Beyonce earned a whopping nine Grammy nominations Tuesday, including best rock performance, but the singer’s twangy song “Daddy Lessons” was rejected by the Recording Academy’s country music committee.
A person familiar with the Grammy nomination process told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Beyonce submitted “Daddy Lessons” – from her album “Lemonade” – to the country category. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not allowed to speak publicly about the topic, said the country music committee rejected the song.
If Beyonce’s song had made it through, it would have been eligible for honors such as best country song and country solo performance.
Representatives for Beyonce and the Grammys didn’t immediately reply to emails seeking comment.
“Daddy Lessons” highlights the Houston native’s Southern music roots, incorporating horns, acoustic guitar and hand claps as Beyonce sings about lessons she learned from her father and former manager. The lyrics include references to the Second Amendment, the Bible and shooting guns.
Beyonce performed the track at last month’s Country Music Association Awards alongside the Dixie Chicks, and later released a version of the song featuring the country trio.
Earlier in the year, the Chicks covered the song on their tour, and others in the country genre welcomed the tune, including Blake Shelton, who defended the song from critics who say it’s not country.
Country star Dierks Bentley told the AP, “There is just something intangible about it that it feels like a country song.”
Meantime,….Dave Draiman of Disturbed believes “something has gone wrong” when Disturbed is competing for a rock Grammy against Beyonce. Draiman tells Billboard magazine with all due respect to Beyonce, the problem with the Best Rock Performance Grammy is that it’s become too general in its definition of rock. The Disturbed frontman explained during the Billboard interview,
“When did it all become ‘rock’? If you look at every other genre, there are so many categories and sub-categories. For rock, this is all we’ve got, so everything ends up being jammed into these four categories. Is it diverse? Absolutely. It’s too diverse! When you can have, with all due respect, a Beyonce and a Disturbed in the same category, something has gone wrong. Not taking anything away from her whatsoever, we’re just very different from each other.”
Disturbed is nominated for their live rendition of “Sounds of Silence,” while Beyonce and Jack White are nominated for “Don’t Hurt Yourself.” Twenty One Pilots, Alabama Shakes and David Bowie also are up for this award. Draiman isn’t exactly preparing an acceptance speech. He says Bowie has this one in the bag.
Source: New York, Los Angeles AP
