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Grammys Oblige Blige and Other Chicks
12/08/2006 6:33 AM, E! Online
Joal Ryan
Scorned by country music radio, the Dixie Chicks are all right by the Grammys.
The finger-pickin' trio, just about nixed from Nashville for lead singer Natalie Maines' off-handed insult of President Bush at the height of his popularity, will vie for Album of the Year and Record of the Year top honors at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, per nominations announced Thursday. (Get the complete list of nominees and a photo gallery of the top contenders.)
R&B survivor Mary J. Blige led all Chicks and dudes with eight nominations, including prestigious Record of the Year and Song of the Year nods for her hit "Be Without You." Blige's big-selling The Breakthrough, however, failed to crack the Album of the Year race.
The still-cooking Red Hot Chili Peppers notched six nominations for their Album of the Year entry, Stadium Arcadium.
The Chicks, who hit the comeback trail with Taking the Long Way, clocked in with a total of five nods, putting them in good and eclectic company with newcomer James Blunt, oldcomer Prince, the Jessica Simpson-favored John Mayer, Gnarls Barkley mastermind Danger Mouse, producer Rick Rubin, Black Eyed Peas impresario Will.I.Am and composer John Williams.
Justin Timberlake's effort to bring the sexy back was rewarded with four nominations. Beyoncé likewise scored a quartet of nods with the help of her B-Day.
Facing off against collections by the Dixie Chicks and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the Album of the Year race are Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere, Mayer's Continuum and Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds.
The Record of the Year field shapes up like so: Blige's "Be Without You" and the Chicks' defiant "Not Ready to Make Nice" versus Blunt's insta-standard "You're Beautiful," Gnarls Barkley's summertime track "Crazy" and British songstress Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On."
The Song of the Year category, honoring a track's songwriters, mirrors the Record of the Year category with one exception: "Jesus Take the Wheel," a plea for divine driving intervention as expressed by American Idol alum Carrie Underwood, made the cut; "Crazy" didn't.
Elsewhere, Underwood, Blunt and Rae will go up against each other in the Best New Artist category, opposite "Run It!" R&B teen Chris Brown and singer/songwriter Imogen Heap. Paris Hilton, who charted with her debut single "Stars Are Blind," was ignored like a C-lister trying to get into Hyde.
Hilton associate Britney Spears, meanwhile, rated as many nominations as estranged husband Kevin Federline: zero. Spears didn't release any new work; Federline did, but he didn't release it until after the cut-off eligibility date. Honors for Federline's Playing with Fire will have to wait until the 50th Annual Grammys. And/or until the Recording Academy freezes over.
KT Tunstall, who made her two-letter name with "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," was something of a surprise exclusion from the Best New Artist category. Still, Tunstall's boot-tapper of a number netted her a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
OutKast, which won Album of the Year at the 2004 Grammys for Speakerboxx/The Love Below, only claimed two nominations, including Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, for its new Idlewild collection.
Making a bigger impression with Grammy voters was Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, who scored three nominations, including Best R&B album, for Unpredictable. The multitasking performer also had a hand, or voice, in Ludacris and Field Mob's Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group-nominated "Georgia."
With 108 total categories, the Grammys erects the biggest tent of any of the major award shows. Here's a look of some of the other storylines and names to emerge from Thursday's nominations:
It was a good year for MMC alums not named Britney. In addition to Timberlake's four nods, Christina Aguilera claimed two for Back to Basics. Timberlake and Aguilera will even go head-to-head in the Best Pop Vocal Album category. It was also a good year for real-life couples, with Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks, and Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis, all sharing in joint nominations.It's always a good year to be a veteran pop/rock performer--the older the better--as 65-year-old Bob Dylan (three nominations), 64-year-old Paul McCartney (one nomination) and 80-year-old Tony Bennett (two nominations) can attest. Given how Grammy voters cleaned out the cabinet to honor Ray Charles' 2004 duets album, Bennett's own Duets: An American Classic was practically snubbed with a total of three nominations.Johnny Cash, who would seem to have been the reverential Grammys' ultimate nominee (he's dead), got nothing for a batch of previously unreleased recordings on American V: A Hundred Highways and Personal File. The albums, though, did help net Rubin a nomination for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. And Personal File notched a Best Recording Package nod for its art director.In one of the more disparate match-ups, the ultra-introspective Death Cab for Cutie ("I Will Follow You Into the Dark") will go up against the less-inhibited Pussycat Dolls ("Stickwitu") for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.Jon Bon Jovi has gone the way of Kenny Rogers, up for Best Country Collaboration with Jennifer Nettles for their duet, "Who Says You Can't Go Home." Rogers will try to claim the trophy as his own for his collaboration with the Eagles' Don Henley on "Calling Me."Bruce Springsteen has gone the way of Pete Seeger, up for Best Traditional Folk Album for We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions.Twenty-two Grammys are not enough for Stevie Wonder. He could win another one for his team-up effort with Bennett, "For Once in My Life."Madonna stays in the game with three nominations, including a Best Electronic/Dance Album entry for Confessions on a Dance Floor. Peter Frampton came alive with two nominations for his guitar instrumental collection, Fingerprints.Lionel Richie isn't just Nicole Richie's father--he's a Best R&B Album nominee, alongside Blige, Foxx, India.Arie and Prince, for Coming Home.Ike Turner isn't just the villain in What's Love Got to Do With It--he's a Best Traditional Blues Album hopeful for Risin' with the Blues. John Lithgow (up for Best Musical Album for Children), Lynn Redgrave (Best Spoken Word Album for Children) and former President Jimmy Carter (Best Spoken Word Album) each have as many nominations as Beck (Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance).Grey's Anatomy is now the Grammy-nominated Grey's Anatomy, vying to claim the rather wordy category that is Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media with Grey's Anatomy Volume 2. The awards are scheduled to be presented Feb. 11 in Los Angeles.
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