After a two-month delay due to the Omicron variant COVID-19 surge, the 64th Annual Grammy Awards are set to take place Sunday, April 3 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and the first batch of performers has been announced. Per a press release provided to The Root, Lil Nas X with Jack Harlow, K-Pop superstars BTS, pop singers Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish and Brandi Carlile and country duo Brothers Osborne have all been confirmed as performers.
Since Lil Nas X is specifically mentioned as performing with Jack Harlow, we assume they’ll be singing their collaboration “Industry Baby,” which is nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance. Lil Nas X is also up for Record, Song, Music Video and Album of the Year for “Montero [Call Me By Your Name],” so we can probably expect one of his wild, memorable performances that the whole world is talking about the next day.
Traditionally, the Grammys have featured performances by all the Record of the Year nominees, but that was when the category only included five nods. This year, the Recording Academy doubled the list to 10. With Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, Brandi Carlile and Olivia Rodrigo already announced, our fingers are crossed to get amazing performances from nominees Jon Batiste, Silk Sonic and Doja Cat featuring SZA.
As we previously reported at The Root, jazz musician and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert bandleader Jon Batiste leads all nominees with 11. In addition to Record of the Year, he’s also up for Album of the Year, Traditional R&B Performance, Best R&B Album, Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Best Improvised Jazz Solo, Best Contemporary Classical Composition, Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film Soul, Best Music Video for “Freedom,” Best American Roots Song and Best American Roots Performance for “Cry.”
Just behind Batiste is H.E.R. with eight noms, including Album of the Year for Back Of My Mind and Song of the Year for “Fight For You,” Best R&B Album for Back Of My Mind, R&B Song and Performance for “Damage,” Traditional R&B Performance for “Fight For You,” Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for “Hold Us Together (Hope Mix)” with Tauren Wells and Best Song Written for the Visual Media for “Fight For You.”
And perhaps the most interesting question of all will be if Kanye West, who is nominated for Album of the Year for Donda, will be invited to perform?
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah, airs live Sunday April 3 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.