2015 GRAMMY AWARDS NOMINATIONS

The Grammy Award nominations were announced and Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar leads with a total of eleven including Album of The Year and Song of The Year.  Country-pop superstar Taylor Swift and alt-r&b artist, The Weeknd followed with seven nominations apiece. While these three acts enjoy major success and are top hit-makers, what is most notable this year is that commercial sales and popularity was not the motivating factor in the selection of many of these nominations. Artistry and innovation is just as important to the Recording Academy and one example of that is Alabama Shakes, a critically acclaimed alt-rock outfit that has a strong cult following but little radio play, received four nominations for their bold second album, "Sound & Color" including Album of The Year. Australian rocker Courtney Barnett may be unfamiliar to many but her debut album, "Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit" caught the attention of the Grammys and earned her a Best New Artist nod.

The 58th Annual Grammy Awards will be held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center on February 15th 2016. Here is a partial list of the 2015 nominations. For the complete list, go to:

Grammy.com

Album Of The Year:

"Sound & Color" — Alabama Shakes
"To Pimp A Butterfly" — Kendrick Lamar
"Traveller" — Chris Stapleton
"1989" — Taylor Swift
"Beauty Behind The Madness" — The Weeknd

Record Of The Year:

"Really Love" — D'Angelo And The Vanguard
"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars
"Thinking Out Loud" — Ed Sheeran
"Blank Space" — Taylor Swift
"Can't Feel My Face" — The Weeknd

Song Of The Year:

"Alright" — Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams
"Blank Space" — Written by Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift
"Girl Crush" — Written by Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose
"See You Again" — Written by Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth & Cameron Thomaz
"Thinking Out Loud" — Written by Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge

Best New Artist:

Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor

Best Pop Solo Performance:

"Heartbeat Song" – Kelly Clarkson
"Love Me Like You Do" – Ellie Goulding
"Thinking Out Loud" – Ed Sheeran
"Blank Space" – Taylor Swift
"Can’t Feel My Face" – The Weeknd

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:

"Ship To Wreck" — Florence + The Machine
"Sugar" — Maroon 5
"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars
"Bad Blood" — Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar
"See You Again" — Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth


Best Pop Vocal Album:

"Piece By Piece" – Kelly Clarkson
"How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" – Florence + The Machine
"Uptown Special" – Mark Ronson
"1989" – Taylor Swift
"Before This World" – James Taylor

Best Dance Recording:

"We're All We Need" — Above & Beyond Featuring Zoë Johnston
"Go" — The Chemical Brothers
"Never Catch Me" — Flying Lotus Featuring Kendrick Lamar
"Runaway (U & I)" — Galantis
"Where Are Ü Now" — Skrillex And Diplo With Justin Bieber

Best Rock Performance:

"Don't Wanna Fight" — Alabama Shakes
"What Kind Of Man" — Florence + The Machine
"Something From Nothing" — Foo Fighters
"Ex's & Oh's" — Elle King
"Moaning Lisa Smile" — Wolf Alice

Best Alternative Music Album:

"Sound & Color" — Alabama Shakes
"Vulnicura" — Björk
"The Waterfall" — My Morning Jacket
"Currents" — Tame Impala
"Star Wars" — Wilco

Best R&B Album:

"Coming Home" – Leon Bridges
"Black Messiah" – D’Angelo And The Vanguard
"Cheers To The Fall" – Andra Day
"Reality Show" – Jazmine Sullivan
"Forever Charlie" – Charlie Wilson

Best Urban Contemporary Album:

"Ego Death" — The Internet
"You Should Be Here" — Kehlani
"Blood" — Lianne La Havas
"Wildheart" — Miguel
"Beauty Behind The Madness" — The Weeknd

Best Rap Album:

"2014 Forest Hills Drive" — J. Cole
"Compton" — Dr. Dre
"If You're Reading This Its Too Late" — Drake
"To Pimp A Butterfly" — Kendrick Lamar
"The Pinkprint" — Nicki Minaj

Best Country Album:

"Montevallo" — Sam Hunt
"Pain Killer" — Little Big Town
"The Blade" — Ashley Monroe
"Pageant Material" — Kacey Musgraves
"Traveller" — Chris Stapleton