Grammys 2016: Courtney Barnett, Tame Impala among Australian acts nominated

As expected, Swift and Lamar received plenty of love when the 58th Grammy Award nominations were announced Monday morning – Lamar raked in a leading 11, with Swift right behind at seven.

Lamar’s politically charged album is nominated in an especially diverse category alongside Swift’s blockbuster “1989”, the Weeknd’s breakthrough collection “Beauty Behind the Madness”, Alabama Shakes’ sonically adventurous “Sound & Color” and country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton’s powerfully reflective “Traveller”. The final name for “Song Of The Year” is Wiz Khalifa’s “Furious 7” song “See You Again” featuring Charlie Puth – another one for Pop Duo/Group Performance and Song Written For Visual Media.

Erotic drama “Fifty Shades of Grey” powered The Weeknd to three of his Grammy nods for single “Earned It” which was featured on the movie’s soundtrack. Even the Ed Sheeran song the academy focused on, “Thinking Out Loud”, is definitely the best Ed Sheeran song.

Traditionally, the nominees tend to be older, more mainstream artists, but this year showed a surprising departure from the norm.

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In another closely watched category, Meghan Trainor has been nominated for Best New Artist along with country singer Sam Hunt, Tori Kelly and two global artists, United Kingdom singer, songwriter James Bay, and Australian Courtney Barnett.

Best rap song: “All Day“, Kanye West Featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom and Paul McCartney; “Alright”, Kendrick Lamar; “Energy”, Drake; “Glory”, Common and John Legend; “Trap Queen“, Fetty Wap.

Justin Bieber – who marked a comeback this year with the hits “Sorry” and “What Do You Mean” – is nominated for best dance recording for his other hit, “Where Are U Now” with Skrillex and Diplo. Isbell, the Mavericks, Punch Brothers, and Harris and Crowell also scored nominations for Best American Roots Song along with the Don Henley and Merle Haggard collaboration “The Cost of Living” from Henley’s Cass County. But it also included R&B artist D’Angelo and The Vanguard.

Lamar – who hails from the gangsta rap capital of Compton in southern California but unlike many stars has had few personal controversies – examines the state of USA race relations on “To Pimp a Butterfly”, with mockery of Washington politicians and explorations on his search for inner strength. Two albums from sharp solo females – Ashley Monroe’s The Blade and Kacey Musgraves’ Pageant Material – round out the category.