Beyonce leads the nominations for the 59th annual Grammys, announced on Tuesday, with a pack of nine nods for her album ‘Lemonade’, a collection of songs about race, feminism and empowerment.
Beyonce’s haul included album, song and record of the year, the top three Grammy accolades.
The 35-year old R&B singer will have a neck-to-neck competition with Britain’s Adele, the only other artist to be nominated for all three (album, song and record of the year) Grammy accolades. She swept away six statuettes in 2012 for her album “21.”
The other leading nominees include Drake, Rihanna and Kanye West with eight nods each, as pop, R&B and hip hop took centre stage in the contest for the music industry’s highest honours.
Justin Bieber’s “Purpose,” Canadian hip hop star Drake’s “Views” and country musician Sturgill Simpson’s “A Sailor’s Guide To Earth” rounded out the contenders for album of the year.
Among the major snubs were West’s “The Life of Pablo” album as well as David Bowie’s final album “Blackstar” which has been nominated for four Grammys, including best alternative album.
The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on February 12, 2017.
With inputs from Reuters