Changes to Grammy Rules to Affect Eligibility of Old Hits

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has taken steps to eliminate old hits from competing with new compositions in the annual Grammy song of the year competition. It would affect such songs as “I Will Always Love You,” Whitney Houston’s hit version of Dolly Parton’s 1974 song.

Under rule changes announced Wednesday, songs will only be eligible in the year they are first recorded or rise to prominence. Any song was previously eligible as long as it hadn’t been nominated in the same category before.

While the issue of “prominence” will be determined each year by a screening committee, it appears certain the Parton song won’t be eligible because it has twice been a No. 1 hit in the country field.

A recent example of an old hit that did win a Grammy was Irving Gordon’s “Unforgettable,” which was named best song in 1991 following a Natalie Cole revival of it even though it had been a hit for her father 40 years earlier.

In other changes, academy trustees said that only singles or album tracks--rather than entire albums--are now eligible in pop, rock, R&B;, rap and country categories, and they gave the screening committee greater leniency in determining eligibility in best new artist categories.

Michael Greene, academy president, said he believes the new rules are “further evidence that the academy is moving in the right direction in terms of consistency and hopefully being more fair to the artist.”