Simone is the ninth singer to be the subject of a tribute that received a nod for best traditional pop vocal album. This would also include contemporary pop songs performed in traditional pop style – the term ‘traditional’ being a reference, equally, to the style of the composition, vocal styling and the instrumental arrangement, without regard to the age of the material.” This includes older forms of traditional pop such as the Great American Songbook, created by the Broadway, Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the period between the and the end of World War II, as well as cabaret/musical theater-style songs and previous forms of contemporary pop. Here’s the current guideline: “This category is for performances of a type and style of song that cannot properly be intermingled with present forms of pop music. The Grammys have, in recent years, been trying to expand the notion of what traditional pop entails. The Grammy screening committee, which makes the final determination of where albums land, had to choose between placing the album in best traditional pop vocal album or best R&B album, where Simone would have competed with the likes of Jon Batiste, H.E.R. Ledisi won her first Grammy in March for best traditional R&B performance for “Anything for You,” a track from her 2020 album The Wild Card, but the Grammys don’t have a traditional R&B album category. So how did a tribute to Simone wind up in the traditional pop category? Ledisi Pays Tribute to Nina Simone While Playing 'The Wild Card'