Capaldi was also surrounded for a performance at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards on Jan. 26.
Lewis Capaldi has the last laugh. About nine months after the Scottish singer / songwriter, surprisingly, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist, he landed his second top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Before You Go.”
The song follows “Someone You Loved”, which last November led the chart for three inconsistent weeks – and received a Grammy clip for song of the year. (Capaldi co-wrote the ballad with Tom Barnes, Pete Kelleher, Benjamin Kohn, and Sam Roman.)
Nominations in the Big Four categories – album, recording and song of the year plus best new artist – are determined by a nomination committee that votes the top 20 ballot papers of members for rank-and-file . While the initial lists are kept secret, it seems likely that Capaldi ranks high on the list of favorites for voters for best new artist.
Three of the best new artist nominees have also (like Capaldi) had multiple top-10 hits on the Hot 100. Billie Eilish, the winner, just released her third top-10 hit, “My Future,” just last week. Lil Nas X and Lizzo have each scored two top 10 hits.
Not one of the five other nominees has cracked the top 40 yet on the Hot 100, much less the top 10. And only one of the five – Rosalía – has made the Hot 100 in any case. She reached in June no. 66 with “TKN,” a column by Travis Scott.
The other four nominees – Black Pumas, Maggie Rogers, Tank and the Bangas and Yola – have been successful on some genre charts, but not on Billboard‘s Flag for Singles, the Hot 100.
Of course, the Grammys are not strictly based on chart success, much less just mainstream chart success. Success on other, more specialized genre charts also counts. But the vast majority of the best new artist winners, from the first winner, Bobby Darin, to the last, Eilish, have achieved mainstream chart success.
So why did the commission pass Capaldi on for a whole new artist? The commission’s discussions are confidential, so we can only speculate. They may wonder if he would have a meaningful career in the US beyond his first smash. His breakthrough in the top 10 this week brings that problem to rest.
The commission may have thought that a song of the year button was enough recognition. Eilish and Lizzo were the only other new artists to receive a number of the year this year. The commission may have decided, at least as far as Capaldi is concerned, “Let’s share the wealth.”
Or they may have simply surrounded him in the interest of gender and racial diversity.
As for the gender mix, the final list of best new artists nominated consisted of five female solo artists, one male solo artist, one male duo and one group with common gender.
As for the rasmix, the final list of nominees consisted of three Black artists, two white artists, one Latina artist and two interracial groups as duos.
Capaldi was also honored for a performance at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards on January 26. Alicia Keys, who hosted the performance for the second year in a row, performed a parody version of “Someone You Loved” in which she name-dropped more than a dozen artists, including Rosalía, Beyoncé, BTS, HER and, yes, Capaldi. (“Hey Lew, is it cool that I’m using your song right now? Is that okay?” Keys asked. Capaldi gamely gave her a double thumbs up).
But when Capaldi did not get all the nominations, and the performance lock, which he might have hoped for, his fans kept him in the foreground. And there is always next year.
