Arcade Fire, Pharrell, Sia Snag Best Music Video Grammy Nominations
Arcade Fire‘s “We Exist,” Sia‘s “Chandelier” and Pharrell Williams‘ “Happy” are among the clips nominated to win Best Music Video at next year’s Grammy Awards. Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo announced the nominees, which also include Woodkid and Max Richter’s “The Golden Age” and DJ Snake and Lil Jon‘s “Turn Down for What,” in a video via Twitter from a hotel room.
“We Exist,” which stars Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield as a transgender woman, sparked controversy this year when Against Me!’s transgender frontwoman Laura Jane Grace criticized the Canadian indie rockers for not getting an “actual ‘trans’ actor” to appear in the clip. “There was just so much thought and love that went into the video I don’t personally see it as negative,” frontman Win Butler told The Advocate in May, but added, “I can totally see the sensitivity of the issue.”
DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What” clip is a face-melting, phone-smashing, floor-crashing melee (literally) as people flip out to the electro-rap hit’s heavy beats. “It’s like a fucking rock concert at my shows now,” DJ Snake told Rolling Stone in February. “People truly don’t give a flying fuck about their bodies when they hear a track they love. Absolute pandemonium!”
Pop songstress Sia personally asked 11-year-old dancer and Dance Moms star Maddie Ziegler to flail about her “Chandelier” video (in a Sia wig); it was later nominated for Video of the Year at the MTV VMAs. Lena Dunham attempted her own take on the dance for Sia’s “appearance” on Late Night With Seth Meyers in June as Sia stayed motionless in a bed onstage. The next month, Ziegler gave talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel a lesson in how to do the dance.
In late November 2013, Pharrell Williams launched “Happy” with the world’s first 24-hour music video, which featured a who’s who of celebrities and Minions from Despicable Me. A few days later, he put out a four-minute edit of the video event, which earned a nomination for Video of the Year at the MTV VMAs.
Finally, a man known more for the music videos he has made, Woodkid, put out a clip for his single “The Golden Age,” which features Max Richter, this past July. The singer-songwriter, who has previously directed clips for Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Lana del Rey, blended black and white reality with surreal computer animations for his own “Golden Age” clip.
The organization behind the Grammys, NARAS, announced the nominees for next year’s awards throughout the day Friday via its Twitter account with the exception of Album of the Year, which will be announced Friday night at 9 p.m. EST during CBS’ TV special A Very Grammy Christmas. The ceremony will air on Sunday, February 8th on CBS. See all the 2015 Grammy nominees, including Record of the Year and Best Rock Song, here.