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Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has earned a spot next to Bruce Springsteen for a Grammy nomination this year. This is a first for the 2016 presidential candidate.
Sanders was nominated in the spoken word category for the audiobook version of “Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In,” along with actor Mark Ruffalo. The book was published right after the 2016 presidential election.
Because the category includes poetry, audiobooks, and storytelling, Sanders has to face Springsteen for the award. Both Sanders and Springsteen released audio versions of their books that came out last year.
Springsteen’s “Born To Run” is an autobiography and a companion piece to his 2016 album Chapter and Verse, according to UPROXX.
Also nominated in the category were Neil Degrasse Tyson for “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Shelly Peiken for “Confessions of a Serial Songwriter,” and Carrie Fisher for “The Princess Diarist.”
The audiobook category has a long history of recognizing political figures: Jimmy Carter won a Grammy in 2016 for the audiobook version of “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety.” Barack Obama won the Grammy in 2006 for “Dreams From My Father” and in 2008 for “The Audacity of Hope.”
Sanders previously recorded an album in 1987 that was titled “We Shall Overcome” where he provides narration to a number of artists who perform well known folk songs. It was strategically released right before his presidential campaign in 1988.