Jay Z leads the nominations for the 2014 Grammy Awards with nine nods, followed closely by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell, and Kendrick Lamar with with seven nominations each. Macklemore and Lewis are up for the greatest number of major awards, and Pharrell's nods are split between his guest appearances on Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" and Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines." Taylor Swift is also up for some major awards, including Album of the Year and Best Country Album.
Lorde is up for four major awards, though for some reason she's been snubbed in the Best New Artist category. This is pretty weird, especially since the relatively obscure R&B/electronic producer James Blake made the cut. But then again, that category is notorious for being a career-killer, so maybe they're just doing her a favor.
The other big surprise here is Sara Bareilles in the Album of the Year category for The Blessed Unrest, and in the Pop Solo Performance category for her song "Brave." Katy Perry's "Roar" is also nominated in the latter category, which is funny given that pretty much everyone agrees that Perry's mega-hit sounds suspiciously similar to Bareilles' song.
Here are the nominations for the top categories for the 2014 Grammy Awards, which will be held in Los Angeles on January 21, 2014.
Record of the Year
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell, "Get Lucky"
Imagine Dragons, "Radioactive"
Lorde, "Royals"
Bruno Mars, "Locked Out of Heaven"
Robin Thicke featuring Pharrell and T.I., "Blurred Lines"
Song of the Year
Pink featuring Nate Ruess, "Just Give Me A Reason"
Bruno Mars, "Locked Out of Heaven"
Katy Perry, "Roar"
Lorde, "Royals"
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert "Same Love"
Album of the Year
Sara Bareilles, The Blessed Unrest
Daft Punk, Random Access Memories
Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, The Heist
Taylor Swift, Red
Best New Artist
James Blake
Kendrick Lamar
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
Kacey Musgraves
Ed Sheeran
Best Pop Solo Performance
Sara Bareilles, "Brave"
Lorde, "Royals"
Bruno Mars, "When I Was Your Man"
Katy Perry, "Roar"
Justin Timberlake, "Mirrors"
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell, "Get Lucky"
Pink featuring Nate Ruess, "Just Give Me A Reason"
Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko, "Stay"
Robin Thicke featuring Pharrell and T.I., "Blurred Lines"
Justin Timberlake featuring Jay Z, "Suit and Tie"
Best Pop Vocal Album
Lana Del Rey, Paradise
Lorde, Pure Heroine
Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox
Robin Thicke, Blurred Lines
Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience - The Complete Experience
Best Country Album
Jason Aldean, Night Train
Tim McGraw, Two Lanes of Freedom
Kacey Musgraves, Same Trailer, Different Park
Blake Shelton, Based On A True Story
Taylor Swift, Red
Best Dance Album
Daft Punk, Random Access Memories
Disclosure, Settle
Calvin Harris, 18 Months
Kaskade, Atmosphere
Pretty Lights, A Color Map of the Sun
Best Alternative Music Album
Neko Case, The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
The National, Trouble Will Find Me
Nine Inch Nails, Hesitation Marks
Tame Impala, Lonerism
Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City
Best Rap Performance
Drake, "Started from the Bottom"
Eminem, "Berzerk"
Jay Z, "Tom Ford"
Kendrick Lamar, "Swimming Pools (Drank)"
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, "Thrift Shop"
Best Rap Album
Drake, Nothing Was the Same
Jay Z, Magna Carta...Holy Grail
Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, The Heist
Kanye West, Yeezus
Best Rap Song
A$AP Rocky, "Fuckin' Problems"
Jay Z featuring Justin Timberlake, "Holy Grail"
Kanye West, "New Slaves"
Drake, "Started from the Bottom"
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, "Thrift Shop"
Here's the complete list of all 2014 Grammy nominations in every category.
grammy.com
There are a lot of categories.