Grammy Performers 2016 Announced, and It's Totally Unsurprising

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Culture

It's a little less than one month until the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, hosted by LL Cool JOn Wednesday the Recording Academy revealed four performers for the awards show, which airs Feb. 15 on CBS at 8 p.m. Eastern from Los Angeles, to the Associated Press. The lineup includes Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Little Big Town and the Weeknd. 

"This lineup of talented artists is just the beginning of what will, once again, prove to be music's biggest night," Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. "We look forward to celebrating what's been a wonderful year in music, honoring the best of the best and featuring never-before-seen performances."

It may come as little surprise to many that Adele will be performing, given her recent successes. Her third LP, 25, came out in November, only to completely destroy a sales record within just days of its release. Included on the album was her smash single "Hello," which made history by selling over 1 million downloads in one week and topped Billboard's Hot 100 chart for 10 weeks, according to the Associated Press

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Although she already has 10 Grammys under her belt, Adele's 25 wasn't up for a 2016 award, since the album dropped after the Grammys' deadline of Sept. 30. There's always next year.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar, however, has the most Grammy nods for 2016 at 11, including song of the year for "Alright"; pop duo/group performance for "Bad Blood" with Taylor Swift; and album of the year for To Pimp a Butterfly. If Lamar ends up taking a Grammy home for song of the year, he would make history as the first hip hop track  to win the category. 

R&B singer the Weeknd trails Lamar and his 11 nominations with seven nominations himself, the Associated Press reported. His album Beauty Behind the Madness is up against Lamar's for album of the year. 

Country fans rejoice. Little Big Town, which is up for best country album for Pain Killer and country duo/group performance for "Girl Crush," is also set to perform.

Lionel Richie will get a special tribute at the awards show, since he's the recipient of the Recording Academy's 2016 MusiCares person of the year award, the Associated Press reported. Richie's charity work — which includes causes such as women's issues and AIDS and contributions to the United Negro College Fund — is being recognized by the award, according to a statement by the Recording Academy.

In preparation for the Grammy Awards show, below is a live performance of Adele's "Hello":