Airing Feb. 5, the 65th Grammy Awards will celebrate the past year’s biggest achievements in music and the recording arts live from the Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center) in Los Angeles.
There are 17 Texans among this year’s nominees — including some Grammy heavyweights.
There is no legal sports betting in Texas, but there is no law against having a little fun with hypothetical odds.
Here at BetTexas.com, that’s what we’re doing. We’ve picked four of the buzziest Texans vying for Grammy this year — setting hypothetical odds implying their likelihood of winning in 2023.
Hypothetical Odds of These Texans Winning a Grammy
Beyonce: Several Award Categories 1/100
Beyonce has been nominated for Record of The Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Dance/Electronic Recording, Best Dance/Electronic Album, Best R&B Performance, Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best R&B Song and Best Song Written for Visual Media.
With nine nominations this year, Beyonce is the most recognized artist at the 2023 Grammys. Therefore, we give her odds of 1/100, or 99% implied probability.
She also happens to be tied for the most Grammy nominations in history with her husband, Jay-Z.
Born and raised in Houston, Beyoncé is also tied with record producer Quincy Jones for the second-most Grammy wins at 28. If she wins in four of her nine categories this year, Beyoncé will surpass renowned classical music conductor Georg Stoli for most Grammys of all time.
However, she hasn’t fared as well in the so-called “big three” categories — that is Best Album, Best Song and Best Recording. Beyoncé’s only big three win was in 2010 when she scored Record of the Year for her “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” Despite that, she’s been nominated in the Best Recording category more than any other artist.
So . . . let’s be perfectly clear: It’s not a question of if Beyoncé wins a Grammy this year — the question is how many will she win? These odds represent a 99% percent chance of Beyoncé leaving Grammy night with a trophy.
But the Bey Hive won’t be happy unless she also takes down Adele. The two famously faced off at the 59th in the big three categories, with Adele shutting out Beyoncé. Now they’re nominated against each other once again in all three categories.
Machine Gun Kelly: Best Rock Album, 4/5
After his 2020 album, “Bloody Valentine,” was snubbed by the Grammys, Houston-born rapper-turned-punk rocker Machine Gun Kelly took to Twitter to ask, “wtf is wrong with the grammys[?]”
The tweet obviously got their attention, as MGK scored his first-ever Grammy nomination this year for his album “Mainstream Sellout.” Heavily influenced by the pop-punk stylings of producer Travis Barker (Blink 182’s drummer), the album has received pretty “meh” reviews from critics. Still, fans love it, and it’s by far the most popular album nominated in this category.
At 4/5, which would be expressed as -125 in American odds, we’re saying there’s a slightly better than 55% chance of Machine Gun Kelly winning here, but it’s no sure thing.
Ozzy Osbourne’s more well-regarded comeback album is a definite contender. As are the albums from Spoon and The Black Keys (although I suspect they’ll split the dad-rock vote).
But we’re sticking with MGK as the slight favorite because at the end of the day the Grammys remain a popularity contest first and foremost.
Willie Nelson: Several Award Categories, 1/1
Willie Nelson is nominated for Best Country Solo Performance, Best Country Song, Best Country Album and Best Roots Gospel Album.
Hailing from Abbott, Texas, Nelson is a true Grammy legend. He has 56 nominations and 10 wins — including three trophies since 2017. With hypothetical odds set at 1/1, or +100 in American odds, we’re implying a 50-50 shot the Red Headed Stranger nabs another win in 2023.
This year, Willie is nominated for four Grammys — an impressive feat at 89 years old.
He seems like a long shot in the Best Country Solo Performance Category, but Willie is a definite contender in Best Country Album. Critics liked his 2022 album, A Beautiful Time, as a pleasant throwback to the yesteryear of country music. Plus, as we said already, the Grammys have been kind to Willie in recent years.
Nelson’s best shot at a Grammy in 2023 is probably for Best Roots Gospel Album. On The Willie Nelson Family, he’s nominated alongside his four children and his sister, Bobbie Nelson, who passed away last year at 91.
The name recognition is there with The Willie Nelson Family. It’s also a quiet category — one of Nelson’s category-mates is a marching band. Literally.
Kelly Clarkson: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, 20/1
Kelly Clarkson is nominated this year for her holiday album, When Christmas Comes Around, which features a festive-themed diss track “Christmas Isn’t Cancelled (Just You),” directed at her ex-husband.
At 20/1, we’re suggesting the Fort Worth-born pop star has less than a 5% chance of winning. Though they are frequently nominated in this category, a Christmas album has never won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. The likely winner here is either Diana Ross, who is vying for her first-ever Grammy award, or Michael Bublé, a four-time winner in this category.
While this likely won’t be the American Idol star’s year, the rumor is a new Kelly Clarkson album is on the horizon soon — and supposedly it’s chock full of ex-husband diss tracks. With new material on the way, there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing the 16-time Grammy winner taking the stage once again in 2024.
Full List of Texan Grammy Nominees
- Beyonce: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Dance/Electronic Recording, Best Dance/Electronic Album, Best R&B Performance, Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best R&B Song, Best Song Written for Visual Media
- Tobe Nwigwe: Best New Artist
- Kelly Clarkson: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
- Snarky Puppy: Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
- Machine Gun Kelly: Best Rock Album
- Spoon: Best Rock Album
- Miranda Lambert: Best Country Solo Performance, Best Country Duo/Group Performance, Best Country Song, Best Country Album
- Marren Morris: Best Country Solo Performance, Best Country Song, Best Country Album
- Willie Nelson: Best Country Solo Performance, Best Country Song, Best Country Album, Best Roots Gospel Album
- Robert Glasper: Best R&B Album
- Cody Johnson: Best Country Song, Best Gospel Performance/Song, Best Contemporary
- Kirk Franklin: Gospel Performance/Song, Best Gospel Album
- Chris Tomlin: Best Contemporary Gospel Performance/Song, Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
- Crowder: Best Contemporary Gospel Performance/Song
- Asleep at the Wheel: Best Americana Performance
- Edgar Winter: Best Contemporary Blues Album
- Jamie Foxx: Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording
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