The Grammy awards are shaping up to be the ultimate showdown between pop’s two biggest female stars as Beyonce and Adele go head-to-head for song, record and album of the year on Sunday.
With nine nominations, many fans are hoping Beyonce will overcome her Grammys’ curse with “Lemonade,” the personally and politically charged album many believe to be about the artist’s troubled marriage to rapper Jay Z, layered with themes of black and female empowerment.
Standing in her way, however, is Britain’s Adele, 28, who swept the Grammys in 2012 with six wins for “21.” She returns with five nominations this year for “25,” a collection of personal coming-of-age songs including the power ballad “Hello.”
The televised Grammy awards will honor winners in more than 80 categories, voted for by members of the music industry.
Beyonce and Adele have overlapping audience, says Billboard magazine senior editor Jem Aswad, adding that Adele fans likely skew older than the younger “Beyhive” that her rival draws.
“Adele has more fans who are casual music consumers – if they’re going to buy one album a year, it’ll be hers,” Aswad said. “Beyonce’s audience are more involved, more active and more interested in what she’s doing.”
“Lemonade” notched 3.1 million total sales in 2016 while “25” notched 3 million, according to figures from BuzzAngle Music, which measures sales data from retailers and streaming consumption. (Reuters)