Kanye West leads list with 7 Grammy nods

Kanye West will be in pole position for February's Grammy Awards.

The rapper garnered seven nominations Wednesday to lead an eclectic cast of contenders that includes Adele, Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars, who earned six apiece.

All but one of West's nominations came in the rap field, and it will be left to Mars and oddsmaker favorite Adele to battle it out in the Grammys' marquee categories: Both are up for record, album and song of the year. Two of their signature hits -- his "Grenade," her "Someone Like You" -- will also compete for best pop solo performance.

Topping the list of surprises are folk-rock acts Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons, whose respective tunes "Holocene" and "The Cave" are both up for record and song of the year.

Iver is also up for best new artist, alongside the Band Perry, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj and Skrillex.

The album of the year category features five chart-topping records: Adele's "21," Foo Fighters' "Wasting Light," Lady Gaga's "Born this Way," Mars' "Doo-Wops & Hooligans" and Rihanna's "Loud."

It was a light night for Detroit acts. Eminem grabbed two nominations for his collaboration on Dr. Dre's "I Need a Doctor."

Nominees in 78 categories were announced late Wednesday by the Recording Academy, following a glossy televised special from L.A.'s Nokia Theatre that included performances by Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Jason Aldean.

All was in the service of buzz-building for the 54th Grammy Awards, to be held Feb. 12 down the block at the Staples Center.

It also launched a trimmed-down era for music's most prestigious show: After decades of expansion, the awards are being scaled back, from 109 categories to 78.

Contact BRIAN McCOLLUM: 313-223-4450 or mccollum@freepress.com