Beyonce leads Grammy nominations with 9 nods

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) – Pop music superstar Beyonce led artists on Tuesday with nine Grammy nominations.

Among her bids is album of the year for "Lemonade", and her hit "Formation" is up for record of the year and song of the year. Beyonce has accumulated 20 Grammys heading into this year's awards ceremony, and is the most nominated woman in Grammy history.

She was closely followed in this year's announcement by a trio of artists with eight nominations each: Kanye West, Rihanna and Drake.

Chance The Rapper had seven, including best new artist where he is competing against Kelsea Ballerini, the Chainsmokers, Maren Morris and Anderson Paak.

"Just as we see emerging musicians experimenting, we're also seeing established artists resisting what's expected of them and, instead, embracing the creative freedom they've been afforded through their success, blurring the lines between music's mainstream and artistic edge," Neil Portnow, President and CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement marking the announcement.

Beyonce's nominations include best pop solo performance, best rock performance, with Jack White, and Best Urban Contemporary Album.

"Formation" is up against Adele's "Hello", Mike Posner's "I Took A Pill In Ibiza", "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber, and Lukas Graham's "7 Years" for song of the year.

This year's hottest selling album, Adele's "25", is in the running for album of the year and best pop vocal album. Adele has five nominations heading into the awards ceremony, including song of the year for "Hello".

Kanye West holds multiple nominations in a single category including best rap/sung performance, best rap song, and best rap performance where he is credited as The Throne - his collaboration with Jay-Z.

West's "The Life of Pablo" is pitted against Chance The Rapper's "Coloring Book", De La Soul's "And The Anonymous Nobody", "Major Key" by DJ Khaled, Drake's "Views", the "Blank Face LP" by ScHoolboy Q for album of the year.

David Bowie, who died from cancer in January, is nominated for four awards, including best alternative album for his final project "Blackstar".

The Grammys will be held Sunday, Feb. 12 in Los Angeles.