Kendrick Lamar and Drake are the Most Nominated Artists of the Year

UMG Represents Nearly Half of the Nominations in Major Categories including Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year

SANTA MONICA, DECEMBER 7, 2018 — Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, today received nominations for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards across nearly every category and genre, with Kendrick Lamar and Drake leading with nominations in Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year among others.

Golden Globe nominee Kendrick Lamar (Top Dawg/Aftermath/Interscope) received eight nominations including Album of the Year for Black Panther: The Album as well as Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “All the Stars.” Drake (Young Money/Cash Money/Republic), who received seven nominations, was recognized in multiple categories including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “God’s Plan” and Album of the Year for Scorpion.

UMG represents nearly half of all nominations in the major categories with five of the eight nominations for Record of the Year, four of eight nominations for Album of the Year and four of eight nominations for Song of the Year.

Greta Van Fleet (Republic/LAVA) has been nominated for Best New Artist along with Best Rock Performance for “Highway Tune” and Best Rock Album for From the Fires.

Lady Gaga (Interscope), who is also nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in A Star is Born, has five nominations including Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Shallow.”

With a newly established joint venture with Universal Music Canada (UMC), songwriter and producer, Boi-1Da (1 Music/UMC) has six nominations that include his work on Drake’s “God’s Plan” along with a nomination for Producer of the Year.

Kacey Musgraves (MCA Nashville) and Post Malone (Republic) each received four nominations including Album of the Year for Musgrave’s Golden Hour and Malone’s Beerbongs & Bentleys.

Other top UMG nominations include Zedd (Interscope) for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “The Middle” (featuring Maren Morris and Grey (Island)); Shawn Mendes (Island) for Song of the Year for “In My Blood” and Best Pop Vocal Album for Shawn Mendes; Chris Stapleton (Mercury Nashville) for Best Country Album for From a Room: Volume 2 and Best Country Solo Performance for “Millionaire;” Beck (Capitol) for Best Pop Solo Performance for “Colors;” The Carters (Roc Nation) for Best Urban Contemporary Album for Everything is Love; Alexandre Desplat (Decca) for Best Score Soundtrack for The Shape of Water; and Toni Braxton (Def Jam) for Best R&B Album for Sex & Cigarettes among others.

UMPG songwriters received numerous nominations in categories spanning Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Song, Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

In the Song of the Year category, UMPG writers are nominated for “All the Stars” (SZA), “God’s Plan” (Cardo), “In My Blood” (Shawn Mendes) and “The Middle” (Zedd, Grey). UMPG artist H.E.R received five nominations and SZA and Post Malone earned four nominations each.

Additional UMPG nominees include Ariana Grande, Alexandre Desplat, Ben Glover, Chase McGill, Dua Lipa, J. Cole and Miguel, among others.

The Grammy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 10, 2018, and broadcast on CBS.

About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audiovisual content in more than 60 countries. Featuring the most comprehensive catalog of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. Universal Music Group is a Vivendi company. Find out more at: http://www.universalmusic.com.

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