By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES, Jan 29 (Reuters) - - The music industry will hand out its highest honors on Sunday at the Grammy Awards, where Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga will battle for the most
coveted album of the year prize and a chance to make history.
Trevor Noah is returning to host for a sixth time, which he says will be his last Grammys gig. The show will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+ at 5 p.m. Los Angeles time (0100 GMT on Monday).
Any of the three artists could take home the album accolade during the ceremony in Los Angeles, awards experts say. None of the musicians has ever won the honor, which last year went to Beyonce for "Cowboy Carter."
A 'SUPER TIGHT' THREE-WAY RACE
"It's going to be super tight," Paul Grein, awards editor at Billboard, said of the album category.
Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican rapper who is scheduled to headline next month's Super Bowl halftime show, is in the running for "Debi Tirar Más Fotos." It would be the first Spanish-language album to win in the category since the Grammys began 68 years ago.
If Lamar wins for "GNX," he would be the first solo male rapper to win the award. Only two hip-hop musicians have been honored in the category - female artist Lauryn Hill and the duo Outkast.
For pop singer Lady Gaga, the album prize would be the first of her celebrated career. She has never won any of the top four Grammy prizes despite more than two decades in the music business. This year, she is competing with the album "Mayhem."
Grein predicted the trophy would go to Lamar, who won five Grammys a year ago for the single "Not Like Us."
Current events may boost support for Bad Bunny, Grein said.
BAD BUNNY SKIPPED U.S. SHOWS FOR FEAR OF FEDERAL RAIDS
The singer skipped the continental United States on his recent concert tour, saying he feared federal agents carrying out U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown would show up to arrest his fans.
His selection for the coming Super Bowl halftime show on February 8 also drew objections from critics who argued the National Football League championship game's entertainment should be performed in English.
"I think the culture wars work in his favor," Grein said. "There are people who will vote for him in part - not only for this reason, but in part - as a rebuke to President Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric."
Lamar and Gaga are represented by Universal Music Group. Bad Bunny is signed by Puerto Rican label Rimas Entertainment.
Grammy winners will be chosen by the roughly 15,000 voting members of the Recording Academy — industry peers including artists, songwriters, producers and engineers — whose ranks have been revamped over the past seven years to increase diversity. About 1,000 Latin Grammys voters became eligible to vote this year, and 73% of members have joined since 2019.
Recording Academy Chief Executive Harvey Mason Jr. said the changes reflect the growing popularity of different types of music such as KPop and Afrobeats that now have fans around the world.
"For us, the academy, we had to keep up with that," he said. "We have to make sure we are responsible and we're honoring music regardless of where it comes from."
KPop will be represented in the song of the year category, an honor for songwriters. "Golden," from Netflix movie "KPop Demon Hunters," will face off with "APT.," a duet between KPop singer Rosé and Bruno Mars.
"APT." also will vie for record of the year, given to the performers and producers, against Lamar's "luther" collaboration with SZA and Gaga's "Abracadabra."
In the best new artist category, R&B and soul musician Leon Thomas is considered a frontrunner. He received six Grammy nominations in total including an album of the year nod for "Mutt." His competitors include British soul-pop singer Olivia Dean and pop musician Alex Warren.
Scheduled performers include Sabrina Carpenter, Addison Rae and all eight best new artist nominees. Producers promised some surprise appearances among performers and presenters who have not been announced.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Additional reporting by Rollo Ross; Editing by Howard Goller)
