Joker, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Nominated for Best Score Grammy

The 2021 Grammy Award nominations were announced this morning with confirmation that composer John Williams has been nominated for his 72nd Grammy Award. Williams’ score for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was nominated in the “Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media” category alongside Oscar winner Hildur Guðnadóttir for her work on Joker. The other films nominated in the category include Max Richter for Ad Astra, Kamasi Washington for Becoming, and Thomas Newman for 1917. The nominations of Ad Astra and Becoming mark the only deviations from this year’s Academy Awards which put up Little Women and Marriage Story in their place.

Williams won his 25th Grammy Award earlier this year, nabbing the Best Instrumental Composition, which is an award for an original composition that can only be released as a single or track, which he won for his “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Symphonic Suite,” the song written for Disney’s theme park expansion. To date, sixteen of Williams’ 70 nominations have come from his work on Star Wars including wins for the original film in 1977, its 1981 sequel The Empire Strikes Back, and for 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Williams has also nominated for his work on Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Revenge of the Sith, and The Last Jedi.

Guðnadóttir on the other hand exploded onto the award circuit last year not only for her score to Joker, which nabbed her an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and a Critics’ Choice Award. The Icelandic musician and composer won a Grammy earlier this year however, winning the prize for her work on the HBO series Chernobyl. She also won a Primetime Emmy Award for the series.

Other Grammy Award nominations for this year for Feature Films include:

Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media

• A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
  (Various Artists)
• BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC
  (Various Artists)
• EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA
  (Various Artists)
• FROZEN 2
  (Various Artists)
• JOJO RABBIT
  (Various Artists)

Best Song Written For Visual Media:

• BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS [FROM CATS]
  Andrew Lloyd Webber & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
• CARRIED ME WITH YOU [FROM ONWARD]
  Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)
• INTO THE UNKNOWN [FROM FROZEN 2]
  Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Idina Menzel & AURORA)
• NO TIME TO DIE [FROM NO TIME TO DIE]
  Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas Baird O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
• STAND UP [FROM HARRIET]
  Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo, songwriters (Cynthia Erivo)