KPop Demon Hunters, which has topped the Billboard 200 for two nonconsecutive weeks, and Wicked, which debuted and peaked at No. 2 on that chart last December, are among the 48 soundtracks vying for Grammy nominations for best compilation soundtrack for visual media.
Wicked received 10 Oscar nominations earlier this year, including nods for both of its main stars, Cynthia Erivoand Ariana Grande.
Soundtracks from two other films that were major players at the Oscars on March 2 are also vying for Grammy nominations: the musical Emilia Pérez, which led all films this year with 13 Oscar nods, and the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, which received eight nods, including one for its star Timothée Chalamet.
In both of these cases, the stars of the soundtracks – Clément Ducol and Camille for Emilia Pérez and Chalamet for A Complete Unknown – are identified by name on the entry list from which Grammy voters will make their selections in first-round voting. (In most cases, such as with KPop Demon Hunters and Wicked, the list simply says Various Artists.)
All four of these soundtracks seem likely to receive Grammy nominations.
If KPop Demon Hunters wins, it will be the fourth soundtrack from an animated film to take the award (which dates to the 2000 Grammy ceremony), following Tarzan, Frozen and Encanto. If Wicked wins, it would be the second soundtrack to a film that was adapted from a Broadway musical to claim the prize, following Chicago.
Soundtracks vying for the fifth spot on the final ballot include both albums that are credited to specific artists and those that show Various Artists.
Artist-identifying possibilities include Piece by Piece (credited to 13-time Grammy winner Pharrell Williams); Better Man (credited to Robbie Williams and Adam Tucker); Godfather of Harlem: Season 4(credited to Godfather of Harlem and Swizz Beatz); Spellbound (credited to 11-time Grammy winner Alan Menken and Cast); and Maria (credited to Maria Callas, though since the legendary opera star died in 1977, she isn’t eligible to win a Grammy).
Other possibilities, credited just to Various Artists, include Arcane League of Legends: Season 2 and film soundtracks from director Ryan Coogler’s Sinners; Barry Jenkins’ Mufasa: The Lion King; Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest; Ethan Coen’s Honey Don’t; Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice; Joseph Kosinski’s F1 The Movie; Jared Hess’ A Minecraft Movie; and David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller’s Moana 2.
As you can see, both film and TV soundtracks are eligible in this category. Just one TV soundtrack has won over the years: Boardwalk Empire, Volume 1 in 2012.
This category has the smallest number of entries (48) of any of the 90 categories on this year’s Grammy entry list. (Nominations in the other five categories are determined by committees; the number of entries in those categories is not made public.)
