It's a battle for the ages.
In the 59th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 12, Adele will take on Beyonce in the top three categories in music _ album, record and song of the year _ as well as best pop solo vocal performance. But the contest goes way beyond whether Recording Academy voters prefer Adele's timeless pop or Beyonce's envelope-pushing R&B.
It will offer a sign about what the bulk of the music industry currently values most: tradition or disruption. Strong arguments can be made for rewarding both Adele and Beyonce for their successes. Both their albums are strong and assured, powerful statements of how they want to define pop music.
However, those statements reached the public in radically different ways, giving Adele and Beyonce radically different constituencies within The Recording Academy. (Of course, it could end up being a draw. If Adele sweeps all her categories and Beyonce sweeps the categories where she isn't up against Adele, they would both end up with five awards on the night.)
Here's a look at how they stack up:
ADELE
AGE 28
HAILS FROM London
NOMINATIONS 5 _ record of the year, "Hello"; album of the year, "25"; song of the year, "Hello"; best pop solo vocal performance, "Hello"; best pop vocal album, "25"
ROLLOUT As traditional and well-executed as they come. Adele released "Hello" to radio and promoted it tirelessly to generate excitement for "25," which sold a record-breaking 3.38 million copies in one week. That success proved that people do still buy physical albums on occasion, especially since Adele did not make the album available on streaming services for months.
NEW ALBUM SALES 9.1 million (7.4 million in 2015, 1.7 million in 2016)
SINGLES SUCCESS "Hello" (No. 1, 10 weeks)
PREVIOUS GRAMMY WINS 10
GENERAL CATEGORY WINS 4 _ record and song of the year, "Rolling in the Deep" (2011); album of the year, "21" (2011); best new artist (2008)
VOTER APPEAL The Recording Academy loves young artists who embrace older styles. The voters also love artists that sell a lot of albums. And, well, who doesn't love Adele?
DRAWBACKS Um, she's not Beyonce?
CULTURAL CLOUT The dramatic, black-and-white look of the "Hello" video was copied by many. And "Saturday Night Live" deemed the song a unifying force for holiday dinners.
