Sam Smith, Beyoncé lead Grammy nominations
British newcomer Sam Smith and Beyoncé — the most nominated female in Grammy history — are the current leaders at the Grammy Awards with five each.
Smith and Beyoncé were in line to earn nominations for album of the year, the top award, when The Recording Academy announced the nominees Friday night on “A Very GRAMMY Christmas.”
Smith is up for already-announced key awards such as best new artist and song and record of the year for his hit “Stay With Me.”
Beyoncé, surprisingly, is not up for song or record of the year. Her nominations included best urban contemporary album for her fifth album as well as R&B song and R&B performance for “Drunk in Love.”
For song and record of the year, Smith’s “Stay With Me” is to battle Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” and Sia “Chandelier.”
Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” is nominated for record of the year, while Hozier’s “Take Me to Church” is up for song of the year, a songwriter’s award.
Azalea, the Australian newcomer, earned four nominations, including best rap album for “The New Classic,” best pop duo/group performance for “Fancy” and best new artist, pitting her and Smith against pop-rock trio HAIM, English band Bastille and country singer Brandy Clark.
Usher, Jack White, Miranda Lambert and Eric Church also earned four nominations each. Church and Lambert will compete for best country album, along with Clark, Dierks Bentley and Lee Ann Womack.
Sia, who also earned four nominations, had a breakthrough this year with “Chandelier” after writ- ing songs for other singers, from Rihanna to Beyonce to Katy Perry.
Canadians Drake and Arcade Fire continued their long runs of Grammy Award recognition on Friday. Both acts were among the first nominees announced as the Grammys slowly unrolled this year’s slate of contenders.
Toronto’s Drake is in the running for best rap performance for his rousing new anthem “0 to 100/The Catch-Up.”
Arcade Fire, meanwhile, is once again among the contenders for best alternative music album for their sprawling experiment “Reflektor.”
Smith’s five nominations include best pop solo performance and pop vocal album for his debut, “In the Lonely Hour,” one of the year’s topselling albums. The big-voiced singer will battle Ed Sheeran, Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry and Coldplay in the latter category.
Pharrell’s “Happy” and John Legend’s “All of Me,” tunes that peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this year, were technically released before Grammy eligibility, so the singers submitted live renditions of the songs so they could be considered for awards. They didn’t earn nominations in the top awards, but the hits will compete with “Stay With Me,” “Shake It Off ” and “All About That Bass” for best pop solo performance.
Pharrell earned three nominations, including best urban contem- porary album for “GIRL,” where he will battle Beyonce’s surprise album. The pop queen is also nominated for best surround sound album for “Beyonce” and music film for her “On the Run” tour with Jay Z. Beyonce has won 17 Grammys so far.
U2’s “Songs of Innocence,” originally released for free to iTunes users, is up for best rock album. Other nominees include Beck, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Ryan Adams and the Black Keys.
Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett’s duets album, “Cheek to Cheek,” is nominated for best traditional pop vocal album, where it will compete with Barbra Streisand’s duets album as well as efforts from Annie Lennox, Johnny Mathis and Barry Manilow.
The Grammy Awards will air live Feb. 8 from Los Angeles.