Sam Smith, Beyonce And Pharrell Williams Lead The 2015 Grammy Awards With Six Nominations Each

The 2015 Grammy Nominations are in and leading the way are Beyonce, Pharell and newcomer Sam Smith with a whopping six nominations each. The complete list was revealed during Friday night’s A Very Grammy Christmas special.

Overall, the Grammy Nominations were a healthy mix of both fresh faces and seasoned performers. For every Katy Perry that was nominated, there was an Ariana Grande or Iggy Azalea to challenge in each category. Perry, for example, is up for Best Pop Vocal Album with her latest album Prism, where she’ll face stiff competition from the aforementioned Grande, as well as the buzziest record of the year, Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz.

Album of the Year also could be a two-person race with newcomer Sam Smith challenging Queen Bey herself with his album In the Lonely Hour. According to Forbes, however, with Beyoncé capturing six nominations overall including Album of the Year and Best Urban Contemporary Album, Mrs. Jay-Z has now become the most nominated woman in Grammy history.

“After receiving one nomination last year, she was tied with Dolly Parton for first place, but the two no longer hold that distinction together,” the article states. “With 52 total nominations over her years in the business, Beyoncé has shown that you can be both commercially and critically successful with every move you make.”

Not to be outdone by Sam Smith, breakout Aussie rapper Iggy Azalea has been nominated in several categories including Record of the Year for “Fancy,” her chart dominating collaboration with Charlie XCX. She’s also up for Best New Artist alongside Smith, who figures to take home several trophies when the night ends.

While pop music seems to be sprouting several new and interesting contenders for the Grammys, rock and alternative music seems to be littered with old standbys. Billboard laments as much, citing U2’s Songs of The Innocence as another example of the domination traditional acts have when it comes to the Grammys:

“2015’s 57th annual Grammy Awards are here, and industry-watchers are once again being reminded how much staying power some old standbys have in the eyes of the Academy. Bono and company received an awful lot of attention (much of it negative) for an album that only made the Sept. 30 cutoff date because of a last-minute, limited-edition vinyl release. And the wonkiness of the nomination process — Jack White was perplexingly picked across genres for Best Rock Performance and Best Alternative Music Album — again reared its head.”

You can view the complete list of nominations on the Grammy website. The show airs in February.

[Sam Smith image via the NY Daily News]