Grammy Nominations Include No White Men For Album Of The Year, First Time In 19 Years

Nominations for the 60th Annual Grammy Awards were announced Tuesday with a noticeable difference from past years. For the first time in 19 years, the Album of the Year category featured no white men.

The nominees included one woman and four people of color. This year's list includes Childish Gambino's "Awaken My Love!," Lorde's "Melodrama," Jay-Z's "4:44" and Bruno Mars' "24K Magic."

Four women were nominated for the category in 1999. Lauryn Hill was nominated along with Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Shania Twain and the Shirley Manson-fronted band Garbage, with Hill taking home the award for "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." The singer-songwriter also won Best New Artist, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

This year, the two leading artists for most nominations are African-American men. Rappers Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar received a combined 15 nominations.

“I think the nominations are a reflection of a very savvy current voting membership who really do have their fingers on the pulse of what is happening in music,” said Academy President Neil Portnow in a Times report Monday. “I think they’re also exhibiting good judgment about what represented excellence in music this year.”

The forthcoming awards follow a bit of controversy from 2017. After Adele's "25" took Album of the Year there was some backlash that Beyoncé's "Lemonade" was denied the award.

Even Adele noted her disappointment in a post-award show interview. "My album of the year was ‘Lemonade,’ so a piece of me did die inside, as a Beyoncé fan," she said.

The 2018 Grammy Awards, which will take place at Madison Square Garden, air on Jan. 28, at 7:30 p.m. ET on CBS.