Mariah Carey, Kanye West lead Grammy nominees

By Dan Wilchins

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Comeback queen Mariah Carey, rapper
Kanye West and newcomer John Legend led the field with eight
nominations for the Grammy Awards when the contenders were
unveiled in New York on Thursday.

Carey’s “The Emancipation of Mimi” was nominated for best
album of the year, while the ballad “We Belong Together” made
the grade for best record of the year — a triumph for a woman
whose career was all but written off just a few years ago.

West was also nominated in those two categories, for the
song “Gold Digger” and the hit album “Late Registration,” while
his protege Legend was nominated for best new artist and best
male R&B vocal performance.

The other nominees for record of the year were “Feel Good
Inc” by Gorillaz featuring De La Soul, “Boulevard of Broken
Dreams” by Green Day and “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani.

On the day fans of former Beatle John Lennon gathered to
mark the 25th anniversary of his murder, his former
song-writing partner Paul McCartney was nominated for best
album of the year for his latest record, “Chaos and Creation in
the Backyard.”

It was a good day for three more veteran acts — Stevie
Wonder with six nominations, Bruce Springsteen who picked up a
surprise five, and Irish rockers U2, also nominated five times
including for album of the year with “How to Dismantle An
Atomic Bomb.”

Other artists picking up six nominations each were rap
superstar 50 Cent and R&B diva Beyonce Knowles, while rapper
Missy Elliot, Alicia Keys and Gwen Stefani took five each.

Stefani’s “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.” was the final nominee
for album of the year.

The top female awards look to be another run off between
Carey and Stefani, who staged a surprise upset at the American
Music Awards last month when she was named favorite female
pop/rock artist over the hotly tipped Carey.

50 Cent’s huge selling album “The Massacre” was nominated
for best rap album in a hotly contested category where nominees
also included “Be” by Common, “The Cookbook” by Missy Elliot,
Eminem’s “Encore” and Kanye West’s “Late Registration.”

The eight nominations were a vindication for Carey whose
album has been one of the biggest sellers of the year, with
worldwide sales of more than 7 million copies, according to her
Island Def Jam label. The single “We Belong Together” ruled the
Billboard Hot 100 chart for 14 weeks.

Four years ago, Carey’s career hit the skids as she
released a flop movie and album. Her previous label, Virgin
Records, which had just signed her to a contract reportedly
worth $80 million, paid her $28 million to leave.

The full list of nominees can be seen at www.grammy.com