By Joe Hyer
Who dropped the hottest album of 2017? We’re about to find out as Music’s Biggest Night is right around the corner.
The list of nominees for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards includes some of the biggest stars in all of music.
This category features powerhouse groups Coldplay and Imagine Dragons. Plus, solo superstars Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Kesha and Lana Del Rey. Check out more from each of the nominees below.
Kaleidoscope EP – Coldplay
Kaleidoscope is the 13th EP from the 7-time GRAMMY Award winning band. The album’s lead single “Something Just Like This,” which is a collaboration with The Chainsmokers, is nominated for a GRAMMY (Best Pop Duo/Group Performance) as well. The five-track EP blends the group’s rock music sound with their pop music sound that we have come to love from the Chris Martin-fronted band.
Lust For Life – Lana Del Rey
Del Rey’s fifth studio album, which dropped in July 2017, gives the 32-year-old artist her second nomination in this category. Del Rey has writing and producing credits on all of the album’s 16 tracks. So it is no surprise that Billboard.com describes the release as the “most Lana Del Rey album yet,” and the site praised its “classic rock references” and “hip-hop affectation.” Both of which show as the album featured an appearance by classic rocker Stevie Nicks and hip-hop music’s stars ASAP Rocky, Sean Lennon, and Playboy Carti.
Rainbow – Kesha
Kesha’s powerful return to the music scene in 2017 was perhaps highlighted by Rainbow’s lead single, “Praying,” which shows off the 30-year-old musician’s incredible vocal range. Rainbow had something for everyone from its powerful ballads to its upbeat dance numbers. Ryan Lewis and Ben Folds are credited as producers on some of the album’s tracks.
÷ – Ed Sheeran
÷ (pronounced “divide”) is Sheeran’s third studio album, which highlighted all that we have come to love from the British crooner. With singles like “Shape Of You,” “Castle on the Hill,” and “Perfect,” the album definitely produced some of the biggest songs of 2017. In fact, ÷ was the second-best selling album of 2017.
Joanne – Lady Gaga
The fifth studio album from Mother Monster, which dropped in late 2016, became her fourth album to reach number one in the United States. The album’s production was led by Mark Ronson, Bloodpop, and Lady Gaga herself. USA Today praised Gaga for “expanding her artistic vision and toying with different genres (on the album), while still recording the customary pop tracks listeners have come to expect”.
Evolve – Imagine Dragons
The third studio album from Imagine Dragons blurred the boundaries of pop, rock and alternative music once again, when it was released in 2017. The album, which includes the singles, “Believer,” “Thunder,” and “Whatever It Takes,” delivered a sound that appealed to the group’s established fans, while helping millions of new fans discover their unique sound. In fact, as a Newsday review put it, the album showed the group was “ready to transcend genre labels — they just want to make good music that interests them.”
The 2018 GRAMMY Awards will broadcast live from New York City’s Madison Square Garden at 7:30 PM ET on CBS Sunday, January 28.
