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Blige Tops List of Grammy Nominees

It continues to be Mary J. Blige's year. After racking up a whopping nine trophies at the Billboard Music Awards earlier this week, Blige also dominates the field of this year's Grammy nominees, leading all other contenders with a total of eight nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Be Without You."

The 49th Annual Grammy Awards also smiled upon the Red Hot Chili Peppers with six nominations (including Album of the Year), and the Dixie Chicks, James Blunt, John Mayer and Prince, with five apiece.

As usual, the nominations, which were announced Thursday (December 7th), offered few surprises, although many observers were caught off-guard by the exclusion of Gnarls Barkley from the Best New Artist category. The Cee-Lo Green and Danger Mouse duo did, however, receive four other nominations, including Record of the Year for their inescapable hit, "Crazy."

"Once again, the GRAMMY Awards process has delivered a well-rounded group of excellent nominees," Recording Academy President Neil Portnow declared, before delivering the obligatory plug for "a spectacular show filled with dynamic performances and 'GRAMMY Moments' that can only be seen on the GRAMMY Awards telecast."

That telecast will happen on Sunday, February 11th, when the Grammys are broadcast live from Staples Center in Los Angeles on CBS at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

For a complete list of the nominees, visit the Grammy.com website.

--The ARTISTdirect Staff
12.07.06