The biggest night in music may be dominated by the Swift — or taken by a “Butterfly.”
Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar — the latter the creator of the album “To Pimp a Butterfly” — are expected to be the big winners at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards on Monday night.
Lamar leads all artists with 11 nominations, the most since Michael Jackson pulled down 12 in 1984. Swift earned seven, including nominations in the top three categories: song, record and album of the year.
She’s up against Lamar in the song and album of the year categories. Also doing well: The Weeknd, whose seven nominations include nods for record and album of the year.
The Grammy Awards broadcast won’t start until 8 p.m. ET, but with 83 categories, the honors started much earlier — and Swift already won two trophies, for best pop vocal album and best music video. (Ironically, Lamar gets to share the latter, since it’s for “Bad Blood,” to which he contributed.)
Other winners included former President Jimmy Carter (for the audiobook of his memoir, “A Full Life: Reflections on Ninety”), album of the year nominee Alabama Shakes (for alternative music album and best rock song) and another album of the year nominee, Chris Stapleton (for country solo performance).
But the Grammys are as much — if not more — about performances as they are about awards. Much of the action tonight will be in the form of tributes.
Lady Gaga plans to pay homage to David Bowie with an “experiential tribute” and “multisensory testament,” and Eagles Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit and Bernie Leadon, joined by “Take It Easy” co-writer Jackson Browne, plan to salute Glenn Frey.
Bowie and Frey died in January.
The show also plans to honor the late Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire as the band’s surviving members present the award for record of the year. White died February 4. The Grammys announced that Earth, Wind & Fire will receive one of its Lifetime Achievement Awards at a seperate ceremony in the spring.
Other performers include Swift, Lamar, The Weeknd, Adele, Justin Bieber, Ellie Goulding, Alice Cooper, Pitbull, Skrillex, Little Big Town, Meghan Trainor, Rihanna and the cast of the Broadway hit “Hamilton.”
Kanye West, who released his new album, “The Life of Pablo,” on Saturday, isn’t scheduled to perform, but he’s been raising eyebrows for days with his tweets. The Grammys themselves responded puckishly to one of them in which West stated he wouldn’t be coming unless he’s promised album of the year.
For that, he’ll have to wait.
On the other hand, he and Swift do have a history, so be ready for an uninvited guest if Swift accepts any awards on the broadcast.
The 58th annual Grammy Awards are being hosted by LL Cool J. The show, taking place at Los Angeles’ Staples Center, airs at 8 p.m. ET Monday on CBS.