This Philly-Born Band Has More Grammy Nominations Than Taylor Swift This Year

The members of Boygenius, the Philly-born band with more Grammy nominations than Taylor Swift this year (Getty Images)

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Boygenius Has More Grammy Nominations than Taylor Swift this Year

The Grammy nominations are out, and the Philly-born band Boygenius racked up seven nominations, the most of any Philly-connected artist. The members of Boygenius — including Lucy Dacus, who spent the past few years living in Philly — decided to embark on a project together when they all met backstage at a music conference here. (Dacus has, according to some reports, recently relocated to Los Angeles.)

The indie supertrio scored Grammy nominations for Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, Best Alternative Music Performance, Best Alternative Music Album, and Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical), all surrounding their debut album, The Record. (If you’re wondering what the difference is between “record” and “album” as far as the Grammys are concerned, “record” refers to a single song, which may not make sense to you if you are of a certain age, but it is what it is.)

The group celebrated with two high-energy performances on Saturday Night Live over the weekend.

Boygenius outnumbered any other Philly-connected artist this year for Grammy nominations. Even Taylor Swift (okay, I know Reading, Pennsylvania, is not Philadelphia, but it’s 45 minutes from KOP, and this is Taylor Swift we’re talking about, so we have to take what we can get) couldn’t manage to eke out as many Grammy nominations as Boygenius. Swift came in just shy with six. If only they gave out Grammy nominations for Best Reason Ratings for Kansas City Chiefs Games Are Suddenly Up.

Elsewhere among the Grammy nominations, we found Roots rapper Black Thought, who got a nod for Best Rap Performance for his song “Love Letter,” and Lil Uzi Vert, whose “Just Wanna Rock” is among the Best Rap Song nominees.

Then there’s the Philadelphia Orchestra, recognized for its performances of Florence Price’s “Symphony No. 4” and William Dawson’s “Negro Folk Symphony.” The Grammys liked local choir The Crossing for their performance of “Carols After a Plague.” Speaking of choirs, South Jersey choir leader and gospel songwriter Tye Tribbett landed a Grammy nomination for Best Gospel Album. And the multi-talented Adam Blackstone, who has performed with everybody from Dr. Dre to the Jonas Brothers to Eminem to Al Green, received a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance. Blackstone made much of his magic while living in Philly and now calls Delaware home. Hey, no sales tax.

You can see the full list of Grammy nominations here. We’ll have to wait until the live ceremony on February 4th to see who wins.

This story initially reported that Dacus still lives in Philadelphia.

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From the Inquirer: “This Woman Roams the City, Handing Out Compliments to Strangers.”

Camp Out for Hunger Returns

Philly’s biggest morning radio show — I am, of course, talking about WMMR’s Preston & Steve Show — is back with its annual Camp Out for Hunger. All week, the Preston & Steve team resides in and around the South Philadelphia sports complex, broadcasting live and inviting fans and local companies to bring non-perishable foods and big checks for Philabundance. (Check here for some guidance on what to donate.) They usually bring in hundreds of tons of food and a million or so in checks. Here’s hoping it’s a record-breaking year.

Don’t Like Speed Cameras?

The Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia wants to tell you why you’re wrong.

By the Numbers

3 percent: Amount you should expect your next PGW bill to go up. The Public Utility Commission just approved a rate hike. It’s not all bad news, though. The increase is actually less than a third of the one PGW asked for.

1: Ranking of Pennsylvania on a list of the states with the most Lyme disease cases. Yay us! In all seriousness, if you find a tick on you, remove and then save it for potential testing. When we go camping, we always have a roll of Scotch tape nearby. Just tape the sucker to a piece of paper.

$35: What a pie will cost you from MANNA’s annual Pie in the Sky fund-raiser. The money goes to feed those battling serious illnesses. Pickup is next Tuesday, and you can order one (or 10) here.

And from the Eight-Straight Sports Desk …

The Sixers were in Detroit to take on the Pistons in the Ugly Court Tourney on Friday, and they played on a definite contender that looked like some sort of crazed backgammon board. The Pistons had the better start and led by as much as 10 in the first, but their big man, Jalen Duren, had two fouls five minutes in. Joel cut it to four at the two-minute mark, but it was back to 12 at the close, 33-21. Our guys were outplayed in the second quarter as well, with less hustle and shots that would not fall.

Joel got slapped with an uncalled-for T for rightly protesting a shitty call, but considering the score, it didn’t matter; we were stone-cold, and the Pistons had double our rebounds. A Tobias Harris three with a minute left in the quarter cut it to nine, and Duren picked up a third guarding Joel, who sank his two foul shots to make it 56-48 at the half.

Things picked up a bit in the third, and we took the lead, 72-71, for the first time all night. We kept it, too: 83-77 at the close. And in the fourth? Finally, the Sixers came alive. It ended up an easy win, 114-106. Slow start forgiven. Still an ugly court. By the way, if the whole James Harden debacle left a bad taste for him in your mouth, this interview, in which he heaps praise on Tyrese Maxey, will soften you up. Or maybe this will.

The Clippers are now 0-4 in the James Harden era pic.twitter.com/HBeRO4P8BN

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) November 12, 2023

On Saturday, Sixer fans were rocked to learn that newcomer Kelly Oubre Jr., who’d been kicking ass for the team, was hit by a driver at Broad and Locust streets in Center City. He was released from the hospital later Saturday night; his injuries include a broken rib and are going to cause him to miss “significant” time.

The team was back home last night against the Pacers, starting Embiid, Nic Batum, Maxey, Harris and Melton. The team ripped off an 11-2 run in the first quarter but then cooled off a bit; it was 38-27 at the close, with Joel leading with 17 points. It was Tyrese’s turn to shine in the second, despite a sudden rash of beverage spills on the court.

But the Pacers cut the lead to seven with 3:30 to go, and it was 69-60 in favor of the Sixers at the half. And in the third, the Pacers brought it to just a one-point lead five minutes in. Never fear; Maxey tied his season high a minute later, with 34 points, De’Anthony hit back-to-back threes, and it was nine again. Hold on, hold on—the Pacers kept coming, and at the close of the third, we were just holding on, 100-99. And Indiana went ahead in the fourth, 105-104, for the first time all game. A Pat Beverley steal and three-pointer put an end to that. Maxey finished with a career-high 50 points.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1723872821086998964

At the buzzer: 137-126 Sixers — their eighth straight win. You know what other Philly team is 8-1? The Eagles, that’s who. Play the song!

And in College Hoops?

The St. Joe’s Hawks clipped the Penn Quakers on Friday night, 69-61, while Villanova buried Le Moyne (it’s in Syracuse, NY), 83-57, and Temple flustered Navy, 78-68. On Saturday, La Salle bested Northeastern, 79-74, and Drexel eked out a win at Winthrop, 74-72. Tonight, Villanova takes on Penn at the Palestra at 7 p.m.

What About the College Gridiron?

Penn State set a new home attendance record at Beaver Stadium on Saturday. A crowd of 110,856 watched their home team inexplicably go for two in the fourth quarter against a Jim Harbaugh-less Michigan and lose, 24-15. The Temple Owls didn’t fare any better against South Florida in Tampa, losing 27-23; QB E.J. Warner tossed three interceptions. Elsewhere, the Villanova Wildcats throttled the Towson Tigers, 33-10; Ursinus handled the Dickinson Red Devils, 21-10; and it took Harvard three overtimes to do it, but they beat the Penn Quakers, 25-23.

All Philly Today sports coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.