Justin Bieber is probably feeling good about this year’s Grammy Awards process. His smash hit “Peaches” (featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon) is vying for a nomination as best R&B performance. Last year, you may recall, Bieber lodged a public complaint with the Recording Academy when his album Changes and two singles from the album were nominated in pop categories.

It was a politely worded complaint — Bieber is Canadian, after all — but his disappointment was evident.

“To the Grammys I am flattered to be acknowledged and appreciated for my artistry. I am very meticulous and intentional about my music. With that being said I set out to make an R&B album. Changes was and is an R&B album,” he started. “It is not being acknowledged as an R&B album which is very strange to me. I grew up admiring R&B music and wished to make a project that would embody that sound.”

Bieber’s 2021 album, Justice, is also vying for a nod as best pop vocal album, but the victory for Bieber is that his pop/soul jam “Peaches,” which could have gone either way, is competing in R&B — along with such other hits as Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” and SZA’s “Good Days.” If “Peaches” is nominated, it would be Bieber’s first Grammy nod in an R&B category.

But how about the other songs that were released in this eligibility year (Sept. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021) and became top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100? Let’s see where they wound up in the 64th annual Grammy Awards process.

Note: Not all top 10 hits are listed here. Artists and their representatives are savvy enough not to flood the zone with multiple entries that could divide their support. So “Drivers License” is Olivia Rodrigo’s only entry for best pop vocal performance. Her other top 10 hits, “Déjà Vu,” “Good 4 U” and “Traitor,” are not listed.

And some artists simply decided not to play the Grammy game. The Weeknd, whose “Blinding Lights” was infamously passed over for a nod last year, didn’t enter his 2021 hit “Take My Breath.”

Some hip-hop hits are slotted in pop rather than rap categories, a sign of hip-hop’s penetration into the pop mainstream. These include Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and Lizzo featuring Cardi B’s “Rumors.”

“Mood” by 24kGoldn featuring Iann Dior was released in the previous Grammy eligibility year. It vied for a best pop duo/group performance nomination last year, but it failed to register (probably because it was released too late in the year to be competitive). A live version is vying for a nod in that same category this year. Live versions of such past hits as Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain” and Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” have won Grammys, so a nod is a possibility. Voters aren’t put off by the designation “(Live)” after a title.

First-round Grammy voting is underway. It began Oct. 22 and runs through Nov. 5. The Grammy nominations will be announced Nov. 23.

Here are the performance categories in which top 10 hits on the Hot 100 are competing. They’re listed in chronological order. Relive the Grammy eligibility year in all its splendor and see what the Grammy screening committee decided was the most suitable category for each of these entries.

24kGoldn featuring Iann Dior, “Mood,” best pop duo/group performance (a live version is entered).

Travis Scott featuring Young Thug and M.I.A., “Franchise,” best melodic rap performance.

Ariana Grande, “Positions,” best pop solo performance (where it is vying for a nod with her “Still Hurting”).

Luke Combs, “Forever After All,” best country solo performance.

Taylor Swift, “Willow,” best pop solo performance.

Justin Bieber, “Anyone,” best pop solo performance.

Olivia Rodrigo, “Drivers License,” best pop solo performance.

SZA, “Good Days,” best R&B performance.

CJ, “Whoopty,” best rap performance.

Cardi B, “Up,” best rap performance.

Lil Tjay featuring 6lack, “Calling My Phone,” best melodic rap performance.

Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak), “Leave the Door Open,” best R&B performance.

Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon, “Peaches,” best R&B performance.

Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” best pop solo performance.

Masked Wolf, “Astronaut in the Ocean,” best melodic rap performance.

Polo G, “Rapstar,” best rap performance.

Doja Cat featuring SZA, “Kiss Me More,” best pop duo/group performance.

The Kid LAROI and Miley Cyrus, “Without You,” best pop duo/group performance.

J. Cole, 21 Savage and Morray, “My Life,” best rap performance.

J. Cole and Lil Baby, “Pride Is the Devil,” best melodic rap performance.

BTS, “Butter,” best pop duo/group performance.

Ed Sheeran, “Bad Habits,” best pop solo performance.

Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow, “Industry Baby,” best melodic rap performance.

Lizzo featuring Cardi B, “Rumors,” best pop duo/group performance.

Kanye West, “Hurricane,” best melodic rap performance (the Grammy entry credits featured performers The Weeknd and Lil Baby).

Walker Hayes, “Fancy Like,” best country performance.

Drake featuring Future and Young Thug, “Way 2 Sexy,” best rap performance.

Drake featuring Lil Baby, “Girls Want Girls,” best melodic rap performance.

Wizkid featuring Justin Bieber and Tems, “Essence,” best global music performance (the Grammy entry doesn’t credit Bieber).

“One time for my L.A. sisters, one time for my L.A. h–s,” J. Cole’s voice rumbled during his performance of “No Role Modelz” in the intimate 500-capacity Roxy Theater in West Hollywood, Calif., on Saturday night. But the Fayetteville, N.C., rapper did it two times for his L.A. fans last week, as Saturday’s performance, which was part of SiriusXM and Pandora’s Small Stage Series, came two nights after his The Off-Season Tour stop at Inglewood’s Forum arena.

The coziness of Cole’s concert was all-too palpable for the artist himself, sweating through his orange tee but breezing through his decade-long discography and assuring concertgoers not to sweat it if they didn’t know his tracks bar-for-bar (while warning them not to fake it by mouthing his lyrics). The 36-year-old rhapsodist then broke down the significance of having a catalog before reliving his own, which includes six Billboard 200 No. 1 albums.

He powered through the highlights from his latest album The Off-Season during the hourlong set, such as “9 5 . s o u t h,” “m y . l i f e,” and “p r i d e . i s . t h e . d e v i l.” Then Cole amped up the crowd with fan favorites, including “Work Out” and “Nobody’s Perfect” from his 2011 debut studio album Cole World: The Sideline Story, “Power Trip” from 2013’s Born Sinner and “Wet Dreamz” and “G.O.M.D.” from 2014 Forest Hills Drive. 

While his Dreamville labelmates Bas, Ari Lennox, Earthgang, J.I.D, Cozz and Lute & Omen reunited for the first time since the 2019 inaugural Dreamville Festival at Colorado’s Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, their label boss brought the house down on his own, proving that even without his home team, his pen game would carry him to victory.

For Cole fans unable to attend his exclusive SiriusXM and Pandora’s Small Stages set, they can catch the action on SiriusXM’s Hip Hop Nation (channel 44) and on the SXM app Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 6 p.m. ET.

The president of the Florida Senate called the state’s surgeon general “unprofessional” this weekend for refusing to wear a mask while visiting the office of a state senator who is … Click to Continue »

Coldplay spiced up their set Saturday night (Oct. 23) with a little help from Sporty Spice herself. Mel C and Chris Martin took the stage together to perform the sultry Spice Girls classic “2 Become 1″ at Audacy’s 8th annual We Can Survive concert and benefit at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

“We were thinking about what we could do to make this show extra special in 40 minutes, and we thought, ‘Well, this is Hollywood, this is Los Angeles, this is where when you make a wish, it may just come true,’” Martin teased the crowd before introducing Mel C. “One of our dreams is to be able to play a song with a Spice Girl. We’ve been waiting for this for 24 years. So, I don’t know if it’s possible, but if we all just went super quiet and just said that wish out: ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if a Spice Girl just appeared out of nowhere?’”

“Please welcome from England and Great Britain and the Spice Girls Melanie Chisholm, aka Mel C, aka Sporty Spice, aka a total legend,” he announced before the pair began their duet of “2 Become 1,” which Martin referred to as “a sexual anthem.”

“2 Become 1″ is a ballad from the group’s chart-topping debut album, Spice, released in 1996. The single peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in 1997, while the album went on to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

For those wondering how the seemingly impromptu collab came about, Mel C was thrilled to share the story.

“What a fantastic, unexpected night!” she tweeted on Sunday. “I gave Chris a text to tell him we would be coming to his @imlistening @audacy #wecansurvive gig, at the @HollywoodBowl and the next thing I know, he’s on FaceTime while I’m in the nail salon, asking me to come up on stage with him!”

“Well, what could I say to an offer like that! Thank you @coldplay for such an amazing night and experience. Hopefully I can get back to @HollywoodBowl soon with three certain ladies for company!” Mel C wrote.

A portion of the proceeds from the show will go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Watch a clip of their rehearsal backstage, a short highlight of their onstage performance and a video of the whole song below.

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, MC Lyte, Trae Tha Truth, Questlove, Big Freedia, Erica Campbell and Recording Academy chairman Harvey Mason Jr. were among the honorees accepting their formal induction into Ebony magazine’s Power 100 Class of 2021 at an event held Saturday evening (Oct. 23) at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. The event marked the culmination of the iconic magazine’s 75th anniversary year celebration.

Entertainer Wayne Brady hosted the ceremony, introducing himself as the “traffic cop for the evening — not the way like when you get stopped, but in a loving way to make things flow.” Among the evening’s highlights were individual tributes to rap pioneer MC Lyte and songwriting-production duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.

Accepting the trailblazer award from fellow hip-hop legend Salt of Salt-N-Pepa, Lyte noted following the audience’s standing ovation, “Let me acknowledge this room of talented, astute, spiritual and wise kinfolk … it’s been so long since we had a communion like this. There’s nothing we can’t do. Give us an inch and we will take a mile —because we know what to do with it.”

Jam & Lewis were presented with the lifetime achievement award by Janet Jackson via video and singer MAJOR. onstage. Thanking “God in the sky and god on earth, Clarence Avant — the Black Godfather,” his family and Ebony (“I saw people that looked like myself”), Jam said the pair’s award “isn’t a place to stop but a bar set high that we will continue to try to raise every day.” After doing a quick “happy dance,” Lewis thanked his family as well, adding, “You could be in Billboard, Variety or any other magazine, but you didn’t make it until you were in Ebony or Jet. That was the bar. I love awards, but I love the journey that I’ve been on … and the journey that I’m going to be on with you.”

Also among the individual honorees were entertainers of the year Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Norris as hosts of Red Table Talk (presented onstage to Banfield-Norris) and Colin Kaepernick, who accepted the chairman’s humanitarian award from Ebony chairman Eden Bridgeman Sklenar in a videotaped speech. Brady was recognized as well, with the vanguard award, for his outstanding achievements as an “all-around entertainer and performer.” Doing the presentation honors was Broadway veteran and legendary performer Ben Vereen, whose appearance onstage to honor his “adopted son” elicited another standing ovation.

“Give yourselves a standing ovation,” Vereen declared. “Too many of us have trudged through the dirt for us to be here tonight … and babies, you look good!”

Revealed earlier this month, Ebony’s 2021 power class — rooted in the theme “Bold. Brilliant. Black.” — also saluted honorees in categories such as music impact, entertainment powerhouses, next gen, ceiling breaker, excellence in journalism, social justice champions and community builders. Ebony’s last Power 100 celebration was held in 2018.

Speaking on behalf of the 12 artists and executives recognized in the music impact category, including Travis Scott, Lil Baby, MBK Entertainment president Jeanine McLean and ICM Partners head of strategic partnerships Joi Brown, Big Freedia commented before a cheering ballroom, “This feels amazing to know that the work we do is not in vain. As storytellers, we’re forever grateful to tell our stories and keep making fans live through the music.”

Interspersed throughout the evening were spirited performances by Justine Skye, Lucky Daye, MAJOR. and Power 100 inductees Campbell and Deon Jones. Ebony CEO Michele Ghee closed the evening, pledging that with the magazine’s relaunch earlier this year the push is now on to “Move Black Forward” in 2022. As such, she announced plans to relaunch sister publication Jet next year and release its NFT collection, Ebony X, in April.

“The last two years have been challenging, but we are still standing,” said Ghee. “Ebony 2.0 understands that there’s still so much to do. And Team Ebony is here for all of it to hold the world accountable.”