Several Canadians emerged as major contenders at the Grammy Awards on Friday as they were recognized for their work on Beyonce's country-pop smash "Cowboy Carter."
The superstar and her album led the Grammys with 11 nominations and that helped Toronto producer Nathan Ferraro land three nominations, including record of the year.
He shared two of his nods with German-Canadian songwriter Megan Bülow and Calgary-raised Elizabeth Lowell Boland in song of the year and best country song.
Dave Hamelin, best known as a member of Montreal band the Stills, was named for producing, engineering and mixing "Cowboy Carter" in the album of the year category.
R&B singer Deborah Cox was among the best musical theatre album nominees for her role as Glinda in the recording of "The Wiz."
It's the second Grammy nod of her career, and she says it arrives at a welcome time as she digests the outcome of the U.S. election.
"It's a beautiful distraction," she said in a call from Washington.
"And it's definitely put some more wind in my sail, especially dealing with what we're dealing with right now. It was a very heavy, heavy couple years with the elections with everything going on."
Cox said the original 1978 film "The Wiz," which starred Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, was particularly meaningful to her as a child growing up.
"I remember watching it as a little girl in Toronto with big dreams," she said.
"It was the first time seeing other people who look like me in a musical ... It meant a lot to little Black teens in theatre. It was like being seen, to be a part of that movement was amazing."
Halifax-raised hitmaker Cirkut picked up two nominations for his work with Charli XCX on "Brat," including a mention in the album of the year category. The track "360" also earned him a nomination for record of the year.
Prolific audio engineer and mixer Serban Ghenea continued his Grammys run with another five nods in key categories.
Ghenea was named in record of the year for "Fortnight" by Taylor Swift, as well as nods in album of the year for Sabrina Carpenter's "Short n' Sweet" and Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department." He's also up for best dance pop recording for "Yes, and?" by Ariana Grande.
He now holds a career tally of 50 Grammy nominations.
Ghenea was born in Romania before he moved to Canada as a youngster, going on to build his name in the music industry where he’s scored multiple Grammy wins over his career.
Montreal's Kaytranada added another three nominations to his career tally, which includes two wins. His album "Timeless" is among best dance/electronic album contenders, while he also picked up noms for best remixed recording and best dance/electronic recording.
The Weeknd's appearance on Future's Drake-diss track "We Still Don't Trust You" found a spot in best melodic rap performance.
Several Canadians lined the best engineered album, non-classical category, including Toronto's Charlotte Day Wilson who is up for her sophomore R&B album "Cyan Blue."
Also vying for that trophy are Alberta-raised Shawn Everett, part of the team behind Kacey Musgraves' “Deeper Well” and Ghenea, who was involved in Sabrina Carpenter's “Short n’ Sweet.”
Grant Dickinson, an Ontario producer better known as Thelabcook, is among the team up for best rap song for Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign's "Carnival."
Ottawa-born guitarist Sue Foley is nominated for best traditional blues album for "One Guitar Woman."
And Victoria-founded Spiritbox earned a nod for best metal performance for their song "Cellar Door."
In best R&B song, two Canadians were named: Montreal's Sara Diamond, who was a songwriter on "Here We Go (Uh Oh)" by Coco Jones, and Toronto's Scott Zhang, who has a writing credit on SZA's "Saturn." Both are musicians in their own right, with Zhang performing under the stage name Monsune.
In the classical categories, Montreal's Yannick Nézet-Séguin has three nominations, including two for best opera recording as conductor of "Catán: Florencia En El Amazonas" and "Puts: The Hours," both with New York's Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera Chorus.
He's also up for best compilation soundtrack for visual media for "Maestro: Music By Leonard Bernstein" along with the London Symphony Orchestra and Hollywood star Bradley Cooper.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
David Friend, The Canadian Press