Arts & Entertainment
Grammy noms 2018: Brandi Carlile, Janelle Monáe and more LGBT artists
More women were nominated than ever before this year
Janelle Monáe’s album ‘Dirty Computer.’ (Photo courtesy Atlantic)
The Recording Academy announced the nominees for the 61st Grammy Awards on Friday with women and LGBT artists dominating the list.
Out Americana singer Brandi Carlile received six nominations including for Album (“By The Way, I Forgive You”) and Record of the Year (“The Joke”). This makes her the most nominated woman at the Grammys this year. Carlile is up against pansexual artist Janelle Monáe’s “Dirty Computer” which was also nominated for Album of the Year.
Monáe’s music video for“Pynk” was also nominated for Best Music Video.
Queer artist St. Vincent was nominated for Best Alternative Album (“Masseduction”) and Best Rock Song.
Transgender representation was included among the nominees. Songwriter Teddy Geiger was nominated for co-writing “In My Blood” by Shawn Mendes. Transgender musician Sophie’s album “Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides” was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album.
Other notable mentions include the “Call Me By Your Name” soundtrack which was nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. Sufjan Stevens’ song “Mystery of Love” from the soundtrack was nominated for Best Song Written For Visual Media.
The nominations kept on rolling in for “A Star is Born,” which received three nominations for the song “Shallow,” performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, including for Record of the Year.
Kendrick Lamar earned the most recognition with eight nominations for his work on the “Black Panther” soundtrack.
Overall, this year’ s Grammy’s saw more women getting nominated as the categories expanded its lists from five to eight nominees.
The Grammys air on Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. on CBS. For a complete list of nominees, visit here.
Record of the Year
“I Like It” — Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin
“The Joke” — Brandi Carlile
“This Is America” — Childish Gambino
“God’s Plan” — Drake
“Shallow” — Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
“All the Stars” — Kendrick Lamar & SZA
“Rockstar” — Post Malone featuring 21 Savage
“The Middle” — Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey
Album of the Year
“Invasion Of Privacy” — Cardi B
“By The Way, I Forgive You” — Brandi Carlile
“Scorpion” — Drake
“H.E.R.” — H.E.R.
“Beerbongs & Bentleys” — Post Malone
“Dirty Computer” — Janelle Monáe
“Golden Hour” — Kacey Musgraves
“Black Panther: The Album”— Various artists
Song of the Year
“All The Stars” — Kendrick Duckworth, Solána Rowe, Al Shuckburgh, Mark Spears & Anthony Tiffith (Kendrick Lamar & SZA)
“Boo’d Up” — Larrance Dopson, Joelle James, Ella Mai & Dijon McFarlane (Ella Mai)
“God’s Plan” — Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Brock Korsan, Ron LaTour, Matthew Samuels & Noah Shebib, songwriters (Drake)
“In My Blood” — Teddy Geiger, Scott Harris, Shawn Mendes & Geoffrey Warburton (Shawn Mendes)
“The Joke” — Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth (Brandi Carlile)
“The Middle” — Sarah Aarons, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Marcus Lomax, Kyle Trewartha, Michael Trewartha & Anton Zaslavski (Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey)
“Shallow” — Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper)
“This Is America” — Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson (Childish Gambino)
Best New Artist
Chloe x Halle
Luke Combs
Greta Van Fleet
H.E.R.
Dua Lipa
Margo Price
Bebe Rexha
Jorja Smith
Best Pop Solo Performance
“Colors” — Beck
“Havana (Live)” — Camila Cabello
“God Is A Woman” — Ariana Grande
“Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?)” — Lady Gaga
“Better Now” — Post Malone
Best Pop Vocal Album
“Camila” — Camila Cabello
“Meaning Of Life” — Kelly Clarkson
“Sweetener” — Ariana Grande
“Shawn Mendes” — Shawn Mendes
“Beautiful Trauma” — P!nk
“Reputation” — Taylor Swift
Best Dance Recording
“Northern Soul” — Above & Beyond featuring Richard Bedford
“Ultimatum” — Disclosure featuring Fatoumata Diawara
“Losing It” — Fisher
“Electricity” — Silk City & Dua Lipa featuring Diplo & Mark Ronson
“Ghost Voices” — Virtual Self
Best Rock Song
“Black Smoke Rising” — Jacob Thomas Kiszka, Joshua Michael Kiszka, Samuel Francis Kiszka & Daniel Robert Wagner, songwriters (Greta Van Fleet)
“Jumpsuit” — Tyler Joseph, songwriter (Twenty One Pilots)
“MANTRA” — Jordan Fish, Matthew Kean, Lee Malia, Matthew Nicholls & Oliver Sykes, songwriters (Bring Me The Horizon) “Masseduction” — Jack Antonoff & Annie Clark, songwriters (St. Vincent)
“Rats” — Tom Dalgety & A Ghoul Writer, songwriters (Ghost)
Best Rock Album
“Rainier Fog”— Alice in Chains
“M A N I A”— Fall Out Boy
“Prequelle“ — Ghost
“From the Fires” — Greta Van Fleet
“Pacific Daydream” —Weezer
Best Urban Contemporary Album
“Everything Is Love” — The Carters
“The Kids Are Alright” — Chloe x Halle
“Chris Dave And The Drumhedz” — Chris Dave And The Drumhedz
“War & Leisure” — Miguel
“Ventriloquism” — Meshell Ndegeocello
Best Rap Album
“Invasion Of Privacy” — Cardi B
“Swimming” — Mac Miller
“Victory Lap” — Nipsey Hussle
“Daytona” — Pusha T
“Astroworld” — Travis Scott
Best Country Album
“Unapologetically” — Kelsea Ballerini
“Port Saint Joe” — Brothers Osborne
“Girl Going Nowhere”— Ashley McBride
“Golden Hour” — Kacey Musgraves
“From A Room: Volume 2″— Chris Stapleton
Best Jazz Vocal Album
“My Mood Is You” — Freddy Cole
“The Questions” — Kurt Elling
“The Subject Tonight Is Love” — Kate McGarry with Keith Ganz & Gary Versace
“If You Really Want” — Raul Midón with The Metropole Orkest, conducted by Vince Mendoza
“The Window” — Cécile McLorin Salvant
Best Gospel Album
“One Nation Under God” — Jekalyn Carr
“Hiding Place” — Tori Kelly
“Make Room” — Jonathan McReynolds
“The Other Side” — The Walls Group
“A Great Work” — Brian Courtney Wilson
Best Latin Pop Album
“Prometo” — Pablo Alboran
“Sincera” — Claudia Brant Musas
“(Un Homenaje al Folclore Latinoamericano en Manos de los Macorinos), Vol. 2” — Natalia Lafourcade
“2:00 AM” — Raquel Sofía
“Vives” — Carlos Vives
Best Americana Album
“By The Way, I Forgive You” — Brandi Carlile
“Things Have Changed” — Bettye LaVette
“The Tree Of Forgiveness” — John Prine
“The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone” — Lee Ann Womack
“One Drop Of Truth” — The Wood Brothers
Best Comedy Album
“Annihilation” — Patton Oswalt
“Equanimity & The Bird Revelation” — Dave Chappelle
“Noble Ape” — Jim Gaffigan
“Standup for Drummers” — Fred Armisen
“Tamborine” — Chris Rock
Best Song Written For Visual Media
“All The Stars” — Kendrick Duckworth, Solána Rowe, Alexander William Shuckburgh, Mark Anthony Spears & Anthony Tiffith (Kendrick Lamar & SZA), “Black Panther”
“Mystery Of Love” — Sufjan Stevens (Sufjan Stevens), “Call Me By Your Name”
“Remember Me” — Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez (Miguel, featuring Natalia Lafourcade), “Coco”
“Shallow” — Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper), “A Star Is Born”
“This Is Me” — Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, songwriters (Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman Ensemble), “The Greatest Showman”
Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical
Boi-1da
Larry Klein
Linda Perry
Kanye West
Pharrell Williams
Theater
A hilarious ‘Twelfth Night’ at Folger full of ‘elegant kink’
Nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan stars as Duke Orsino
‘Twelfth Night’
Through June 22
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St., S.E.
$20-$84
Folger.edu
Nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan (they/them)loves tapping into the multitudes within.
Currently Keegan plays the melancholic Duke Orsino in Folger Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy “Twelfth Night.” Director Mei Ann Teo describes the production as “sexy, hilarious, and devastating” and full of “elegant kink.”
Washington-based, Keegan enjoys a busy and celebrated career. Her vast biography includes Come From Away at Ford’s Theatre; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Helen Hayes Award, Best Actress) and Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive, both at Round House Theatre; Diana Son’s Stop Kiss directedby Holly Twyford for No Rules Theatre Company; and Contractions at Studio Theatre, to name just a few.
In addition to acting, Keegan works as a polyamory and ethical non-monogamy life and relationship coach, an area of interest that grew out of personal exploration. For them, coaching seems to work hand in hand with acting.
WASHINGTON BLADE: You’re playing the lovesick Orsino in Twelfth Night. How did that come about?
ALYSSA KEEGAN: The director was looking to cast a group of actors with diverse identities; throughout auditions, there were no constraints regarding anyone’s assigned sex at birth. It was really a free for all.
BLADE: What’s your approach to the fetching, cod-piece clad nobleman?
KEEGAN: Offstage I identify as completely nonbinary; I love riding in this neutral middle space. But I also love cosplay. The ability to do that in the play gives me permission to dive completely into maleness.
So, when I made that decision to play Orsino as a bio male, suddenly the part really cracked open for me. I began looking for clues about his thoughts and opinions about things like his past relationships and his decision not to date older women.
Underneath his mask of bravura and sexuality, and his firmness of feelings, he’s quite lonely and has never really felt loved. It makes sense to me why his love for Olivia is so misguided and why he might fall in love with the Cesario/Viola character.
BLADE: As an actor, do you ever risk taking on the feelings of your characters?
KEEGAN: Prior to my mental health education, yes, and that could be toxic for me. I’ve since learned that the nervous system can’t tell the difference between real emotional distress and a that of a fully embodied character.
So, I created and share the Empowered Performer Project. [a holistic approach to performance that emphasizes the mental and emotional well-being of performing artists]. It utilizes somatic tools that help enormously when stepping into a character.
BLADE: Has changing the way you work affected your performances?
KEEGAN: I think I’m much better now. I used to have nearly debilitating stage fright. I’d spend all day dreading going onstage. I thought that was just part of the job. Now, I’ve learned to talk to my body. Prior to a performance, I can now spend my offstage time calmly gardening, working with my mental health clients, or playing with my kid. I’m just present in my life in a different way.
BLADE: Is Orsino your first time playing a male role?
KEEGAN: No. In fact, the very first time I played a male role was at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va. I played Hipolito in Thomas Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy.
As Hipolito, I felt utterly male in the moment, so much so that I had audience members see me later after the show and they were surprised that I was female. They thought I was a young guy in the role. There’s something very powerful in that.
BLADE: Do you have a favorite part? Male or female?
KEEGAN: That’s tough but I think it’s Maggie the Cat. I played the hyper-female Maggie in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Round House. In the first act she didn’t stop talking for 51 minutes opposite Gregory Wooddell as Brick who barely had to speak. That lift was probably the heaviest I’ve ever been asked to do in acting.
BLADE: What about Folger’s Twelfth Night might be especially appealing to queer audiences?
KEEGAN: First and foremost is presentation. 99% of the cast identify as queer in some way.
The approach to Shakespeare’s text is one of the most bold and playful that I have ever seen. It’s unabashedly queer. The actors are here to celebrate and be loud and colorful and to advocate. It’s a powerful production, especially to do so close to the Capitol building, and that’s not lost on any of us.
The Washington Blade hosted the inaugural WorldPride Boat Parade at The Wharf DC on Friday, June 6. NBC4’s Tommy McFly served as the emcee.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2025 Capital Pride Honors awards ceremony and gala reception was held at the National Building Museum on Thursday, June 5. Honorees included Cathy Renna, Jerry St. Louis, Ernest Hopkins, Lamar Braithwaite, Rev. Dr. Donna Claycomb Sokol, Kriston Pumphrey, Gia Martinez, Kraig Williams and SMYAL. Presenters and speakers included U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Amber Ruffin, Raven-Symoné and Paul Wharton.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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