Kanye West and Taylor Swift ‘added to Grammy nominations list at last minute’

Recording Academy has grown top categories from eight to 10 nominees to ‘make room for more music, more artists and more genres, and to embrace the spirit of inclusion’

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, and Taylor Swift were added as top Grammy nominees just one day before the official nominations were announced, according to reports.

On Monday (22 November), the organisation behind the awards apparently decided that the top categories would be expanded from eight nominees to 10.

According to the New York Times, this move led to stars like Ye, Swift, Lil Nas X, and Abba being added to the lists of top awards at the 11th hour.

The expansion was made across four of the big categories including Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist.

During the live webcast, while announcing the list of nominees, the chief executive of the Recording Academy, Harvey Mason Jr said: “[This move is] to make room for more music, more artists and more genres, and to embrace the spirit of inclusion.”

Swift’s Evermore and Ye’s Donda were reportedly added at the last moment to the Album of The Year Category, joining albums by Lady Gaga, Doja Cat, Justin Bieber, and Olivia Rodrigo among others.

In the Record of The Year category, Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” and Abba’s “I Still Have Faith in You” joined tracks by Rodrigo, Bieber, Gaga and other artists.

Ye also earned three other nominations outside of Album of the Year. Donda was nominated for Best Rap Album and the rapper’s song “Hurricane”, which features The Weeknd and Lil Baby, was also nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance.

The 2022 Grammy award ceremony will be broadcast live from Los Angeles on 31 January 2022.