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
JR.’s Bar held a “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” watch party followed by a live drag show on Friday, July 17. The Vitamin C weekly drag show was hosted by Citrine with performers Brooke N Hyman and Rosie Beret.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)










The 2026 Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival was held at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center on Saturday, July 18.
(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)













Books
Liza’s book a tale that’s better than most celebrity memoirs
‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!’ dishes on marriages, heartbreak
‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! My Memoir’
By Liza Minnelli, as told to Michael Feinstein
c.2026, Grand Central
$36/ 421 pages
Twenty feet In front of you, and you can’t see a thing.
Even the closest faces are in shadow – lit, but not quite enough for you to see for sure what the people there are thinking. Still, you can hear them, their gasps, their laughter, and applause. Such is life, on-stage. Now read “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! My Memoir” by Liza Minnelli, as told to Michael Feinstein, and read about it beyond the spotlight.

Almost from the moment she was born, Liza Minnelli was famous.
It was inevitable: her mother was Judy Garland. Her father was director Vincente Minnelli. Her godparents were Hollywood glitterati, her neighbors were famous, her playmates would be famous someday, too.
But her life wasn’t all starlight and happiness.
She made her stage debut as a toddler. She became her “mother’s caretaker” at age 13.
At 16, she had a growing career of her own – one that her mother tried to stop. But, she says, “In her own way, Mama was wonderful to me. Try understanding – she was my mother, not a movie star…. I knew her as the person who loved me and always would.”
At 19, Minnelli was working, happy, and madly in love with the man who’d become her first husband, and life was wonderful – until she came home one day to find him in their bed with another man. Before they were divorced, she lost her beloved mother, and became “engaged” to two other men simultaneously, neither of which made it to the altar with her.
She married her second husband, the son of one of her mother’s former co-stars, in 1974 but her love affairs and addictions led to a second divorce.
Her third husband was a stage manager.
She doesn’t have much good to say about her fourth, and last, husband.
Overall, she says, “You gotta play the comedy for all it’s worth and leave ‘em laughing. Even when your heart is breaking.”
Are you expecting bluntness, sass, or attitude here? Good, because that’s what you get inside “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” It’s strong on honesty and don’t-give-a-flip. It’s wonderfully edited, so it moves fast. It’s eye-opening and funny and a pleasant surprise for a first, and only (so far), memoir.
Even better, author Liza Minnelli (with best friend, Michael Feinstein) is really quite candid and nicely gossipy, starting from the beginning. There are some Hollywood folks, in fact, who are feeling edgy because of what’s inside this book and the secrets spilled. Minnelli and Feinstein seemed to have fun telling her story, and they comfortably lure readers in.
That’s not to say that it’s all a cabaret. Minnelli tells about her addictions and recoveries, her marriages and why she wed two gay men, and the losses she endured, including miscarriages, deaths, and broken relationships. The bad balances well with the good for a tale that’s several notches above most celebrity memoirs. “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” is, in fact, a real joy to read, a genuine bright spot.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
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