Beyonce leads 2021 Grammy nominations with nine

Pop queen Beyonce’s Black Is King musical film propelled her to the front of this year’s Grammy pack with nine nominations, organisers said on Tuesday ahead of the annual awards show.

Fellow pop stars Dua

Lipa and Taylor Swift each snagged six nominations for second place, as did rapper Roddy Ricch.

As the music industry attempts to weather one of its most tumultuous years in modern history due to the coronavirus pandemic, danceable pop made a comeback in the Recording Academy’s top categories.

Women scored big gains across all genres ahead of the 63rd annual Grammys, set to take place on 31 January, with South African comedian Trevor Noah as host.

Beyonce’s sweeping Black Parade – released in June amid explosive nationwide anti-racism protests after a spate of police killings of Afrian-Americans – is vying for Record of the Year and Song of the Year honours.

Swift, who had fallen out of grace with the Academy in recent years, bagged a coveted Album of the Year nomination for her quarantine surprise album Folklore .

Its single Cardigan is up for Song of the Year, which honours songwriting.

Rivals in that category include Black Parade as well as songs penned by Ricch, Billie Eilish and warbling rapper Post Malone.

Bluesy rock singer and songwriter Brittany Howard jumped into the spotlight on her own with five nominations after releasing her first solo album Jaime.

Justin Bieber snagged four nominations in the pop categories as well as his first country nod, for his work on the song by Dan and Shay. –