Most insiders agree that there’s a three-way race for the night’s biggest prize – with Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga the presumed favourites.
None of them have ever won before, despite multiple nominations, and there are good reasons to think they’re the front-runners.
Gaga is a Grammy darling, with 14 wins from 45 nominations. Her seventh album, Mayhem, is a triumphant return to the maximalist pop that made her famous, delivered with the hard-won grace of someone who’s endured 18 years in the pop machine.
Like Beyoncé last year, voters might feel she’s put in the work to earn the top title.
Lamar is in a similar position. He’s the only artist with album of the year nominations for five consecutive releases, and GNX is a snappy, crowd-pleasing tour de force.
Giving him the prize would also go some way to correcting the Grammys’ rap problem. The last time a hip-hop album won album of the year was in 2004.
But Bad Bunny is the presumptive front-runner. The Puerto Rican star’s musically ambitious Debí Tirar Más Fotos, fuses live instrumentation with the hip-swaying pulse of reggaeton, plena, salsa and a multitude of other Latin styles.
A win for Bad Bunny would mark the first win for a Spanish language album.
That said, the Grammys have a habit of making spectacularly weird decisions, so don’t discount the chances of Justin Bieber or Sabrina Carpenter lifting the trophy.
Notably, no matter who wins album of the year, it will be their first victory in the category.