Mumford & Sons album nominated for Grammy
Folk-rockers Mumford & Sons and five other artists are up for top Grammy accolades.
The awards celebrated the diversity of music as Mumford, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Frank Ocean, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and pop band fun. topped the nominations list.
Auerbach received five nominations as a member of the Keys and is also up for producer of the year.
Mumford & Sons, who made an auspicious debut in front of an international audience during last year's Grammys, is up for album of the year for 'Babel', one of this year's best-selling releases.
The rockers little resemble any of the other acts at the top of the list. The top nominations for Jay-Z and West, two of hip-hop's most important figures, is a familiar refrain; each has routinely been at or near the top of the nominations list for the last several years.
Indie pop band fun., a featured performer during the show, shown live from Nashville, Tennessee's Bridgestone Arena, rode the success of its anthemic hit 'We Are Young', featuring Janelle Monae, to sweep of the major categories, earning nods for best new artist, song and record for 'We Are Young' and Album of the Year for 'Some Nights'. The band's producer Jeff Bhasker is up for four nominations.
"When you call your band fun. With a period at the end of the sentence, you set a very high standard for yourself and for fun itself," Taylor Swift, the concert's co-host, said in introducing them. "Fortunately this band from New York has lived up to the name in the best possible way."
R&B singer Ocean made a bold social statement earlier this year when he noted he had a same-sex relationship in the liner notes of his new album "channel ORANGE", and The Recording Academy rewarded him with the major nominations best new artist, record for 'Thinkin Bout You' and Album of the Year.
Miguel, who helped Ocean shake up the R&B world this year, and jazz great Chick Correa join the Keys with five nominations apiece. Nas and recording engineer Bob Ludwig join Bhasker at four apiece.
There were no major snubs among the top nominees. Most of 2012's inescapable hits are represented in some way - Gotye's 'Somebody That I Used To Know' is up for record of the year and Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe' garnered a song of the year nod.
Drake, Rihanna and Nashville residents Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Jack White and best new artist nominee Hunter Hayes were among 16 nominees with three nominations.
In many ways the nominations reflect a singles-driven year when no album rose to the level of acclaim as Adele's '21' or West's 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy', which dominated the Grammys last February.
Rock, relegated to second stage in the era of electronic dance music, made something of a comeback and young bands are peppered in with the nominees fans have come to expect each year.
The 55th annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 10 in Los Angeles.
Trophies will be handed out in 81 categories.
