The organisers of the Grammy Awards on Thursday announced the addition of a new category, Best Album Cover, for the upcoming edition of the ceremony.
The announcement comes amid the swirling controversy surrounding pop star Sabrina Carpenter’s cover image for her upcoming album, Man’s Best Friend.
Sabrina’s cover of her next album, Man’s Best Friend, drew flak from netizens, with several users accusing her of gratifying the male gaze.
The Grammy-winning pop star unveiled the cover of her next album after releasing her latest single Manchild on Tuesday. Man’s Best Friend is slated to release on August 29.
The album cover features Sabrina sporting a black dress and high heels, and kneeling down in a dog-like pose, while an unidentified man stands beside her.
The image didn’t sit well with fans on social media, with several of them calling it “disgusting”, “gross” and “sick”.
Apart from Best Album Cover, the Grammys will also honour nominees in the Best Traditional Country Album category now. Additionally, the organisers announced that the category for Best Country Album has been renamed to Best Contemporary Country Album.
In classical categories, composers and lyricists (or librettists) are now eligible for Grammy recognition. The existing Best Recording Package and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package categories have been combined into one single category — Best Recording Package.
Sabrina’s last album was Short n’ Sweet, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making it the third-biggest first week debut in 2024. She also bagged her first Grammy this year for Short n' Sweet in Best Pop Vocal Album category and for the song Espresso in Best Pop Solo Performance category.
