Album categories. If the singer wins either of these categories, she will be the first out country singer to achieve a win.

In 2019, Brandi Carlile was the woman with the most nominations, so this year she’s in for a double shot. Musical supergroup The Highwomen have been nominated for Best Country Song for their tune, while Carlile is up against Taylor Swift for the Best Song Written for Visual Media category, who penned Beautiful Ghosts for the Cats musical. Carlile has also been nominated for her track Me With You featuring in the family film Onward.

As we celebrate the visibility and success of queer women dominating the 2021 Grammy nominations, it’s hard not to acknowledge how female artists across the board have shown up in the categories.

Beyoncé leads to the way with a total of nine incredible nominations. Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, along with Roddy Ricch have each secured an impressive six. But, a standout moment for the awards falls to the Best Rock Performance and Best Country Album. Both of these categories are exclusively filled with just women; a truly remarkable feat.