GRAMMYs Awards 2014 Preview: Record of the Year

A closer look at the songs that earned record of the year nominations for the 56th GRAMMY Awards. These songs are all vying for record of the year at the GRAMMYs Awards 2014 on Sunday night.

"Get Lucky"
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams
Producers: Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo
Engineers/Mixers: Peter Franco, Mick Guzauski, Florian Lagatta, Daniel Lerner
From: Random Access Memories
Label: Daft Life/Columbia

Daft Punk first teased its long-awaited fourth album, "Random Access Memories," by playing snippets of lead single “Get Lucky” on “Saturday Night Live” and at the Coachella festival last spring. When the full single was released April 19, pop fans got to soak in Nile Rodgers’ disco-funk guitar, Pharrell Williams’ sinuous vocal performance and Daft Punk’s delirious robo-breakdown in full -- and “Get Lucky” promptly became one of the year’s most inescapable hits. The mysterious French duo’s groove-filled electronica has been recognized by the Grammy Awards previously, with early singles like “Da Funk” and “Around the World” earning best dance recording nods and the live album Alive 2007 winning best electronic/dance album in 2009. However, Daft Punk’s biggest hit to date -- “Get Lucky” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 -- garnered the pair’s first record of the year nomination.

"Radioactive"
Imagine Dragons
Producer: Alex Da Kid
Engineers/Mixers: Manny Marroquin, Josh Mosser
From: Night Visions
Label: Kidinakorner/Interscope

After “It’s Time,” the lead single from Imagine Dragons’ 2012 debut "Night Visions," crept up to No. 15 on the Hot 100 (generally uncharted waters for a new rock act), “Radioactive” performed even better, peaking at No. 3. Mixing throttling percussion and dubstep wobbles with an intense rock coda, “Radioactive” stayed at No. 1 on the Hot Rock Songs chart for a record-breaking 23 weeks and ultimately became the genre’s biggest hit of 2013, just three years after Imagine Dragons was covering Led Zeppelin songs in Las Vegas casinos. Like the majority of "Night Visions," “Radioactive” was produced by Alex Da Kid, best-known for his work on hip-hop/pop fusions like B.o.B’s “Airplanes” (featuring Hayley Williams) and Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie” (featuring Rihanna), the latter nominated for record of the year at the 2011 Grammys. “Radioactive” is also up for best rock performance.