Grammys: Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd lead nominees

K-Dot leads the field with 11 nominations, including nods for Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year (“Alright”) plus daps for the “Alright” video, “These Walls”, the Flying Lotus collaboration “Never Catch Me”, and the video for Taylor Swift’s Kendrick-featuring “Bad Blood” remix. Little Big Town also helped country music return to top Grammy categories with “Girl Crush, ” which is up for song of the year (the nomination goes to the songs writers, Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey and Liz Rose).

Swift’s domination of awards shows and of the music business in general continues with this group of Grammy nominations.

Olivia Newton-John (4 Grammys): She won her first Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1973 for Let Me Be There.

Levine’s band Maroon 5 has been nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the song “Sugar”. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”; Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”; Taylor Swift, “Blank Space”; The Weeknd, “Can’t Feel my Face”. “That being said, what a wonderful treat to be recognized by your peers for the work that you have done”, Stapleton said in an interview with The Associated Press by phone on Monday. The GRAMMY winners will be revealed on Monday, Feb. 15, in Los Angeles. No host is announced yet. Now you know how Chris Stapleton, who was nominated for album of the year at the 2016 Grammys yesterday (Dec. 7), feels. She enjoyed nods for Album of the Year for 1989, last year’s bestselling United States album by far that marked her transition from country to pop, as well as Record of the Year and Song of the Year for her hit Blank Space. Here’s the message she was sending to Grammys voters: Please don’t make me cry again, you heartless scoundrels, thank you. Other nominees include “All About That Bass” performer Meghan Trainor, big-voiced singer Tori Kelly, Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett and rock musician James Bay, who is also nominated for best rock album and rock song.

It’s not that either of these reactions are wrong or misplaced: Championing an artist that you think deserves recognition is reasonable; and as details of the Grammy voting process have come to light in recent years, it’s become clear that it’s not necessarily those most knowledgable, entrenched fans of a genre – including rap – calling the shots.

Nominees for Album of the Year are Alabama Shakes’ Sound & Color; Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly; Traveller, by Chris Stapleton; Taylor Swift’s 1989;and The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness. Just ask J. Cole, who held up a “F*ck the Grammys” sign while on tour in 2013 after his sophomore album, Born Sinner, didn’t receive a Best Rap Album nomination. The Shakes’ sophomore album has been widely praised by music critics and well-received by fans, however Stapleton could actually end up with the Grammy. Future had a huge year, and neither his smash “Commas” nor his album, DS2, made their way onto the list.

Bieber also nabbed a nomination for best dance recording for “Where Are U Now”.

Among Kanye West’s four nominations are two (best rap performance, rap song) for “All Day”, which means that one of its featured performers – Paul McCartney – is in line for his first rap Grammy.

Home features two ragas, one of which is a creation of her late father Ravi Shankar.