The Grammys expanded the top categories 24 hours before nominations announcement, benefitting Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Abba and Lil Nas X

The New York Times

"The organization behind the Grammy Awards decided at a meeting on Monday — just 24 hours before this year’s nominees were announced — that the top categories should expand to 10 nominees from eight, a last-minute move that added stars like Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Abba and Lil Nas X to the existing slate of potential winners," reports The New York Times' Ben Sisario and Joe Coscarelli. "When the nominations were revealed on a live webcast the next morning, Harvey Mason Jr., the chief executive of Recording Academy, hailed the surprise shift as a way 'to make room for more music, more artists and more genres, and to embrace the spirit of inclusion.' But among the added names were some of pop’s biggest stars and people who were already on the ballot elsewhere. For album of the year, the two contenders added to the ballot were Swift’s Evermore and West’s Donda,”joining titles by Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Doja Cat, H.E.R., Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X and Jon Batiste."