Music Notes

This is no laughing matter: "Joker" composer Hildur Guðnadóttir could be the first woman in 19 years to win the Golden Globe for best original score.

Guðnadóttir earned the nomination Monday and is the sole female nominee in the category. And she could become just the second woman to win the prize — Lisa Gerrard made history in 2001 when she won best original score for "Gladiator," which she shared with Hans Zimmer.

"It feels really wonderful," Guðnadóttir said in a phone interview from Berlin. "I think one of the best ways to empower young women and girls to see (composing) as an option, to even get into this line of work is for more women to be more visible in the industry. And it's just a huge honor to be a part of that visibility and hopefully send a message to both the industry and most importantly, the girls that are starting out, that's it's an actually possibility. They can also do this line of work."

The classically trained cellist from Iceland has had an exceptional year: She won an Emmy in September for scoring the HBO series "Chernobyl," and her work on the show also earned her a Grammy nomination for best score soundtrack for visual media (the 2020 Grammys are on Jan. 26).

The 37-year-old Guðnadóttir's score for "Joker" won at last month's Hollywood Music in Media Awards and is a nominee at the Critics' Choice Movies Awards.

"I was so fascinated with the script because it was focusing so much on the personal journey that this character is going through, and I thought it was such an interesting take on a character that we've been living with for so long," she said. "I started writing music before they started shooting and they were able to use some parts of the music as they were shooting, so that was a really wonderful process for me as a composer."

"Joker" scored four Globe nominations, including best motion picture — drama, best actor in a drama for Joaquin Phoenix and best director for Todd Phillips.

Guðnadóttir said she was recommended to Phillips for the job by "Joker" executive music producer Jason Ruder.

"I know that (Jason) knew about my work and he worked with Todd for 10 years I think, and he approached him and said, 'I know you want music to come in very early and this is the person that you want to hire for the job,'" Guðnadóttir recalled. "That was really, really wonderful. And a film I just scored, "Sicario 2," was just in the cinema at the time and Todd went to the cinema to see the film and he said, 'Yes, this is the person I need.'"

At the Globes, Guðnadóttir will compete with Alexandre Desplat ("Little Women"), Thomas Newman ("1917"), Daniel Pemberton ("Motherless Brooklyn") and Randy Newman, who scored the seventh Globe nomination of his career with "Marriage Story."

"I am pretty blown away," Guðnadóttir said, adding with a laugh that she learned of the nomination while writing a piece for an art installation for a cello-playing robot. "Such an incredible last few weeks. It has exploded. I'm in a bit of shock."

She's the first woman to be nominated for best original score in 10 years, when Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was nominated for "Where the Wild Things Are" (shared with Carter Burwell) at the 2010 Globes. In the year Gerrard won, more women were nominated, including Rachel Portman ("Chocolat") and Kristin Wilkinson ("All the Pretty Horses").

"There's been a lot of awareness about the lack of the presence of women in the industry ... and as a result of all this awareness that's happening, it's wonderful to be a part of that visibility for younger women," she said.

Rapper Juice WRLD, who launched his career on SoundCloud before becoming a streaming juggernaut and rose to the top of the charts with the Sting-sampled hit "Lucid Dreams," died early  Sunday after a "medical emergency" at Chicago's Midway International Airport.

The rapper, whose legal name was Jarad A. Higgins, was 21. Authorities have not released details about his cause of death.

He was pronounced dead at a hospital around 3:15 a.m. and taken to the Cook County medical examiner's office several hours later, according to office spokeswoman Natalia Derevyanny, who said an autopsy would take place Monday. 

Chicago police launched a death investigation after a 21-year-old male experiencing a "medical emergency" was transported from Midway to an area hospital. Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said the man experienced cardiac arrest and was taken to a hospital from a small hangar at Midway, away from the main terminal, where private planes land. 

The artist, who was named top new artist at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in May, livedin the Chicago suburb of Homewood where he stood out as a musician early on. 

Juice WRLD turned 21 only days earlier. He was only two years out of high school. 

Like a good number of young hip-hop performers, Juice WRLD blended rapping and singing on his songs, sometimes mumbling words and focusing more on melody. His hit "Lucid Dreams," which heavily samples Sting's 1993 song "Shape of My Heart," was a six-times platinum success and reached No. 2 on the all-genre Hot 100 chart. It reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts.

"I was very impressed by what he put on top of (my version)," Sting told The Associated Press this year. "It's a really good song."

Juice WRLD got his start on the music sharing platform SoundCloud before signing to a record label and finding major success on streaming services. His major-label debut album, "Goodbye & Good Riddance," was a platinum success. It featured the hit "All Girls Are the Same," which gained platinum status, alongside seven more platinum hits including "Armed & Dangerous," "Robbery," "Fine China" and "Legends," which features the lyrics: "What's the 27 Club?/We ain't making it past 21."

He's had 10 songs reach gold status and also had success with 2018's "Wrld on Drugs," a collaborative album with rapper-singer-producer Future.

His second album, "Death Race for Love," debuted on top of the Billboard charts this year and his most recent single, "Bandit" with YoungBoy Never Broke Again, reached the Top 10 of the pop charts in October.

Juice WRLD graduated in 2017 from Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School outside Chicago, where he gained a reputation as a talented musician among the nearly 3,000 students. School officials said Sunday that they would offer counseling services for students affected by his death. 

"He is remembered by his teachers and staff as being a brilliant and creative student. Jared was extraordinarily talented in music and played many instruments," said school spokeswoman Jodi Bryant. "He was a caring and outgoing person who always tried to reach out to others while at the same time he was introspective and had a great sense of humor."

Fekadu reported from New York. 

Billie Eilish will be the first recipient of the Apple Music Award for global artist of the year, one of three honors for the pop singer.

Apple announced Monday that Eilish's "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" has been named album of the year. Eilish and her brother Finneas will also receive songwriter of the year honors.

Eilish will perform a live-streamed concert from the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple's campus in Cupertino, California, beginning at 6:30 p.m. PST on Wednesday.

Lizzo has been named the breakthrough artist of the year.

Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" is the company's pick for song of the year.

The company says its album and song of the year honors are determined by streams on its Apple Music service. Other awards are determined by Apple Music's editorial team.

The Grammys are screaming "Cuz I Love You" to Lizzo: The breakthrough singer-rapper scored a whopping eight nominations, including bids for the top four awards, making her the show's top-nominated act.

Lizzo picked up nominations for album of the year with her major-label debut, "Cuz I Love You"; song and record of the year with her anthemic No. 1 hit, "Truth Hurts"; and best new artist.

Like Lizzo, other new artists dominated with Grammy nominations on Wednesday: Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X earned six nominations apiece.

Eilish also scored nominations in the top four categories, making the 17-year-old the youngest artist in the history of the Grammys to achieve the feat. Lil Nas X, 20, is up for three of the top four awards, including album and record of the year for "Old Town Road," featuring Billy Ray Cyrus.

Lizzo's "Cuz I Love You," Eilish's "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" and Lil Nas X's "7" — an 8-song EP — will compete for album of the year along with Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next," Bon Iver's "I,I," Vampire Weekend's "Father of the Bride," H.E.R.'s "I Used to Know Her" and Lana Del Rey's "Norman (Expletive) Rockwell!"

Nominees for record of the year include songs that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this year, including "Old Town Road," "Truth Hurts," Eilish's "Bad Guy," Grande's "7 Rings" and Post Malone and Swae Lee's "Sunflower." H.E.R.'s "Hard Place," Bon Iver's "Hey, Ma" and Khalid's "Talk," which peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100, round out the eight nominees.

While Taylor Swift was shut out of album of the year with "Lover," the album's title track earned a nomination for song of the year, a songwriter's award. It will compete with "Truth Hurts," "Bad Guy," "Hard Place," Lady Gaga's "Always Remember Us This Way" from "A Star Is Born," Lewis Capaldi's "Someone You Loved," Lana Del Rey's "Norman (Expletive) Rockwell" and Tanya Tucker's "Bring My Flowers Now," co-written by Brandi Carlile.

Swift earned three nominations, while Beyoncé — who was shut out of the top three categories — scored four. While her groundbreaking "Homecoming" documentary earned a nomination for best music film, its album version didn't pick up any nominations. Instead her "The Lion King: The Gift" project — which features songs inspired by "The Lion King," for which she voiced the character Nala — is up for best pop vocal album, competing with projects from Ed Sheeran, Swift, Eilish and Grande. Beyoncé's "Spirit," from "The Lion King" which is being pushed for Oscar consideration, is up for best pop solo performance along with Swift's "You Need to Calm Down," "Truth Hurts," "Bad Guy" and "7 Rings."

Overall, female acts out-performed their male counterparts in the top four categories: Five of the eight album-of-the-year contenders are women, while seven of the eight song-of-the-year nominees are by women. Female musicians also rule in the best new artist category, though record of the year is evenly split.

Grande, who won her first Grammy earlier this year, scored five nominations, as did H.E.R. and Finneas, Eilish's older brother who co-wrote, co-produced and engineered her debut album. Finneas' nominations include producer of the year (non-classical) and best engineered album (non-classical).

Several acts picked up four nominations, including J. Cole, Gary Clark Jr., Lucky Daye, Thom Yorke, Bob Ludwig and Tanya Tucker, who in August released her first album of new songs in 17 years.

British country-soul performer Yola also scored four bids, including best new artist, pitting her against Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Eilish, pop singer Maggie Rogers, New Orleans group Tank and the Bangas, the Austin-based duo Black Pumas and Spanish singer Rosalía, who won album of the year at last week's Latin Grammys.

Lizzo's road to the Grammys has been a long one: The 31-year-old, who performed with Prince on his "Plectrumelectrum" album, grinded as an independent and touring artist for years before signing a major-label deal, releasing her first album in 2013. But this year marked her major breakthrough: Her song "Truth Hurts" topped the charts for seven weeks; she's wowed audiences with her live performances — including her twerking while playing the flute. She's also graced several magazine covers, earning praise for promoting body positivity and denouncing fat shaming.

But Lizzo has also had her fair share of critics: Some felt she shouldn't qualify for best new artist at the Grammys since she's been on the music scene for years. Others thought since "Truth Hurts" was originally released in 2017, it shouldn't qualify for the 2020 Grammys. The Recording Academy said "Truth Hurts" qualified because the song was never submitted for contention in the Grammys process and it appears on an album released during the eligibility period for the upcoming show.

"Truth Hurts" was co-written by Tele, Jesse Saint John and Ricky Reed, who is nominated for producer of the year (non-classical). Mina Lioness, the British singer who Lizzo gave writing credit to after using some of her viral tweet in the hit song, didn't appear on the list of writers nominated for song of the year for "Truth Hurts." Lizzo's label, Atlantic Records, told The Associated Press last week it was in the process of adding Lioness to the song's credits.

Lizzo's other nominations include best urban contemporary album, best pop solo performance for "Truth Hurts," best traditional R&B performance for "Jerome" and best R&B performance for "Exactly How I Am," which features Gucci Mane and marks the rapper's first Grammy nomination.

Another first-time nominee: former first lady Michelle Obama, who is nominated for best spoken word album for "Becoming" (Barack Obama has won two Grammys in the same category).

Nipsey Hussle, who died in March and was nominated for best rap album earlier this year, scored three nominations: His song "Racks In the Middle" is up for best rap performance and best rap song, while "Higher" — a collaboration with DJ Khaled and John Legend that was one of the last songs Hussle recorded — is nominated for best rap/sung performance.

The Cranberries picked up a nomination for best rock album for their eighth and final album, "In the End," which the surviving members of the Irish band created using unfinished vocals from singer Dolores O'Riordan, who died last year.

The 2020 Grammys will hand out awards in its 84 categories live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26. Nominees were selected from more than 20,000 submissions, and the final round of voting runs from Dec. 9 until Jan. 3.

Top categories
Here's a list of nominees in the top categories at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards:

— Album of the year: "I,I," Bon Iver; "Norman (Expletive) Rockwell!," Lana Del Rey; "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?," Billie Eilish; "Thank U, Next," Ariana Grande; "I Used to Know Her," H.E.R.; "7," Lil Nas X; "Cuz I Love You (Deluxe)," Lizzo; "Father of the Bride," Vampire Weekend.

— Record of the year: "Hey, Ma," Bon Iver; "Bad Guy," Billie Eilish; "7 Rings," Ariana Grande; "Hard Place," H.E.R.; "Talk," Khalid; "Old Town Road," Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus; "Truth Hurts," Lizzo; "Sunflower," Post Malone and Swae Lee.

— Song of the year (songwriter's award): "Always Remember Us This Way," Lady Gaga, Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey and Lori McKenna; "Bad Guy," Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell; "Bring My Flowers Now," Tanya Tucker, Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth; "Hard Place," H.E.R., Rodney Jerkins, Ruby Amanfu, Sam Ashworth and D. Arcelious Harris; "Lover," Taylor Swift; "Norman (Expletive) Rockwell," Lana Del Rey and Jack Antonoff; "Someone You Loved," Lewis Capaldi, Tom Barnes, Pere Kelleher, Benjamin Kohn and Sam Roman; "Truth Hurts," Lizzo, Ricky Reed, Tele and Jesse Saint John.

— Best new artist: Black Pumas; Billie Eilish; Lil Nas X; Lizzo; Maggie Rogers; Rosalía; Tank and the Bangas; Yola.

— Best pop solo performance: "Spirit," Beyoncé; "Bad Guy," Billie Eilish; "7 Rings," Ariana Grande; "Truth Hurts," Lizzo; "You Need to Calm Down," Taylor Swift.

— Best pop duo/group performance: "Boyfriend," Ariana Grande and Social House; "Sucker," Jonas Brothers; "Old Town Road," Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus; "Sunflower," Post Malone and Swae Lee; "Senorita," Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello.

— Best pop vocal album: "The Lion King: The Gift," Beyoncé; "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?," Billie Eilish; "Thank U, Next," Ariana Grande; "No. 6 Collaborations Project," Ed Sheeran; "Lover," Taylor Swift.

— Best traditional pop vocal album: "Si," Andrea Bocelli; "Love (Deluxe Edition)," Michael Bublé; "Look Now," Elvis Costello & The Imposters; "A Legendary Christmas," John Legend; "Walls," Barbra Streisand.

— Best dance/electronic album: "LP5," Apparat; "No Geography," The Chemical Brothers; "Hi This Is Flume (Mixtape)," Flume; "Solace," Rüfüs Du Sol; "Weather," Tycho.

— Best rock album: "Amo," Bring Me the Horizon," "Social Cues," Cage the Elephant; "In the End," The Cranberries; "Trauma," I Prevail; "Feral Roots," Rival Sons.

— Best alternative music album: "U.F.O.F.," Big Thief; "Assume Form," James Blake; "I,I," Bon Iver; "Father of the Bride," Vampire Weekend; "Anima," Thom Yorke.

— Best urban contemporary album: "Apollo XXI," Steve Lacy; "Cuz I Love You (Deluxe Edition)," Lizzo; "Overload," Georgia Anne Muldrow; "Saturn," NAO; "Being Human In Public," Jessie Reyez.

— Best R&B album: "1123," BJ the Chicago Kid; "Painted," Lucky Daye; "Ella Mai," Ella Mai; "Paul," PJ Morton; "Ventura," Anderson .Paak.

— Best rap album: "Revenge of the Dreamers III," Various artists; "Championships," Meek Mill; "I Am  I Was," 21 Savage; "Igor," Tyler, The Creator; "The Lost Boy," YBN Cordae.

— Best country album: "Desperate Man," Eric Church; "Stronger Than the Truth," Reba McEntire; "Interstate Gospel," Pistol Annies; "Center Point Road," Thomas Rhett; "While I'm Livin'," Tanya Tucker.

— Best jazz vocal album: "Thirsty Ghost," Sara Gazarek; "Love & Liberation," Jazzmeia Horn; "Alone Together," Catherine Russell; "12 Little Spells," Esperanza Spalding; "Screenplay," The Tierney Sutton Band.

— Best jazz instrumental album: "In the Key of the Universe," Joey DeFrancesco; "The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul," Branford Marsalis Quartet; "Christian McBride's New Jawn," Christian McBride; "Finding Gabriel," Brad Mehldau; "Come What May," Joshua Redman Quartet.

— Best gospel album: "Long Live Love," Kirk Franklin; "Goshen," Donald Lawrence and the Tri-City Singers; "Tunnel Vision," Gene Moore; "Settle Here," William Murphy; "Something's Happening! A Christmas Album," CeCe Winans.

— Best Latin pop album: "Vida," Luis Fonsi; "11:11," Maluma; "Montaner," Ricardo Montaner; "#Eldisco," Alejandro Sanz; "Fantasia," Sebastian Yatra

— Best Latin rock, urban or alternative album: "X 100PRE," Bad Bunny; "Oasis," J Balvin and Bad Bunny; "Indestructible," Flor De Toloache; "Almadura," iLe; "El Mal Querer," Rosalía.

— Best comedy album: "Quality Time," Jim Gaffigan; "Relatable," Ellen DeGeneres; "Right Now," Aziz Ansari; "Son of Patricia," Trevor Noah; "Sticks & Stones," Dave Chappelle.

— Best compilation soundtrack for visual media: "The Lion King: The Songs"; "Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"; "Rocketman"; "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"; "A Star Is Born."

— Producer of the year, non-classical: Jack Antonoff; Dan Auerbach; John Hill; Finneas; Ricky Reed.

— Best music video: "We've Got to Try," The Chemical Brothers; "This Land," Gary Clark Jr. "Cellophane," FKA twigs; "Old Town Road (Official Movie)," Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus; "Glad He's Gone," Tove Lo.

— Best music film: "Homecoming," Beyoncé; "Remember My Name," David Crosby; "Birth of the Cool," Miles Davis; "Shangri-La," Various artists; "Anima," Thom Yorke.