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| Eonline.com |
English singer-songwriter Smith earned nominations in all four categories in the general field. His freshmen set In The Lonely Hour earned nominations for album of the year and best pop album, with record and song of the year nominations for his breakout song "Stay With Me (Darkchild version)" and a pop solo performance nod as well.
The crooner also earned a best new artist nomination.
When nominations start to be announced in about 20 of the 82 categories from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. EST, Beyonce only heard her name announced once, for best urban contemporary album for her self-titled set Beyonce. But when the full list came out at 2 p.m., she earned four more nods: best R&B performance and R&B song for "Drunk In Love", best surround sound album for Beyonce and best music film for "Beyonce & Jay-Z: On The Run Tour".
When album of the year was announced during the Grammy Christmas concert on CBS that night, she earned her sixth nomination of the year in that category. This is her second nomination in the category for her own work after I am... Sasha Fierce in 2010 - she was nominated the year after as a featured artist on Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster.
After this year's slate of nominations, Beyonce is now the most nominated women ever in Grammy history with 52 individual nods. Dolly Parton now has the second most with 46.
Williams, who was nominated for seven Grammys last year, winning four, earned three nominations for album of the year - as a featured artist on Beyonce and Ed Sheeran's X, and for his solo album Girl. He contends for urban contemporary album for his set, and also pop solo performance and music video for "Happy (Live)".
Aside from Smith's In The Lonely Hour, the only other album of the year nominee Williams didn't contribute to is Beck's Morning Phase. Williams won this category last year as a featured artist on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories.
Coming up quick in the nominations tally is another best new artist nominee, Aussie rapper Iggy Azalea. She earned two nominations for her hit song "Fancy": record of the year and best pop duo/group performance. Her album The New Classic earned a nomination for best rap album.
