Jay Z Leads Grammy Nominations with 9 Nods; Taylor Swift Up for ‘Album of the Year’

Nominations for the 56th annual Grammy Awards were announced Friday night by The Recording Academy in a special broadcast live as part of CBS’s The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! — Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night, hosted by two-time Grammy Award winner LL Cool J from Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre.

Rap star Jay Z topped the nominations with nine; Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams each garnered seven nods; Drake and mastering engineer Bob Ludwig are up for five awards. Timberlake, Jay Z and Kanye West are among those considered “snubbed” by the academy, being shut out of all the major categories.

International superstar Taylor Swift garnered nominations in the general and genre categories, the main of which is Album of the Year. Her 2012 release “Red,” which spawned one number 1 (“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”) and three top 10 hits (“I Knew You Were Trouble,” “Begin Again,” “Red”) is considered a frontrunner.

The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! — Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night featured the announcement of nominations in several categories as well as performances by Lorde; Macklemore & Ryan Lewis; Miguel and Keith Urban; Katy Perry; Taylor Swift; and Robin Thicke with T.I and members of Earth, Wind, & Fire. Presenters included Melissa Etheridge, Arsenio Hall, Enrique Iglesias, Pauley Perrette, Kelly Rowland, and Ed Sheeran.

Select nominations are below.

GENERAL FIELD

Album Of The Year:
The Blessed Unrest — Sara Bareilles
Random Access Memories — Daft Punk
Good Kid, M.A.A.D City — Kendrick Lamar
The Heist — Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Red — Taylor Swift

Record Of The Year:
“Get Lucky” — Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams
“Radioactive” — Imagine Dragons
“Royals” — Lorde
“Locked Out Of Heaven” — Bruno Mars
“Blurred Lines” — Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell Williams

Song Of The Year:
“Just Give Me A Reason” — Jeff Bhasker, Pink & Nate Ruess, songwriters (Pink Featuring Nate Ruess)
“Locked Out Of Heaven” — Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine & Bruno Mars, songwriters (Bruno Mars)
“Roar” — Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Katy Perry & Henry Walter, songwriters (Katy Perry)
“Royals” — Joel Little & Ella Yelich O’Connor, songwriters (Lorde)
“Same Love” — Ben Haggerty, Mary Lambert & Ryan Lewis, songwriters (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Mary Lambert)

General view of the atmosphere during The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on December 6, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. Photo Source: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images North America)

Best New Artist:
James Blake
Kendrick Lamar
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Kacey Musgraves
Ed Sheeran

POP FIELD

Best Pop Vocal Album:
Paradise — Lana Del Rey
Pure Heoine — Lorde
Unorthodox Jukebox — Bruno Marks
Blurred Lines — Robin Thicke
The 20/20 Experience – The Complete Experience  — Justin Timberlake

Best Pop Solo Performance:
“Brave” — Sara Bareilles
“Royals” — Lorde
“When I Was Your Man” — Bruno Mars
“Roar” — Katy Perry
“Mirrors” — Justin Timberlake

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
“Get Lucky” — Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams
“Just Give Me A Reason” — Pink Featuring Nate Ruess
“Stay” — Rihanna Featuring Mikky Ekko
“Blurred Lines” — Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell Williams
“Suit & Tie” — Justin Timberlake & Jay Z

DANCE FIELD

Best Dance/Electronica Album:
Random Access Memories — Daft Punk
Settle — Disclosure
18 Months — Calvin Harris
Atmosphere — Kaskade
A Color Map Of The Sun — Pretty Lights

Best Dance Recording
“Need U (100%) — Duke Dumont Featuring A*M*E* & MNEK
“Sweet Nothing” — Calvin Harris Featuring Florence Welch
“Atmosphere” — Kaskade
“This Is What It Feels Like” — Armin Van Buuren Featuring Trevor Guthrie
“Clarity” — Zedd featuring Foxes

ROCK FIELD

Best Rock Performance:
“Always Alright” — Alabama Shakes
“The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” — David Bowie
“Radioactive” — Imagine Dragons
“Kashmir” (Live) — Led Zeppelin
“My God Is The Sun” — Queens Of The Stone Age
“I’m Shakin'” — Jack White

Best Rock Album:
13 — Black Sabbath
The Next Day — David Bowie
Mechanical Bull — Kings Of Leon
Celebration Day — Led Zeppelin
…Like Clockwork — Queens Of The Stone Age
Psychedelic Pill — Neil Young With Crazy Horse

ALTERNATIVE FIELD

Best Alternative Music Album:
The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You — Neko Case
Trouble Will Find Me — The National
Hesitation Marks — Nine Inch Nails
Lonerism — Tame Impala
Modern Vampires Of The City — Vampire Weekend

R&B FIELD

Best R&B Performance:
“Love And War” — Tamar Braxton
“Best Of Me” — Anthony Hamilton
“Nakamarra” — Hiatus Kaiyote Featuring Q-Tip
“How Many Drinks?” — Miguel Featuring Kendrick Lamar
“Something” — Snarky Puppy With Lalah Hathaway

Best Urban Contemporary Album:
Love And War — Tamar Braxton
Side Effects Of You — Fantasia
One: In The Chamber — Salaam Remi
Unapologetic — Rihanna
New York: A Love Story — Mack Wilds

Best R&B Album:
R&B Divas — Faith Evans
Girl On Fire — Alicia Keys
Love In The Future — John Legend
Better — Chrisette Michele
Three Kings — TGT

Host LL Cool J speaks onstage during The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on December 6, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. Photo Source: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images North America)

RAP FIELD

Best Rap Performance:
“Started From The Bottom” — Drake
“Berzerk” — Eminem
“Tom Ford” —  Jay Z
“Swimming Pools (Drank)” — Kendrick Lamar
“Thrift Shop” — Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:
“Power Trip” — J.Cole Featuring Miguel
“Part II (On The Run)” — Jay Z Featuring Beyoncé
“Holy Grail” — Jay Z Featuring Justin Timberlake
“Now Or Never” — Kendrick Lamar Featuring Mary J. Blige
“Remember You” — Wiz Khalifa Featuring The Weeknd

Best Rap Album:
Nothing Was The Same — Drake
Magna Carta…Holy Grail — Jay Z
Good Kid, M.A.A.D City — Kendrick Lamar
The Heist — Macklemore  & Ryan Lewis
Yeezus — Kanye West

COUNTRY FIELD

Best Country Solo Performance:
“I Drive Your Truck” — Lee Brice
“I Want Crazy” — Hunter Hayes
“Mama’s Broken Heart” — Miranda Lambert
“Wagon Wheel” — Darius Rucker
“Mine Would Be You” — Blake Shelton

Best Country Album:
Night Train — Jason Aldean
Two Lanes Of Freedom — Tim McGraw
Same Trailer Different Park — Kacey Musgraves
Based On A True Story — Blake Shelton
Red — Taylor Swift

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Note: Artists are in parenthesis; A = Album, T = Track, S = Single

Rob Cavallo

• All That Echoes (Josh Groban) (A)
• Bright Lights (Gary Clark Jr.) (T)
• Dos (Green Day) (A)
• If I Loved You (Delta Rae Featuring Lindsey Buckingham) (S)
• Love They Say (Tegan and Sara) (T)
• Things Are Changin’ (Gary Clark Jr.) (T)
• Tre (Green Day) (A)
• You’ve Got Time (Regina Spektor) (S)

Dr. Luke

• Bounce It (Juicy J Featuring Wale & Trey Songz) (S)
• Crazy Kids (Kesha) (S)
• Fall Down (will.i.am. Featuring Miley Cyrus) (S)
• Give It 2 U (Robin Thicke Featuring Kendrick Lamar) (S)
• PLay It Again (Becky G) (S)
• Roar (Katy Perry) (S)
• Rock Me (One Direction) (T)
• Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus) (S)

Ariel Rechtshaid

• Days Are Gone (HAIM) (A)
• Everything Is Embarassing (Sky Ferreira) (T)
• Lost In My Bedroom (Sky Ferreira) (T)
• Modern Vampires of the City (Vampire Weekend) (A)
• Reincarnated (Snoop Lion) (A)
• True Romance (Charli XCX) (A)
• You’re No Good (Major Lazer Featuring Santigold, Vybz Kartel, Danielle Haim & Yasmin) (T)

Jeff Tweedy

• The Invisible Way (Low) (A)
• One True Vine (Mavis Staples)
• Wassaic Way (Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion) (A)

Pharrell Williams

• BBC (Jay Z) (T)
• Blurred Lines (Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell) (S)
• Happy (Pharrell Williams) (T)
• I Can’t Describe (The Way I Feel) (Jennifer Hudson Featuring T.I.) (S)
• Nuclear (Destiny’s Childs) (T)
• Oceans (Jay Z Featuring Frank Ocean) (T)
• Reach Out Richard (Mayer Hawthorne) (T)
• The Stars Are Ours (Mayer Hawthorne) (T)

Check out the full nominees here.