For the first time in the awards’ history, only female and female-fronted acts are nominated for Best Rock Performance at the 2021 Grammys.

Made up of entirely solo women or female-fronted bands, nominees for Best Rock Performance include Fiona Apple for ‘Shameika’, Phoebe Bridgers for ‘Kyoto’, ‘The Steps’ by Haim, ‘Stay High’ by Brittany Howard, Grace Potter’s ‘Daylight’, and ‘Not’ by Big Thief, the band fronted by Adrienne Lenker.

Nominees for the 2021 Grammys were announced yesterday (November 24), with the event set to take place on January 31.

Female artists lead the nominations, with Beyoncé and Dua Lipa both receiving five, while Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish have bagged four and three respectively.

All four artists are nominated for Song of the Year, while Lipa, Haim and Swift will all compete for Album of the Year, courtesy of ‘Future Nostalgia’, ‘Folklore’ and ‘Women In Music Pt. III’ respectively.

Apple, Bridgers, Howard and Big Thief have also been nominated in the Best Rock Song category, itself comprised of 80 per cent female nominees.

Apple is also up for an award for Best Alternative Music Album for ‘Fetch The Bolt Cutters’.

Earlier today (November 25), The Weeknd took to Twitter to publicly share his dismay at being snubbed for a Grammy nomination, saying the awards “remain corrupt”.

Recording Academy Chair Harvey Mason Jr. responded to The Weeknd in a statement, saying, “His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration. Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists.”