As of this year, Beyoncé has the most Grammy nominations (62) of any female artist. She has appeared at the awards show 16 times in the past 19 years. And yet, come Sunday night, there remains one big question in the air: Will Beyoncé be at the 2019 Grammys?
Many of us, give the chance to live a day in her glittery heels, would definitely not show up to the 2019 Grammys. Despite her history of showing up, and despite the fact that she has often been the main reason to tune in to the awards show in the past, the recording academy has been downright disrespectful to the Queen Bey in recent years. Do they even deserve her presence at this point?
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This year, her album with Jay-Z, Everything Is Love, is up for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Their song "Summer" got a nod for Best R&B Performance, and "Apeshit" has a Best Video nomination. But they have nothing in the major categories (Record/Album/Song of the Year).
That's all insult added to the real injuries of the past: the fact that Lemonade lost the Album of the Year Grammy to Adele's 25 in 2017, and Beyoncé lost to Beck's Morning Phase in 2015. This was after she took everyone's breath away with the sexy "Drunk in Love" (2014), inspiring "Take My Hand Precious Hand" (2015) and divine "Love Drought"/"Sandcastles" (2017) performances.
Plus, last year, when Jay-Z was up for eight gramophones, he took home... none. Why should the Carters attend a place that doesn't recognize their greatness?
At the same time, we know Beyoncé isn't petty. She's a professional, and she shows up to give us music, not to collect trophies. There's even a chance that she got snubbed this year because of her past snubs. The uproar over her loss to Adele was probably part of what motivated the Recording Academy to form its Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion, which recommended that the organization invite 900 new members — all women, people of color, and/or artists younger than 39 — to join. Those new members may be why newer artists like Janelle Monae, Childish Gambino, and Kendrick Lamar are up for major categories while Bey isn't.
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So Beyoncé could attend the Grammys just to support those other artists. She may be so proud of protegées Chloe x Halle, up for Best New Artist, that she wants to be in the audience to cheer them on, just like she was there for her husband last year.
Or, if she takes a tip from the rest of us, she could teach them all a lesson and make this the first year since 2012 (when she had literally just given birth to Blue Ivy) that she watches from the comfort of her own home.