Carlos Santana Earns 10 GRAMMY Award Nominations, Including Album of the Year and Record of the Year Categories

Business Wire, Jan 4, 2000

Entertainment Editors

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Jan. 4, 2000

TLC and Conductor Pierre Boulez Earn Six Nominations;

Asleep At the Wheel Nabs Five; Backstreet Boys, Whitney Houston,

Lauryn Hill, Dixie Chicks and Emmylou Harris Each Earn Four

Nominated Music Confirms Consensus of Both Fans and Critics

Carlos Santana, whose album "Supernatural" is the music industry's much-talked-about success story, received 10 GRAMMY(R) Award nominations on Jan. 4, when nominees for the 42nd annual GRAMMY Awards were announced by the Recording Academy.

Santana earned nominations in the coveted Record of the Year and Album of the Year categories, as well as nods in the Rock Album, Rock Duo or Group, and Rock Instrumental categories. He also earned a nomination in the Pop Duo or Group listing and two nominations in the Pop Collaboration With Vocals category.

TLC earned six nominations as did classical music conductor Pierre Boulez. Country stalwarts Asleep At the Wheel nabbed five as a group, and co-founder and frontman member Ray Benson earned an additional solo nod for Best Recording Package, which raised his nominations tally to six.

Artists with four nominations include Backstreet Boys, Dixie Chicks, Emmylou Harris, Lauryn Hill and Whitney Houston. Producer Kevin "Shekespere" Briggs also picked up four nominations -- three for his work on tracks from TLC's "FanMail."

"Never have the nominations reflected so many different musical points of view -- from the fanatically popular to those artists whose influence and artistry speak with a unique and unheralded resonance," said Michael Greene, president/CEO of the Recording Academy(R).

"The Academy voters dug deep to select nominees whose recordings demonstrate artistic achievement and long-term credibility in their respective genres."

Santana's nominations topped a diverse contingent of artists saluted by the Academy and confirms the consensus of both the general public and key music critics. The voting members also acknowledged artists and albums that suggest both artist development and career longevity, in addition to recognizing some of the musical trends prominent during the year.

The diversity was perhaps best exemplified in the Album of the Year category, where nominations ranged from the pop of the Backstreet Boys' "Millennium" to TLC's groove-heavy "FanMail" to Diana Krall's pure jazz of "When I Look In Your Eyes." Santana's guitar-driven "Supernatural" and the Dixie Chicks' country-flavored "Fly" were also acknowledged in the category.

The Best New Artist category represents a cross-section of key genres with pop songstresses Christina Aguilera, Macy Gray and Britney Spears being recognized by the Academy, along with the rock-meets-rap from Kid Rock and the soulful blues offered by newcomer Susan Tedeschi.

Cher's musical comeback was saluted by Academy voters. Her "Believe" album accumulated three nominations. Previously, her career tally was three nominations. She earned two in 1971 stemming from her "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves" album and from the Sonny & Cher effort "All I Ever Need Is You." The duo also was nominated in 1965 for Best New Artist.

In addition to Cher, the list of artists earning three nominations reached 23 and included Mary J. Blige, Sarah McLachlan, Ricky Martin, Shania Twain and Gloria Estefan, among others. Also landing three nominations were producers Dallas Austin, who worked on TLC's "FanMail" album, and Max Martin for his effort on Backstreet Boys' "Millennium."

Arista Records President Clive Davis also earned three nominations: Two for his contribution to Santana's "Supernatural" album and one for Whitney Houston's "My Love Is Your Love."

The growth and crossover popularity of Latin music artists were also identified by Academy voters with nominations to songs "Livin' La Vida Loca" performed by Ricky Martin, and "I Need to Know" by Marc Anthony in the Best Male Pop Performance category. Those singles joined Sting's "Brand New Day," Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)" and Andrea Bocelli's "Sogno."

In the newly expanded category of Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Medium, songwriters Steven Schwartz and Kenneth Babyface Edmonds earned a nomination for "Prince of Egypt (When You Believe)," as part of a wide-ranging list of nominated tracks.

Other songs included "Beautiful Stranger" by Madonna and William Orbit, which fronted "Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me"; the title track to "Music of My Heart" written by Diane Warren and sung by 'N-Sync and Gloria Estefan; "The Time of Your Life" written and performed by Randy Newman from "A Bug's Life"; and the Phil Collins penned and performed "You'll Be In My Heart" from "Tarzan."

The nominations for the 42nd Annual GRAMMY Awards were announced during a news conference held Jan. 4 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and attended by the world's media, top recording artists and many key music industry executives. Smaller news conferences were also held in Nashville and New York.