Beyoncé Leads 59th Annual Grammy Nominations

Beyoncé is the most nominated artist for the 59th annual Grammy Awards. She is vying for nine trophies in categories across several genres, including Urban, Rap, and even Rock. Drake, Rihanna, and Kanye West are next in line with eight noms. Chance the Rapper has seven.

Beyoncé and Adele are this year’s only artists who are in the running for the three highest-profile awards — Album, Record and Song of the Year. Adele won all three of these awards five years ago.

Justin Bieber, Drake, and two members of the Danish pop group Lukas Graham were each nominated in two of the top three categories.

Here are the nominees — and a handful of top contenders that were passed over—in each of these categories, as well as Best New Artist.

Album of the Year

The nominees are Adele’s 25, Beyoncé’s Lemonade, Justin Bieber’s Purpose, Drake’s Views, and Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth.

Adele’s previous album, 21, won in this category five years ago. This marks the first time that an artist’s follow-up to an Album of the Year winner has been nominated in this category since Bob Dylan’s Love and Theft (the follow-up to Time Out of Mind) was a 2001 finalist.

This is Beyoncé’s third nom in this category. She previously made the finals with I Am…Sasha Fierce and Beyoncé. Beyoncé has amassed 20 Grammys, but just one of those awards has come in one of the Big Four categories.

Purpose represented a comeback from Bieber, whose antics (remember the egging incident?) had come to overshadow his music. The album reached #1 and spawned three #1 singles. The songs updated his sound and allowed him to segue into a mainstream pop career.

With 13 weeks at #1, Drake’s Views is the year’s top album in terms of what the music industry calls “multi-metric consumption.” The album’s success has dramatized the increasing importance of streaming. This is Drake’s first nomination in this category.

The nom for Simpson’s album is a surprise. The album is also nominated for Best Country Album. Simpson’s previous album, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, won Best Americana Album.

Passed over: David Bowie’s final studio album, Blackstar, which was released just two days before his death in January 2016. Also: Paul Simon’s Stranger to Stranger, Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book, Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool, Sia’s This Is Acting, Rihanna’s Anti, Maren Morris’s Hero.

Record of the Year

The nominees are Adele’s “Hello,” Beyoncé’s “Formation,” Lukas Graham’s “7 Years,” Rihanna’s “Work” (featuring Drake), and twenty one pilots’ “Stressed Out.”

This is Adele’s third nom in this category. She was nominated for her breakthrough hit “Chasing Pavements,” and won for “Rolling in the Deep.”

This is Beyoncé’s fifth nomination in this category (counting one with Destiny’s Child). This puts her in a tie with Barbra Streisand as the female artist who has amassed the most noms in this category in Grammy history.

Lukas Graham’s “7 Years,” a reflection on the passage of time, is the kind of thoughtful, well-crafted single that Grammy voters have favored for decades.

This is Rihanna’s third nom in this category. She was previously nominated for “Umbrella” (featuring Jay Z) and for her featured role on Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie.” This is Drake’s first nom in this category.

twenty one pilots are the first rock group or duo to make the finals in this category since Imagine Dragons scored with “Radioactive” three years ago.

Passed over: Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself,” the Weeknd’s “Starboy” (featuring Daft Punk), Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!,” the Chainsmokers’ “Closer” (featuring Halsey), Drake’s “One Dance” (featuring WizKid & Kyla), Sia’s “Cheap Thrills” (featuring Sean Paul), and Zayn’s “Pillowtalk.”

Song of the Year

The nominees for this songwriters’ award are “Formation” (which Beyoncé co-wrote with Khalif Brown, Asheton Hogan and Mike WiLL Made-It); “Hello” (which Adele co-wrote with Greg Kurstin); “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” (written by Mike Posner); Love Yourself” (which Bieber co-wrote with Ed Sheeran and Benny Blanco); and “7 Years” (which Lukas Graham members Lukas Forchhammer and Morten Ristorp co-wrote with Stefan Forrest and Morten Pilegaard).

This is Beyoncé’s third nom in this category. She was nominated as a member of Destiny’s Child for co-writing “Say My Name.” She won for co-writing “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”

This is Adele’s third nom in this category; Kurstin’s second. Adele was nominated for “Chasing Pavements” and won for “Rolling in the Deep.” Kurstin was nominated for the Kelly Clarkson smash “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).” Trivia note: Lionel Richie’s “Hello” was nominated for Song of the Year 32 years ago. This marks the first time in Grammy history that two different songs with the same title have been nominated in this category.

This is Posner’s first nom in this category. It’s rare for a dance song to be nominated in this category.

This is Sheeran’s third nom in this category in the past five years. He was nominated for “The A Team” and won for “Thinking Out Loud.”

Passed over: “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” (which Justin Timberlake co-wrote with Max Martin and Shellback); “Stressed Out” (which was written by Tyler Joseph of twenty one pilots); “Starboy” (which Daft Punk and the Weeknd co-wrote with Martin McKinney and Henry Walter); “One Dance” (which Drake and WizKid co-wrote with Paul Jefferies and Noah Shebib); “Closer” (which Halsey co-wrote with Shaun Frank and Scott Harris); and “Piece by Piece (which Kelly Clarkson co-wrote with Greg Kurstin).

Best New Artist

The nominees are Kelsea Ballerini, the Chainsmokers, Chance the Rapper, Maren Morris, and Anderson .Paak.

Ballerini reached #1 on the country chart with “Peter Pan.” This marks the first time in Grammy history that two country artists (Ballerini and Morris) have been nominated in this category in the same year.

The Chainsmokers have had three top 10 hits this year, including the chart-topping “Closer.” They have released an EP, but they have yet to release a full-length studio album — a sign of the times.

Chance the Rapper is an acclaimed hip-hop artist whose mixtape, Coloring Book, entered the Billboard 200 at #8 in May based solely on streaming activity. Chance, 23, wasn’t even born in 1989 when Tone Loc became the first rapper to be nominated in this category.

Morris won New Artist of the Year (formerly known as the Horizon Award) at the CMA Awards on last month. If she also wins the Grammy for Best New Artist, she’ll join LeAnn Rimes, Carrie Underwood, and Zac Brown Band as the only artists to win both of these awards.

Anderson .Paak’s nom in this category was a shocker. He is also nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album for Malibu.

Passed over: Rae Sremmurd, the hip-hop duo which has the current #1 single, “Black Beatles.” Also: Alessia Cara, Shawn Mendes, Halsey, Bryson Tiller, Margo Price and Lukas Graham.

Below are the nominees in the top categories at the 59th annual Grammy Awards, announced Tuesday by The Recording Academy. For the full list, go to Grammy.com

— Album of the year: “25,” Adele; “Lemonade,” Beyoncé; “Purpose,” Justin Bieber; “Views,” Drake; “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” Sturgill Simpson.

— Record of the year: “Hello,” Adele; “Formation,” Beyoncé; “7 Years,” Lukas Graham; “Work,” Rihanna featuring Drake; “Stressed Out,” twenty one pilots.

— Song of the year (songwriter’s award): “Formation,” Beyoncé, Khalif Brown, Asheton Hogan and Michael L. Williams II; “Hello,” Adele and Greg Kurstin; “I Took a Pill In Ibiza,” Mike Posner; “Love Yourself,” Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran and Benjamin Levin; “7 Years,” Lukas Forchhammer, Stefan Forrest, Morten Pilegaard and Morten Ristorp.

— Best new artist: Kelsea Ballerini; The Chainsmokers; Chance the Rapper; Maren Morris; Anderson Paak.

— Best pop solo performance: “Hello,” Adele; “Hold Up,” Beyoncé; “Love Yourself,” Justin Bieber; “Piece by Piece (Idol Version),” Kelly Clarkson; “Dangerous Woman,” Ariana Grande.

— Best pop duo/group performance: “Closer,” The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey; “7 Years,” Lukas Graham; “Work,” Rihanna featuring Drake; “Cheap Thrills,” Sia featuring Sean Paul; “Stressed Out,” twenty one pilots.

— Best traditional pop vocal album: “Cinema,” Andrea Bocelli; “Fallen Angels,” Bob Dylan; “Stages Live,” Josh Groban; “Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin,” Willie Nelson; “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway,” Barbra Streisand.

— Best pop vocal album: “25,” Adele; “Purpose,” Justin Bieber; “Dangerous Woman,” Ariana Grande; “Confident,” Demi Lovato; “This Is Acting,” Sia.

— Best dance/electronic album: “Skin,” Flume; “Electronica 1: The Time Machine,” Jean-Michel Jarre; “Epoch,” Tycho; “Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future,” Underworld; “Louie Vega Starring…XXVIII,” Louie Vega.

— Best rock album: “California,” Blink-182; “Tell Me I’m Pretty,” Cage the Elephant; “Magma,” Gojira; “Death of a Bachelor,” Panic! at the Disco; “Weezer,” Weezer.

— Best alternative music album: “22, A Million,” Bon Iver; “Blackstar,” David Bowie; “The Hope Six Demolition Project,” PJ Harvey; “Post Pop Depression,” Iggy Pop; “A Moon Shaped Pool,” Radiohead.

— Best urban contemporary album: “Lemonade,” Beyoncé; “Ology,” Gallant; “We Are King,” KING; “Malibu,” Anderson Paak; “Anti,” Rihanna.

— Best R&B album: “In My Mind,” BJ the Chicago Kid; “Lalah Hathaway Live,” Lalah Hathaway; “Velvet Portraits,” Terrace Martin; “Healing Season,” Mint Condition; “Smoove Jones,” Mya.

— Best rap album: “Coloring Book,” Chance the Rapper; “And the Anonymous Nobody,” De La Soul; “Major Key,” DJ Khaled; “Views,” Drake; “Blank Face LP,” ScHoolboy Q; “The Life of Pablo,” Kanye West.

— Best country album: “Big Day In A Small Town,” Brandy Clark; “Full Circle,” Loretta Lynn; “Hero,” Maren Morris; “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” Sturgill Simpson; “Ripcord,” Keith Urban.

— Best jazz vocal album: “Sound of Red,” Rene Marie; “Upward Spiral,” Branford Marsalis Quartet With Special Guest Kurt Elling; “Take Me to the Alley,” Gregory Porter; “Harlem On My Mind,” Catherine Russell; “The Sting Variations,” The Tierney Sutton Band.

— Best jazz instrumental album: “Book of Intuition,” Kenny Barron Trio; “Dr. Um,” Peter Erskine; “Sunday Night at the Vanguard,” The Fred Hersch Trio; “Nearness,” Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau; “Country for Old Men,” John Scofield.

— Best compilation soundtrack for visual media: “Amy”; “Miles Ahead”; “Straight Outta Compton”; “Suicide Squad (Collector’s Edition)”; “Vinyl: The Essentials Season 1.”

— Producer of the year, non-classical: Benny Blanco; Greg Kurstin; Max Martin; Nineteen85; Ricky Reed.

— Best music video: “Formation,” Beyoncé; “River,” Leon Bridges; “Up&Up,” Coldplay; “Gosh,” Jamie xx; “Upside Down & Inside Out,” OK Go.

— Best music film: “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead,” Steve Aoki; “The Beatles: Eight Days A Week The Touring Years,” The Beatles; “Lemonade,” Beyoncé; “The Music of Strangers,” Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble; “American Saturday Night: Live from the Grand Ole Opry,” Various artists.