GRAMMYAWARDS
VRER:^ GUS^ STEWAIT/REDFERNS/GETYH^ IMAGES.^ EILIST:^ KEVIN^ WINTER/G
TATY^ IMAGES.^ GRENDE:^ KEVIN^ MAZU
/HGETTY^ IMAGES.^ R.E.R.:^ WAGNER^ ME
EYR/GETTI^ IMAGES.Record Of The Year
Chris Messina, Justin VernonENGINEERS/MBJ Burton, Brad Cook, “Hey, Ma”PRODUCERSBon IverIXERS
MJagjaguwar/Secretly GroupBJ Burton, Zach Hansen, ASTERING ENGINEERChris MessinaGreg CalbiLABEL
After Bon Iver debuted “Hey, Msong became the centerpiece of the independent folk act’s fourth full-length, one year later. Although singer-a” at Bonnaroo in 2018, the i,i, upon its release
songwriter Justin Vernon’s recent work has featured some elliptical song structures, “Hey, Mmore traditionally presented tale of childhood nostalgia, with Vernon breaking into his signature falsetto a” is a
during the more delicate sequences. Vernon, who has been Bon Iver’s frontman since the group’s debut in 2007, produced “Hey, Malongside BJ Burton, Brad Cook and Chris Messina. The song will a”
compete for record of the year eight years after Bon Iver’s last nomina-tion in the category with “Holo-cene,” which lost out to Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” in 2012.
ENGINEERS/MFinneas O’Connell“Bad Guy”Billie EilishPRODUCERRob Kinelski, IXERS
MASTERING ENGINEERDarkroom/InterscopeFinneas O’ConnellJohn GreenhamLABEL
“I always try to achieve uniqueness by not shying away from strange-ness,” said Finneas O’Connell, Billie Eilish’s older brother and producer, to year about helping to pinpoint Eil-Billboard earlier this
Wlar style, it’s “Bad Guy,” the break-out hit of her debut album, Go?encapsulates the pop star’s singu-ish’s sound. If there’s one song that e All Fall Asleep, W, and her first No. 1 single on here Do WWhen e
the Billboard Hot 100. Constructed around a sinister, bass-heavy synth riff that unexpectedly morphs into a trap breakdown during the song’s second half, “Bad Guy” became a smash by pairing Eilish’s beguiling
vocal performance with a beat that worked on both pop playlists and rhythmic radio. That strangeness also received a co-sign by one of mainstream music’s biggest stars: Justin Bieber, who hopped on a
remix of “Bad Guy” in July.Charles Anderson, Tommy Brown, Michael Foster, Victoria MonetENGINEERS/MAriana GrandePRODUCERS“7 Rings”IXERS
Billy Hickey, Brendan MorawskiMSerban Ghenea, John Hanes, ASTERING ENGINEERRandy MerrillRepublicLABEL
The longest-running No. 1 single of Ariana Grande’s career resulted from a cathartic shopping spree. “MTiffany’s together, just because we needed some retail therapy,” e and my friends went to
Grande told pop superstar and six of her friends left the jeweler with matching engagement rings... and Grande’s ode to living lavishly was born. Released as the second single from Billboard in 2018. The
this year’s nominated for album of the year, “7 Rings” spent eight weeks at the top of the Hot 100 before ceding the penthouse to fellow nominee Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.” Thanks Thank U, Next, which is
Rodgers & Hammerstein are also to its interpolation of “MThings” from track; and Victoria Mcredited as songwriters on Grande’s co-produced “7 Rings” and was one The Sound of Monet, who y Favorite usic,
of Grande’s friends on that fateful shopping trip... wears one of them.Joseph Hurtado, Jaycen Joshua, Rodney “Darkchild” JerkinsENGINEERS/M“Hard Place”PRODUCERH.E.R.IXERS
MDerek Keota, Miki TsutsumiASTERING ENGINEERColin LeonardMBK/RCALABEL
After placing in the album of the year and best new artist categories at the 2019 Grammys, rising R&B star H.E.R. now makes her debut in the two other general catego-ries with “Hard Place,” nomi-
nated for both record and song of the year. The meditation on a fractured romantic relationship was produced by studio veteran Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, who has earned two past Grammys:
2014’s record of the year for Sam Smith’s “Stay WVersion),” and best R&B song for Destiny’s Child’s “Say M2000. “Hard Place” was originally released on the singer-songwriter’s ith Me (Darkchild y Name” in
I Used to Know Her: Part 22018 before it was repackaged as a “single version” on her Grammy-nominated album the following year. Another standout on the album, the Bryson I Used to Know Her EP in
Tiller collaboration “Could’ve Been,” nominated for best R&B performance and best R&B song.
60 BILLBOARD • DECEMBER 7, 2019