Elle King on Grammy nods: 'I walked in a daze for hours'
On Sunday night, Elle King gave her bassist her hotel room key, just to be sure she'd wake up in time to watch the Grammy nominations announced on Monday morning.
Turns out, she didn't need to.
"I didn't get much sleep. I was nervous and excited and hoping for the best," says King, 26, nominated for best rock song and performance for Ex's and Oh's. Tuning into CBS This Morning, "I watched and Alicia Keys didn't say my name in any of the four (major) categories, and my mom called and was like, 'Baby, there's Grammys every year.' I said, 'Well, let me look and see if the other nominations have come out.' "
Shortly after, she started getting calls and "I saw that I'd been nominated for two (expletive) Grammys," King adds. "It's been crazy. I walked around in a daze for three, four hours. This is just one of the craziest feelings I've ever experienced."
Ex's, a bluesy, globe-trotting kiss-off to former lovers, was released as the first single off King's album, Love Stuff, more than a year ago, but didn't start its chart ascent until this past summer. The song peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart last month and has sold 1.2 million downloads to date, according to Nielsen Music.
Playing festivals over the summer, "I was kind of getting bummed, because Ex's had been out and getting some buzz and lots of radio airplay, but nothing compared to what was happening this fall," King says. "I was like, 'I just don't understand. I think I'm good. I don't know why it's not clicking and why I'm not hitting that next level.' " But today, "I was like, 'I think it happened.' I mean, this is my first record and I probably won't win, but I get to go to the Grammys and that's awesome."
To celebrate, King is coming home to New York on Tuesday to have a champagne party with her family and perform on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Come February, King will take her mom (former model London King) to the awards show, but plans "on celebrating until the Grammys."
Of the other honorees, she is most thrilled by nominations for soul singer Leon Bridges, indie rocker Courtney Barnett, friend James Bay, and newcomer Tori Kelly, whom she calls "one of the sweetest human beings on the face of the Earth."
When it comes to album of the year, she has her money on Southern rockers Alabama Shakes: fronted by singer/guitarist Brittany Howard and up for Sound & Color.
"I gotta say, I got to give it Brittany. I really hope the Shakes win," King says. "They're one of my favorite bands and they're all really cool, great people. They deserve it and they make (expletive) badass music! Whoever wins, I wish them much happiness and joy, but I'm a huge Alabama Shakes fan."