‘We’re just three Jews from the Valley,’ says sister band shocked by ‘Album of the Year’ nomination

“We’re three Jews from the valley. I keep refreshing the page being like, ‘Is this really our record?’” Alana Haim, 28, told Billboard magazine.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner

The members of American pop rock band Haim, comprised of three Jewish sisters, are still reeling from the shock of receiving a Grammy nomination this week for Album of the Year.

The complete list of nominations for the 2021 Grammy Awards was released on Tuesday and revealed that Haim’s third album, “Women In Music Pt. III,” was up for the prestigious award, while their single “The Steps” earned a nomination for Best Rock Performance.

“We did not expect even one nomination let alone two, let alone one in the top four categories,” Alana Haim, 28, told Billboard magazine. “The thing that’s really blowing our minds the most is that we’re three Jews from the valley. I keep refreshing the page being like, ‘Is this really our record?’”

Danielle Haim, 31, the band’s lead vocalist who also co-produced the album, added that she and her sisters “really put every last ounce of what we had within ourselves into this album — it was a labor of love.” It’s the band’s most personal album, Alana explained, “because we had so much to talk about,” including post-tour depression, grief and health battles,” she told Billboard. “Obviously it’s great to be nominated for a Grammy, but really, this record was just us having therapy with ourselves.”

The band from San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, earned their first Grammy nomination, for best new artist, at the 57th Grammy Awards following the 2013 release of their debut album “Days Are Gone.” Their second album, “Something to Tell You,” was released in 2017, and like the first, hit the Billboard 200’s top 10.

“At the end of the day, we’re a rock band, we’re women, and we’ve had to go through a lot of stuff being women in this industry, and it feels good to be a rock band in the [album of the year] category,” said Alana. “Everyone that’s nominated in the rock performance category, they’re all women — and it’s about f—ing time.”

“We’ve said it before — women make the best rock music — and we’ll say it again,” added Danielle. “And finally, it looks like people are listening.”

The sisters also said they definitely want to perform at the upcoming Grammys.

The 63rd Grammy Awards will air Sunday, Jan. 31 on CBS.

Music