Billie Eilish, Lizzo Lead Newcomers Charge at Grammy Awards

Eilish, who turned 18 in December, is nominated for six Grammys, vying for top prizes with newcomer fellow R&B singers Lizzo and country rapper Lil Nas X-album, chart, year single and best new artist.

The three will appear for the first time on the Grammy stage in Los Angeles, entering a lineup of artists including Ariana Grande, the Jonas Brothers, Camila Cabello, Demi Lovato, Blake Shelton, and the Aerosmith rock band.

Eilish took the music world by storm in 2019 with her debut album "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" and hit singles like "Bad Guy" and "Everything I Wanted," with her green hair, shapeless clothes, whispery vocals and hard to define the musical style.

She is also the youngest artist ever chosen to write and perform a James Bond movie theme song. The "No Time To Die" album has still not been published.

Eilish "is in a rare position of being one of those artists that could sweep all four (top) categories, which does not happen very often," said Billboard's Melinda Newman, executive editor for the U.S. West Coast and Nashville.

"People are really taken with the freshness, the depths, the darkness of the work. This is not someone in her teen years who is celebrating puppy love... People also like that she has claimed her own image and presentation," Newman added.

Lizzo, the "Truth Hurts" singer and advocate for body positivity, has also proved to be a breath of fresh air, along with Lil Nas X, whose "Old Town Road" record of the year nominee collaboration with Billy Ray Cyrus spent 17 weeks at the top of the U.S. charts.

The viral song, which inspired numerous mashups, will get its own moment on Sunday when BTS, electronic dance musician Diplo and other artists join Lil Nas X and Cyrus for what show producers call a one-of-a-kind performance. It will mark the first Grammy performance by the South Korean boy band.

Country singer Shelton and his fiancee Gwen Stefani will debut their new romantic duet "Nobody But You," while John Legend, Meek Mill and DJ Khaled will perform a tribute to slain Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle, 33, who was gunned down in his own neighborhood last year. Hussle is up for three Grammy awards on Sunday.

The Grammy winners are chosen by members of the Recording Academy, which is currently embroiled in a dispute over the departure of its new chief executive Deborah Dugan and her allegations of conflicts of interest in the nominations process. The Recording Academy has denied the allegations and the dispute is not expected to affect the Grammy show.

Source: Reuters