‘A Star Is Born’ Original Soundtrack Isn’t Allowed to Compete at the 2019 Grammys, but There’s Still Hope For ‘Shallow’
Zack Sharf
“A Star Is Born” is widely expected to be a major contender at the 2019 Academy Awards, but the same won’t be true at the 2019 Grammy Awards. Despite the blockbuster success of the movie’s original soundtrack, which has spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard music chart, the full album will not be in the running at the Grammys because it was released October 5, a few days after the October 1 Grammy qualifying date.
Fortunately, the album’s lead single, “Shallow,” can compete at the Grammys because it was officially released as a song on September 27. The song, performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, is the inarguably the film’s defining track and could break into the record or song of the year categories depending how the Grammys shake out. The film is one of three songs from the album that Warner Bros. is submitting for the Best Original Song Oscar, the others being “Always Remember Us This Way” and “I’ll Never Love Again.”
While fans might be disappointed to hear “A Star Is Born” is out of many Grammy races, the plan was always to release the album after the Grammys qualification date. In addition to the original songs written for the movie, the soundtrack also includes several interludes with dialogue from the film that essentially map out the plot. Releasing the album before the movie’s October 5 release date would have given away major spoilers.
“We didn’t want to release the soundtrack before the movie because the soundtrack really is the story of the film,” producer Lynette Howell explained (via Billboard). “There are multiple tracks in there that are soundbites from the film and so it was really important that people experience them simultaneously and it was important to Bradley that audiences got a chance to experience the movie first or at least alongside.”
The “A Star Is Born” album is the first movie soundtrack to spend its first three weeks at number one in more than a decade. Similarly, it’s the first Lady Gaga album to achieve this feat as well. The film is now playing nationwide. The 2019 Grammy Awards air February 10, while the 91st Academy Awards take place February 24, 2019.
