Beyonce leads Grammys with 9 nods; Sia and Keith Urban among Australian nominees
Australian pop artist Sia has cut a swathe through the annual Grammy Awards with nominations in three key categories including best pop vocal album and best pop duo performances.
The 40-year-old singer's album This Is Acting has scored a nomination against tough competition including Adele's 25, Ariana Grande's Dangerous Woman and Justin Bieber's Purpose.
Sia's collaboration with Sean Paul on Cheap Thrills was nominated in the duo performance category against a more open field, though she has to contend with Rihanna and Drake's collaboration on Work.
Sia was also nominated in one of the songwriting categories - best song for visual media - for her work on Shakira's song Try Everything, which featured in the animated film release Zootopia.
Though the Adelaide-born pop star will no doubt dominate Australian coverage of the Grammys, she was not the only Antipodean nominee this year.
The nation's favoured country singing son-in-law, New Zealand-born and Australian-raised Keith Urban, was nominated in two categories, best country solo performance and best county song, for his song Blue Ain't Your Colour.
Urban, who is married to the Australian actress Nicole Kidman, was also nominated in best country album for his eighth American studio album Ripcord, up against the legendary country singer Loretta Lynn.
Sydney DJ, musician and record producer Harley Streten, known worldwide as Flume, capped off his world tour with two nominations.
The 25-year-old was nominated for best dance recording for Never Be Like You and best dance/electronic album for Skin.
And the contemporary Christian music group Hillsong Young & Free have scored a nomination in the best contemporary Christian album category, for their second album release Youth Revival (Live).
The group formed in 2012 at Sydney's Hillsong Church. It's current members include singers Aodhan King, Renee Sieff, Melodie Wagner, Laura Toggs, Alexander Epa losefa and Karina Wykes.
The most nominated artist at this year's awards is Beyoncé, whose nine nominations push her into the record books as the most-nominated female artist in Grammy award history.
The 35-year-old Texas-born singer, who has a career haul of 20 Grammy wins off 62 nominations, scored nominations in album, record and song of the year.
Though "album" and "record" sound like interchangeable terms, the Grammys considers them distinct; the "record" category is actually for songs, but includes artist, producer and recording engineer in the assessment process.
The other leading nominees were Drake, Rihanna and Kanye West, who scored eight nominations each.
The British singer Adele is also in contention in the top three categories with Hello - surely the most radio-played song of the year - and the album 25.
Proving that even in death you can still win Grammys, the late David Bowie was nominated in four categories including best alternative album for Blackstar, and Prince, who died in April, landed one nomination for best engineered non-classical album for Hit n Run Phase Two.
Off-piste nominees include Enya in the new age album category for Dark Sky Island (up against Vangelis's Rosetta), Amy Schumer, Carol Burnett and Elvis Costello in best spoken word album and David Cross, Margaret Cho and Amy Schumer in the best comedy album category.
And the most anticipated film in recent memory, last year's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was nominated in the best score soundtrack for visual media.
Star Wars' composer John Williams has 22 Grammy awards to his name already, including wins for Jaws, Superman, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.
The Grammy Awards are handed out annually by The Recording Academy - formerly known as the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences - acknowledging achievement in the music industry.
They were first held in May 4, 1959, using their full name, the Gramophone Awards.
The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be held on February 12, 2017, in Los Angeles, and hosted by The Late Late Show's James Corden.
Nominees in major categories
Album of the year:
25 - Adele
Lemonade - Beyoncé
Purpose - Justin Bieber
Views - Drake
A Sailor's Guide To Earth - Sturgill Simpson
Record of the year
Hello - Adele
Formation - Beyoncé
7 Years - Lukas Graham
Work - Rihanna Featuring Drake
Stressed Out - Twenty One Pilots
Song of the year (Songwriters award)
Formation - Khalif Brown, Asheton Hogan, Beyoncé Knowles & Michael L. Williams II
Hello - Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin
I Took A Pill In Ibiza - Mike Posner
Love Yourself - Justin Bieber, Benjamin Levin & Ed Sheeran,
7 Years - Lukas Forchhammer, Stefan Forrest, Morten Pilegaard & Morten Ristorp
Best new artist
Kelsea Ballerini
The Chainsmokers
Chance The Rapper
Maren Morris
Anderson. Paak
Best pop vocal album
25 - Adele
Purpose - Justin Bieber
Dangerous Woman - Ariana Grande
Confident - Demi Lovato
This Is Acting - Sia
Best rock album
California - Blink-182
Tell Me I'm Pretty - Cage The Elephant
Magma - Gojira
Death Of A Bachelor - Panic! At The Disco
Weezer - Weezer
Best urban contemporary album
Lemonade - Beyoncé
Ology - Gallant
We Are King - KING
Malibu - Anderson .Paak
Anti - Rihanna
Best country album
Big Day In A Small Town - Brandy Clark
Full Circle - Loretta Lynn
Hero - Maren Morris
A Sailor's Guide to Earth - Sturgill Simpson
Ripcord - Keith Urban
Best alternative music album
22, A Million - Bon Iver
Blackstar - David Bowie
The Hope Six Demolition Project - PJ Harvey
Post Pop Depression - Iggy Pop
A Moon Shaped Pool - Radiohead
Best rap album
Colouring Book - Chance The Rapper
And The Anonymous Nobody - De La Soul
Major Key - DJ Khaled
Views - Drake
Blank Face - ScHoolboy Q
The Life Of Pablo - Kanye West
Producer of the year, non-classical
Benny Blanco
Greg Kurstin
Max Martin
Nineteen85
Ricky Reed
- with AAP, Reuters
Michael Idato is entertainment editor-at-large of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.