Mariah Carey, Kanye West Top Grammy Noms
Mariah Carey has officially made 2005 her comeback year. The diva has topped off the unstoppable commercial success of her latest album, The Emancipation of Mimi, with multiple Grammy nominations, including nods for Album of the Year, and Song and Record of the Year for “We Belong Together.” Carey is tied with hip-hop superstar Kanye West and R&B newcomer (and West protege) John Legend, with eight nominations apiece.
West, the artist with the outsized ego who received ten nods last year for his debut The College Dropout, continues to raise the question, Is it bragging if you deliver? He’ll duke it out with Carey for Album of the Year, for his multiplatinum follow-up, Late Registration, and Song of the Year, for “Gold Digger.” Legend is up for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, for “Ordinary People” off his debut Lifted, and Best New Artist.
Also earning multiple nods were U2 and Gwen Stefani, both nominated for Album of the Year for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and Love, Angel, Music, Baby, respectively, in a category that also includes Paul McCartney’s Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” is also nominated for Record of the Year, alongside Carey, West, Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and Gorillaz’s “Feel Good Inc.”
Stevie Wonder received six nominations, including Best R&B Album for his first effort in a decade, A Time to Love. And Bruce Springsteen was tapped for five awards for his acoustic album, Devils & Dust, including Song of the Year for the politically tinged title track.
And another diva returning to form is Fiona Apple, whose new album, Extraordinary Machine, has been met with much critical acclaim after the young singer-songwriter’s several years out of the spotlight. Apple is nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album.
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 Carey’s “We Belong Together” (by Carey, Jermaine Dupri, J. Austin and M. Seal), U2’s “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own,” Springsteen’s “Devils & Dust,” Legend’s “Ordinary People” (by W. Adams and J. Stephens) and Rascal Flatts’ “Bless the Broken Road” (by Bobby Boyd, Jeff Hanna and Marcus Hummon).
Teen R&B diva Ciara, pop-punk outfit Fall Out Boy, Keane and Sugarland will battle Legend for Best New Artist. Other first-time nominees include progressive New York dance act LCD Soundsystem’s self-titled debut and Montreal indie rockers the Arcade Fire, for their debut Funeral.
The 48th Annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast live on CBS from Los Angeles’ Staples Center on February 8th.
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