6 Grammy Awards Winners & Nominees Who Smoke Weed
Estimated 8-minute read
Music and weed have gone hand in hand since the beginning of time. Even if you’re not a musician, you may have heard that cannabis heightens the experience of listening to music. Let me tell you—Scientists say it’s actually all about brain science!
So, great news for music fans: The 65th Grammy Awards are just around the corner! In honor of the most acclaimed music awards, here’s a short list of winners and nominees who have admitted to smoking weed, usually incorporating it to their creative process.
Eleven Time Grammy Award Winner Lady Gaga
Everybody knows Lady Gaga; her addictive and powerful songs have been critically acclaimed and nominated time and time again. In a 2017 Netflix film Gaga: Five Foot Two, the artist shares her personal struggles with chronic pain caused by fibromyalgia and how medical marijuana has been a helpful tool in managing it. I highly recommend this film for anyone seeking to understand the benefits of medical cannabis as a pain management solution.
Nonetheless, her use of weed goes back to 2011. During an MTV episode of the show 60 Minutes, Lady Gaga shared that she smoked pot during writing sessions, not wanting to “ sugar coat it for 60 Minutes that, you know, I'm some, like, sober human being 'cause I'm not,” she added.
Despite not being nominated this year, her latest album Chromatica was nominated two years ago for the Best Pop Vocal Music category—in which Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia took home the Grammy award.
But back to the mesmerizing Lady Gaga, here’s an impressive list of her wins and the impactful history she’s had at the Grammy Awards throughout the years:
- 2010: Best Electronic/Dance Album for "The Fame"
- 2010: Best Dance Recording for "Poker Face"
- 2011: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Bad Romance"
- 2011: Best Short Form Music Video for "Bad Romance"
- 2013: Best Pop Vocal Album for "Born This Way"
- 2015: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for "Cheek to Cheek" (with Tony Bennett)
- 2016: Best Song Written for Visual Media for "Til It Happens To You"
- 2017: Best Pop Solo Performance for "Million Reasons"
- 2019: Best Song Written for Visual Media for "Shallow" (A Star is Born)
- 2020: Best Song Written for Visual Media for "I'll Never Love Again" (A Star is Born)
- 2020: Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Rain On Me" (with Ariana Grande)
Whew!
Two Time Grammy Award Winner Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny—whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio—has been the most streamed global artist on Spotify for three years in a row. Garnering over 18.5 billion streams in 2022, he more than doubled the amount he racked up last year, Washington Post affirmed.
Despite allegations that he doesn’t use cannabis as often as he once did, Bad Bunny has quite a few songs where he has mentioned or alluded to cannabis, like Soy Peor, La Noche de Anoche, I Like It, Callaita, La Cartera, and more.
His albums have won for two years in a row: Best Latin Pop or Urban Album with YHLQMDLG, following Best Música Urbana Album with El Último Tour Del Mundo in 2022. Not to mention that he’s been winning since 2019 at the Latin Grammy Awards!
This year Benito has three big nominations at the Grammy Awards: Un Verano Sin Ti for Album Of The Year, Moscow Mule for Best Pop Solo Performance, and Best Música Urbana Album for Un Verano Sin Ti. Not to be biased but best of luck to him!
Six Time Grammy Award Winner Kacey Musgraves
Country singer and songwriter Kacey Musgraves has been very open about her relationship with weed. She has stated in several interviews that she is a regular consumer of cannabis, and even has admitted to trying some harder stuff when she wanted to write at some point.
Somewhere in 2017 she posted a photo to her Instagram from her wedding with the caption “Lovestoned” where she showed her and her (now ex) husband lighting up a joint—she even had her wedding dress on! The picture has been long gone from her instagram, but I will personally never forget it.
In 2019, Kacey won four awards with her album Golden Hour, including Album of the Year. This 13 track record was one of the most beloved by her fans, the majority of her songs in the album being about love. “I'm coming off getting married and being in this golden hour of my personal life, where all these things are finally coming to fruition. I found myself inspired to write about this person and all these things he brought out in me that weren’t there before," she stated to The Boot.
Two Time Winner Lorde
You must know the quirky New Zealand singer and songwriter Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, best known for her stage name, Lorde. Despite not getting nominations for her latest album Solar Power, back at the 56th Grammy Awards her song Royals won Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. Since then, her work has been nominated for Album of the Year with the electrifying and critically acclaimed pop album Melodrama, which was released back in 2017.
Lorde hasn’t exactly confirmed that she smokes weed, but what we know is that each of her three albums (Pure Heroine, Melodrama and Solar Power) can be distinguished by the drugs she was using at the time—alcohol, MDMA, and marijuana, respectively. Actually, Solar Power was supposed to be a big acid album before she had a bad trip and decided to switch it to cannabis. "I had like one bad acid experience in this album and I was like 'nah, it's a weed album'. It's one of my great weed albums," she revealed to Vogue.
The artist has a song called Stoned at the Nail Salon, which has a guitar driven melody and lyrics that talk about overthinking and reflecting on life, growing up, and learning to take care of yourself. Additionally, in her music video for Solar Power she puffs on a bong. According to NewsHub, Lorde revealed that she voted “yes” in the referendum to legalize cannabis in Aotearoa. And finally, in an email to fans she described a summer night at her home with friends and included the following line: "The lady of the house consumes an edible," clearly referring to herself.
An advice from the author: Definitely check this album out if you haven’t heard it before!
Twelve Time Grammy Award Winner Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar, the American rapper and songwriter, has been nominated for a total of 35 Grammy Awards, and won 12 of them. He has been recognized in various categories including Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Album, Best Music Video, and Album of the Year. Kendrick is considered one of the most successful and critically acclaimed artists of his generation and his albums have been praised for its socially conscious lyrics, technical prowess and storytelling.
With so much career behind him, it’s no surprise that has referenced cannabis at some point in some of his music. He has even been seen (or at least it looks like) smoking it in music videos, but he has not publicly spoken extensively about his views on cannabis. However, in a 2012 interview he did mention that he smoked from time to time, and that he used to do it more when he was younger.
In some of his songs such as Poetic Justice, The Recipe, m.A.A.d city, FEAR and DUCKWORTH. he references smoking weed, so it can be inferred that he might have a positive view on it. However, it's worth noting that Kendrick has not talked about this subject recently.
Kendrick Lamar is the first rapper to be nominated for Album of the Year for four consecutive albums. This year, he scored eight nominations for his fourth album Mr Morale and the Big Steppers.
First Time Grammy Nominee Kim Petras
The German pop princess debuted in 2017 and now she’s here with her first ever Grammy Award nomination! Unholy, the steamy, dark pop song about cheating has been nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, where Kim Petras is the featured artist. As the pair became the first publicly trans and nonbinary artists to clinch a number 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, it has also allowed Kim Petras and Sam Smith to make history!
Back in 2021, Kim teased a song with Paris Hilton for her third studio album titled Problématique. “Paris Hilton and I smoked weed, we recorded the track in my closet upstairs, and the rest is history!” she said to DIY Magazine. Unfortunately, the album has been scrapped and there’s no sign of it being released anytime soon, which means we won’t be able to listen to that stoned masterpiece. But hey, as people like to say: hope is the last thing that dies! Back in February 2022 she released a surprise EP, so not everything is lost.
So there you have it, 5 talented artists who possibly incorporate cannabis to their creative process, or even their daily lives. We’re just a few days away from the Grammy Awards, so make sure you listen to the official 65th playlist and get ready for music’s most important event!
Disclaimer: This information was taken out of interviews and videos on the internet, meaning that what is stated here could contain fake information about the artists previously mentioned. Please do not take this very seriously, since this article is meant to entertain.
Author: Mary Jane
Barton, M. (2021) Lorde says you can tell her albums apart by the drugs she was taking while making them. News Hub. Retrieved from https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2021/09/lorde-says-you-can-tell-her-albums-apart-by-the-drugs-she-was-taking-while-making-them.html
Cannacon (2022) 5 Reasons Music Sounds So Good When High on Cannabis. Retrieved from https://cannacon.org/why-does-music-sound-better-high/
Grammy Awards (2023) The Official 2023 GRAMMYs Playlist Is Here: Listen To 115 Songs By Beyoncé, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar & More. Retrieved from https://www.grammy.com/news/2023-grammys-official-playlist-65th-grammy-awards-nominees-anitta-bts-harry-styles-lizzo-steve-lacy
MTV (2011) Lady Gaga Reveals She Smokes Pot When Writing Music On '60 Minutes'. Retrieved from https://www.mtv.com/news/u0cew4/lady-gaga-smokes-pot-60-minutes
Paúl, M. (2022) From Macy’s parade to Spotify Wrapped, Bad Bunny is on top of the world. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/01/bad-bunny-spotify-wrapped/
Stefano, A. (2018) Everything We Know About Kacey Musgraves' New Album, 'Golden Hour. The Boot. Retrieved from https://theboot.com/kacey-musgraves-golden-hour-new-album-2018/
Watson, E. (2021) Kim Petras: Très Magnifique! DIY Magazine. Retrived from https://diymag.com/in-deep/kim-petras-tres-magnifique-diy-in-deep-cover-feature
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