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ONE love, blood, life
Grammy's Best Song Nominees Come From Many Genres
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Country, rock and R&B are all vying for the Grammy Award for song of the year, a prize that goes to the songwriter.
The nominated tunes explore the workings of romantic relationships, family and surviving in a difficult world, and are performed by a range of established artists and a best new artist nominee.
The winner will be unveiled at the 48th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 8. Here is a look at the nominated songs and their success on the Billboard charts.
- "BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD" -- RASCAL FLATTS
Country trio Rascal Flatts scored its biggest hit on the Hot Country Songs chart with "Bless the Broken Road," from its Lyric Street Records album "Feels Like Today." The song, which tells how a broken road can lead to love, was No. 1 on that chart for five weeks.
The tune -- written by Bobby Boyd, Jeff Hanna and Marcus Hummon -- is the group's favorite ballad on "Feels Like Today," with band member Gary LeVox proclaiming it a "masterpiece."
The song also earned the trio its first Grammy nomination this year for best country performance by a duo or group with vocal.
- "DEVILS & DUST" -- BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Spare guitars and lyrics about survival come together on a track that had been in Springsteen's soundcheck catalog for several years before it was finally recorded. The song reached most fans first on the 2004 Vote for Change tour.
"Devils & Dust" is the title track to Springsteen's 2005 Columbia Records album. It spent a week on The Billboard Hot 100 at No. 72. The album debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200.
Springsteen previously won a Grammy in this category in 1994 for "Streets of Philadelphia." (He also won an Academy Award for the song, as it was featured in the Tom Hanks film "Philadelphia.")
- "ORDINARY PEOPLE" -- JOHN LEGEND
Best new artist nominee Legend wrote this track (under his real name, John Stephens) with the Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am for his debut album, "Get Lifted" (Getting Out Our Dreams/Sony Urban Music/Columbia).
"It's just the quintessential relationship song," Legend told Billboard last year. "My parents were divorced for 12 years, and they got back together. The song shows that there are ups and downs in any relationship."
The piano-centric ballad with a Stevie Wonder-style sound peaked at No. 4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Legend was the first artist signed to Getting Out Our Dreams, Kanye West's Sony BMG imprint.
- "SOMETIMES YOU CAN'T MAKE IT ON YOUR OWN"--U2
A tribute to Bono's father, this track is the third single from last year's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" (Interscope Records). The tune features such touching lyrics as "you are the reason the opera is in me," a reference to his father's love of operatic music and singing.
The song reached No. 29 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 97 on the Hot 100.
U2 -- also featuring the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. -- previously won in this category for "Beautiful Day" in 2000.
- "WE BELONG TOGETHER" -- MARIAH CAREY
Carey wrote this track with Johnta Austin, Jermaine Dupri and Manuel Seal. It spent 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and was the No. 1 Hot 100 single of 2005.
The song, about hopes for a long-lasting relationship, features samples from the Deele tune "Two Occasions" (written by Darnell Bristol, Kenneth Edmonds and Sidney Dewayne) and the Bobby Womack track "If You Think You're Lonely Now" (written by Womack, Patrick Moten and Sandra Sully).
Carey told Billboard last year that at this point in her career, it's not about "showing off so everybody can hear me singing at the top of my lungs. But truth be told, I feel that my voice is in a better place than it has been for years."
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Country, rock and R&B are all vying for the Grammy Award for song of the year, a prize that goes to the songwriter.
The nominated tunes explore the workings of romantic relationships, family and surviving in a difficult world, and are performed by a range of established artists and a best new artist nominee.
The winner will be unveiled at the 48th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 8. Here is a look at the nominated songs and their success on the Billboard charts.
- "BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD" -- RASCAL FLATTS
Country trio Rascal Flatts scored its biggest hit on the Hot Country Songs chart with "Bless the Broken Road," from its Lyric Street Records album "Feels Like Today." The song, which tells how a broken road can lead to love, was No. 1 on that chart for five weeks.
The tune -- written by Bobby Boyd, Jeff Hanna and Marcus Hummon -- is the group's favorite ballad on "Feels Like Today," with band member Gary LeVox proclaiming it a "masterpiece."
The song also earned the trio its first Grammy nomination this year for best country performance by a duo or group with vocal.
- "DEVILS & DUST" -- BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Spare guitars and lyrics about survival come together on a track that had been in Springsteen's soundcheck catalog for several years before it was finally recorded. The song reached most fans first on the 2004 Vote for Change tour.
"Devils & Dust" is the title track to Springsteen's 2005 Columbia Records album. It spent a week on The Billboard Hot 100 at No. 72. The album debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200.
Springsteen previously won a Grammy in this category in 1994 for "Streets of Philadelphia." (He also won an Academy Award for the song, as it was featured in the Tom Hanks film "Philadelphia.")
- "ORDINARY PEOPLE" -- JOHN LEGEND
Best new artist nominee Legend wrote this track (under his real name, John Stephens) with the Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am for his debut album, "Get Lifted" (Getting Out Our Dreams/Sony Urban Music/Columbia).
"It's just the quintessential relationship song," Legend told Billboard last year. "My parents were divorced for 12 years, and they got back together. The song shows that there are ups and downs in any relationship."
The piano-centric ballad with a Stevie Wonder-style sound peaked at No. 4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Legend was the first artist signed to Getting Out Our Dreams, Kanye West's Sony BMG imprint.
- "SOMETIMES YOU CAN'T MAKE IT ON YOUR OWN"--U2
A tribute to Bono's father, this track is the third single from last year's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" (Interscope Records). The tune features such touching lyrics as "you are the reason the opera is in me," a reference to his father's love of operatic music and singing.
The song reached No. 29 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 97 on the Hot 100.
U2 -- also featuring the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. -- previously won in this category for "Beautiful Day" in 2000.
- "WE BELONG TOGETHER" -- MARIAH CAREY
Carey wrote this track with Johnta Austin, Jermaine Dupri and Manuel Seal. It spent 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and was the No. 1 Hot 100 single of 2005.
The song, about hopes for a long-lasting relationship, features samples from the Deele tune "Two Occasions" (written by Darnell Bristol, Kenneth Edmonds and Sidney Dewayne) and the Bobby Womack track "If You Think You're Lonely Now" (written by Womack, Patrick Moten and Sandra Sully).
Carey told Billboard last year that at this point in her career, it's not about "showing off so everybody can hear me singing at the top of my lungs. But truth be told, I feel that my voice is in a better place than it has been for years."
I wonder if the Edge will talk more.
