Kanye West Tops Grammys With Seven Nods

December 1, 2011

Bruno Mars

Last night's Grammy Nominations Concert Live! television event revealed the nods for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, and Kanye West came away as the biggest nominee with seven. West's "All Of The Lights" is up for Song of the Year, Best Rap Songand Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Meanwhile, his solo work is competing with his collaboration with Jay-Z in several categories. The duo's hit "Otis" is nominated for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance, while Watch The Throne and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy both are up for Best Rap Album. Right behind West, Adele, Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars each garner six nods,while Lil Wayne and Skrillex are up for five awards.

Adele's honors include the coveted Album of the Year for 21 and Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Rolling In The Deep." Foo Fighters could win Album of the Year and Best Rock Album for Wasting Light, as well as Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance for "Walk." And Bruno Mars is potentially looking at trophies for Album of the Year for Doo-Wops & Hooligans, and Record and Song of the Year for "Grenade." Elsewhere, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Mumford & Sons, Radiohead, Rihanna and Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) each receive four nominations.

"Once again, it is most gratifying to see the Grammy Awards process produce a broad cross section of diverse and impressive nominees across multiple genres," stated Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. "This year's nominations truly reflect an exceptional and talented creative community that embodies some of the highest levels of excellence and artistry in their! respect ive fields. Coupled with the fourth year of our primetime nominations special, the road to Music's Biggest Night, the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in February is off to an exciting and appropriate start."

Despite the fact that the Grammy Nominations show had teased a "special announcement" from a reunited Van Halen, the band wound up not appearing on the program. Portnow declined to confirm speculation that Van Halen was in fact the band in question, but he told reporters on Wednesday that those involved were not ready to go public with their announcement. "In the world of creativity, everything is fluid... there was the expectation that the artist involved and we would be ready to announce, but the artist was not quite ready," he said, according to Reuters. "We were genuine about the intention and discussion (but) the time frame has moved."

The Grammy Awards will be held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast on CBS from 8 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

Here are the nominees in some of the key categories:

Album Of The Year:21 AdeleWasting Light Foo FightersBorn This Way Lady GagaDoo-Wops & Hooligans Bruno MarsLoud Rihanna

Record Of The Year:"Rolling In The Deep" Adele"Holocene" Bon Iver"Grenade" Bruno Mars"The Cave" Mumford & Sons"Firework" Katy Perry

Song Of The Year:"All Of The Lights" Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter & Kanye West, songwriters (Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi & Fergie)"The Cave" Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford & Country Winston, songwriters (Mumford & Sons)"Grenade" Brody Brown, Claude Kelly, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Bruno Mars & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Bruno Mars)"Holocene" Justin Vernon, songwriter (Bon Iver)"Rolling In Th! e Deep" Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth, songwriters (Adele)

Best New Artist:The Band PerryBon IverJ. ColeNicki MinajSkrillex

Best Pop Vocal Album:21 AdeleThe Lady Killer Cee Lo GreenBorn This Way Lady GagaDoo-Wops & Hooligans Bruno MarsLoud Rihanna

Best Rap Album:Watch The Throne Jay-Z & Kanye WestTha Carter IV Lil WayneLasers Lupe FiascoPink Friday Nicki MinajMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Kanye West

Best Rock Album:Rock 'N' Roll Party Honoring Les Paul Jeff BeckWasting Light Foo FightersCome Around Sundown Kings Of LeonI'm With You Red Hot Chili PeppersThe Whole Love Wilco

Best Alternative Music Album:Bon Iver Bon IverCodes And Keys Death Cab For CutieTorches Foster The PeopleCircuital My Morning JacketThe King Of Limbs Radiohead

Best R&B Album:F.A.M.E. Chris BrownSecond Chance El DeBargeLove Letter R. KellyPieces Of Me LedisiKelly Kelly Price

The complete list of nominees can be seen on Grammy.com here.