Los Angeles – Beyonce led the field of 2017 Grammy nominees Tuesday with nine nominations for music’s top prizes, with Kanye West, Drake and Rihanna close behind with eight nominations each.
The US singer won acclaim for her million-selling hit breakup album “Lemonade” and the music film that accompanied its release, which include collaborations with rock’s Jack White and rap’s Kendrick Lamar.
Beyonce will go head to head with British pop singer Adele for three of the top four prizes: Record, Song and Album of the Year.
Adele’s single “Hello” and Beyonce’s “Formation” scored nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Record of the Year honours a song recording, while the Song of the Year trophy is awarded to songwriters.
Adele, Beyonce up for top Grammy Awards – Singer Beyonce performs during the MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin in 2009. She and fellow pop diva Adele are each nominated in three of the top four categories for the 2017 Grammy Awards. (Photo: Rainer Jensen/dpa (ARCHIVE)
Beyonce’s nomination for “Lemonade” gives her a shot at her first Album of the Year trophy. Adele will be shooting for a second for “25” after she won Album of the Year in 2011 with “21.”
Adele has five nominations in total for 2017. “25” was released November 20, 2015 – before the 2016 Grammy Awards, but after last year’s deadline for nominations.
The British singer’s fourth album has been a smash hit, selling more than 10 million copies in the US alone. Its hit single “Hello” was the first song ever to sell 1 million downloads in a week.
Beyonce already has 20 Grammys in her trophy case, while Adele has 10.
The two superstar singers will be competing with Danish pop group Lukas Graham’s “7 Years” in both categories. Also nominated for Record of the Year are Rihanna’s “Work” and Twenty One Pilots’ “Stressed Out.”
Mike Posner’s “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” and Justin Bieber’s “Stressed Out” round out the Song of the Year category.
Bieber is also up for Album of the Year for “Purpose,” along with Drake’s “Views” and Sturgill Simpson’s “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth.”
Headline-grabbing rap star Kanye West’s eight nominations include two in the same category, best rap/sung performance, in which “Ultralight Beam” from his “The Life of Pablo” album is up against his Rihanna collaboration “Famous” as well as tracks by Drake, Beyonce featuring Kendrick Lamar, and D.R.A.M. featuring Little Yachty.
David Bowie’s farewell album, “Blackstar,” which was released just two days before the music icon died of cancer January 10, scored six nominations, including for best alternative album and best rock performance and rock song for the title track.
This year’s crop of best new artist nominees, all from the United States, were country pop singer Kelsea Ballerini, DJ duo The Chainsmokers, singer-songwriter Maren Morris, singer and rapper Anderson Paak, and Chance the Rapper – who scored another six nominations including rap album, rap performance and three in the rap songwriting category alone.
The Grammy Awards honour the year’s best music and musicians. Prizes are awarded by 13,000 voting members of the US Recording Academy. The 59th Grammy Awards will be presented in a live telecast from Los Angeles on February 12.
– dpa
