Among 2019 Grammy nominees Willie Nelson summed it up best for visual media contenders with “It Was A Very Good Year,” one of two performances he has on the broader honorees list — 84 categories in all.

Black Panther and its creative visionary Kendrick Lamar generated the most nominations overall, with eight, including notice in the “big three”: record of the year, album of the year, song of the year. Black Panther: The Album, Music From and Inspired By and the single “All the Stars” also got noticed for best song for visual media and best score soundtrack for visual media, as well as best rap/sung performance for Black Panther songwriter and soundtrack co-producer Lamar and duet partner SZA for “All the Stars.” 

A second Panther song, “King’s Dead,” earned rap performance (single or track) notice for Lamar, who won a Pulitzer Prize for music in April (for the early 2017 album Damn, which won best rap album and was nominated for album of the year at the 2018 Grammys). 

A Star is Born got four nominations on the strength of the single, “Shallow,” which was released on Sept. 27, qualifying for 61st Annual Grammy Awards eligibility (Oct. 1, 2017—Sept. 30, 2018) while the album, released Oct. 5, did not. Three of its four noms are in heavyweight categories: record of the year, song of the year and best pop duet for performers Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, who star in the film. “Shallow” also landed in the best song for visual media race.

Gaga also received a single nomination for her 2016 studio album Joanne, competing for best pop performance for the song “Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Going).” 

The films The Greatest Showman and Call Me By Your Name each got two nominations, as did composer John Willams, for his work related to Star Wars. A third project, John Williams at the Movies earned a best engineered classical album for the production team. 

The Target-themed (soft-sell commercial media) tune “The Middle,” landed a song of the year nom, as well as getting Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey noticed for pop duo/group performance. 

In addition to seven categories that are overtly visual (we include opera album and musical theater album among them) movie, video and television projects popped up in a variety of other categories. 

The Grammy Awards will take place on Feb. 10 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center. The broadcast will air live on CBS from 8-11:30 p.m. ET/PT. A list of categories that are either heavy on visual media representation or categorized as such follows. 

 Record Of The Year

Award to the Artist and to the Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s) and/or Mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s), if other than the artist.

• I LIKE IT
  Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin
  Invincible, JWhiteDidIt, Craig Kallman & Tainy, producers; Leslie Brathwaite & Evan LaRay, engineers/mixers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer
   
• THE JOKE
  Brandi Carlile
  Dave Cobb & Shooter Jennings, producers; Tom Elmhirst & Eddie Spear, engineers/mixers; Pete Lyman, mastering engineer
   
• THIS IS AMERICA
  Childish Gambino
  Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson, producers; Derek “MixedByAli” Ali & Riley Mackin, engineers/mixers; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer
   
• GOD’S PLAN
  Drake
  Boi-1Da, Cardo & Young Exclusive, producers; Noel Cadastre, Noel “Gadget” Campbell & Noah Shebib, engineers/mixers; Chris Athens, mastering engineer
   
• SHALLOW
  Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
  Lady Gaga & Benjamin Rice, producers; Brandon Bost & Tom Elmhirst, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
   
• ALL THE STARS
  Kendrick Lamar & SZA
  Al Shux & Sounwave, producers; Sam Ricci & Matt Schaeffer, engineers/mixers; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer
   
• ROCKSTAR
  Post Malone Featuring 21 Savage
  Louis Bell & Tank God, producers; Louis Bell & Manny Marroquin, engineers/mixers; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer
   
• THE MIDDLE
  Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey
  Grey, Monsters & Strangerz & Zedd, producers; Grey, Tom Norris, Ryan Shanahan & Zedd, engineers/mixers; Mike Marsh, mastering engineer

Song Of The Year

 A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

• ALL THE STARS
  Kendrick Duckworth, Solána Rowe, Al Shuckburgh, Mark Spears & Anthony Tiffith, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar & SZA)
   
• BOO’D UP
  Larrance Dopson, Joelle James, Ella Mai & Dijon McFarlane, songwriters (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, songwriters (Shawn Mendes)
   
• THE JOKE
  Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)
   
• THE MIDDLE
  Sarah Aarons, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Marcus Lomax, Kyle Trewartha, Michael Trewartha & Anton Zaslavski, songwriters (Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey)
   
• SHALLOW
  Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper)
   
• THIS IS AMERICA
  Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson, songwriters (Childish Gambino)

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media

Award to the artist(s) and/or ‘in studio’ producer(s) of a majority of the tracks on the album. In the absence of both, award to the one or two individuals proactively responsible for the concept and musical direction of the album and for the selection of artists, songs and producers, as applicable. Award also goes to appropriately credited music supervisor(s).

• CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
  (Various Artists)
   
• DEADPOOL 2
  (Various Artists)
   
• THE GREATEST SHOWMAN
  (Various Artists)
   
• LADY BIRD
  (Various Artists)
   
• STRANGER THINGS
  (Various Artists)

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media

Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current legitimate motion picture, television show or series, video games or other visual media.

• BLACK PANTHER
  Ludwig Göransson, composer
   
• BLADE RUNNER 2049
  Benjamin Wallfisch & Hans Zimmer, composers
   
• COCO
  Michael Giacchino, composer
   
• THE SHAPE OF WATER
  Alexandre Desplat, composer
   
• STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
  John Williams, composer

Best Song Written for Visual Media

A Songwriter(s) award. For a song (melody & lyrics) written specifically for a motion picture, television, video games or other visual media, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

• ALL THE STARS
  Kendrick Duckworth, Solána Rowe, Alexander William Shuckburgh, Mark Anthony Spears & Anthony Tiffith, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar & SZA) Track from: Black Panther
   
• MYSTERY OF LOVE
  Sufjan Stevens, songwriter (Sufjan Stevens)
  Track from: Call Me By Your Name
   
• REMEMBER ME
  Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Miguel Featuring Natalia Lafourcade)
  Track from: Coco
   
• SHALLOW
  Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper) Track from: A Star Is Born
   
• THIS IS ME
  Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, songwriters (Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman Ensemble) Track from: The Greatest Showman

Best Music Video

Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.

• APES***
  The Carters
  Ricky Saiz, video director; Mélodie Buchris, Natan Schottenfels & Erinn Williams, video producers
   
• THIS IS AMERICA
  Childish Gambino
  Hiro Murai, video director; Ibra Ake, Jason Cole & Fam Rothstein, video producers
   
• I’M NOT RACIST
  Joyner Lucas
  Joyner Lucas & Ben Proulx, video directors; Joyner Lucas, video producer
   
• PYNK
  Janelle Monáe
  Emma Westenberg, video director; Justin Benoliel & Whitney Jackson, video producers
   
• MUMBO JUMBO
  Tierra Whack
  Marco Prestini, video director; Sara Nassim, video producer

Best Music Film

For concert/performance films or music documentaries. Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.

• LIFE IN 12 BARS
  Eric Clapton
  Lili Fini Zanuck, video director; John Battsek, Scooter Weintraub, Larry Yelen & Lili Fini Zanuck, video producers
   
• WHITNEY
  (Whitney Houston)
  Kevin Macdonald, video director; Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn & Lisa Erspamer, video producers
   
• QUINCY
  Quincy Jones
  Alan Hicks & Rashida Jones, video directors; Paula DuPré Pesmen, video producer
   
• ITZHAK
  Itzhak Perlman
  Alison Chernick, video director; Alison Chernick, video producer
   
• THE KING
  (Elvis Presley)
  Eugene Jarecki, video director; Christopher Frierson, Georgina Hill, David Kuhn & Christopher St. John, video producers

Best Opera Recording

Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists.

ADAMS: DOCTOR ATOMIC
John Adams, conductor; Aubrey Allicock, Julia Bullock, Gerald Finley & Brindley Sherratt; Friedemann Engelbrecht, producer (BBC Symphony Orchestra; BBC Singers)

BATES: THE (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS
Michael Christie, conductor; Sasha Cooke, Jessica E. Jones, Edward Parks, Garrett Sorenson & Wei Wu; Elizabeth Ostrow, producer (The Santa Fe Opera Orchestra)

LULLY: ALCESTE
Christophe Rousset, conductor; Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro & Judith Van Wanroij; Maximilien Ciup, producer (Les Talens Lyriques; Choeur De Chambre De Namur)

STRAUSS, R.: DER ROSENKAVALIER
Sebastian Weigle, conductor; Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, Günther Groissböck & Erin Morley; David Frost, producer (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Metropolitan Opera Chorus)

VERDI: RIGOLETTO
Constantine Orbelian, conductor; Francesco Demuro, Dmitri Hvorostovsky & Nadine Sierra; Vilius Keras & Aleksandra Keriene, producers (Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra; Men Of The Kaunas State Choir)B

Best Musical Theater Album

• THE BAND’S VISIT
  Etai Benson, Adam Kantor, Katrina Lenk & Ari’el Stachel, principal soloists; Dean Sharenow & David Yazbek, producers; David Yazbek, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)
   
• CAROUSEL
  Renée Fleming, Alexander Gemignani, Joshua Henry, Lindsay Mendez & Jessie Mueller, principal soloists; Steven Epstein, producer (Richard Rodgers, composer; Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist) (2018 Broadway Cast)
   
• JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR LIVE IN CONCERT
  Sara Bareilles, Alice Cooper, Ben Daniels, Brandon Victor Dixon, Erik Grönwall, Jin Ha, John Legend, Norm Lewis & Jason Tam, principal soloists; Harvey Mason, Jr., producer (Andrew Lloyd-Webber, composer; Tim Rice, lyricist) (Original Television Cast)
   
• MY FAIR LADY
  Lauren Ambrose, Norbert Leo Butz & Harry Hadden-Paton, principal soloists; Andre Bishop, Van Dean, Hattie K. Jutagir, David Lai, Adam Siegel & Ted Sperling, producers (Frederick Loewe, composer; Alan Jay Lerner, lyricist) (2018 Broadway Cast)
   
• ONCE ON THIS ISLAND
  Phillip Boykin, Merle Dandridge, Quentin Earl Darrington, Hailey Kilgore, Kenita R. Miller, Alex Newell, Isaac Powell & Lea Salonga, principal soloists; Lynn Ahrens, Hunter Arnold, Ken Davenport, Stephen Flaherty & Elliot Scheiner, producers (Stephen Flaherty, composer; Lynn Ahrens, lyricist) (New Broadway Cast)

Best Instrumental Composition

A Composer’s Award for an original composition (not an adaptation) first released during the Eligibility Year. Singles or Tracks only.

• BLUT UND BODEN (BLOOD AND SOIL)
  Terence Blanchard, composer (Terence Blanchard)
   
• CHRYSALIS
  Jeremy Kittel, composer (Kittel & Co.)
   
• INFINITY WAR
  Alan Silverstri, composer (Alan Silvestri)
   
• MINE MISSION
  John Powell & John Williams, composers (John Powell & John Williams)
   
• THE SHAPE OF WATER
  Alexandre Desplat, composer (Alexandre Desplat)

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella

 An Arranger’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

• BATMAN THEME (TV)
  Randy Waldman & Justin Wilson, arrangers (Randy Waldman Featuring Wynton Marsalis)
   
• CHANGE THE WORLD
  Mark Kibble, arranger (Take 6)
   
• MADRID FINALE
  John Powell, arranger (John Powell)
   
• THE SHAPE OF WATER
  Alexandre Desplat, arranger (Alexandre Desplat)
   
• STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER
  John Daversa, arranger (John Daversa Big Band Featuring DACA Artists)