Kanye Tops Grammy Nods
Kanye West received ten nominations for the 47th Annual Grammy Awards to lead the field. The rapper/producer is up for Best New Artist, Song of the Year for “Jesus Walks,” and Album of the Year for The College Dropout. R&B stars Usher and Alicia Keys nabbed eight nominations each, the late Ray Charles got seven, punk rockers Green Day got six, while piano woman Norah Jones, country legend Loretta Lynn and pop icon Prince each took five.
West’s The College Dropout, Charles’ Genius Loves Company, Green Day’s American Idiot, Usher’s Confessions and Alicia Keys‘ The Diary of Alicia Keys are this year’s nominees for Album of the Year. Usher, Charles and Green Day also took nods for Record of the Year, for “Yeah!,” “Here We Go Again” and “American Idiot,” respectively. They are also pitted against the Black Eyed Peas‘ “Let’s Get It Started” and Los Lonely Boys’ “Heaven.”
The last of the big three categories, Song of the Year (which goes to the songwriter — Record of the Year honors the recording artist) includes West’s “Jesus Walks” (by West and C. Smith), Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You,” John Mayer‘s “Daughters,” Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying” (by Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman) and Hoobastank’s “The Reason” (by Daniel Estrin and Douglas Robb).
Los Lonely Boys, Joss Stone, Maroon 5 and Gretchen Wilson will battle West for Best New Artist. Other first-time nominees among the 107 categories include Twista, Franz Ferdinand, Christina Milian, Velvet Revolver, Jadakiss and the Scissor Sisters.