Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Irish rockers U2 led the field with eight nominations for their best-selling album, "All That You Can't Leave Behind," when the Recording Academy announced the nominees Friday for the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. Newcomer India.Arie was second with seven nominations, and Alicia Keys had six. Advertisement U2 is up for album of the year, and for song and record of the year. The veteran rockers bagged nominations for rock song of the year for both "Elevation" and "Walk On." Keys had been expected to fare better than India.Arie, largely because her album, "Songs in A Minor," outperformed India.Arie's album, "Acoustic Soul," in the marketplace. Surprisingly, the neosoul "Acoustic Soul" was nominated for album of the year, while the jazz-based "Songs in A Minor" was not. "Acoustic Soul" was also nominated for song and record of the year, for "Videos," and India.Arie was nominated for best new artist. Advertisement The other nominees for album of the year are Bob Dylan's "Love and Theft," rap-rock band Outkast's "Stankonia" and the bluegrass soundtrack album from the movie, "O, Brother, Where Art Thou?" featuring various artists. The other nominees for record of the year are Keys' "Fallin'," OutKast's "Ms. Jackson," Train's "Drops of Jupiter," and U2's "Walk On." Besides "Videos," the nominees for song of the year are Keys' "Fallin,'" Train's "Drops of Jupiter," Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird" and U2's "Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of." The award honors songwriters. Classical conductor Pierre Boulez had six nominations. Country singer Alison Krauss, R&B vocalist Brian McKnight and OutKast had five each. T-Bone Burnett, Nelly Furtado, Train, Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler and Lucinda Williams had four nominations each. Furtado, singer David Gray and Linkin Park joined Keys and India.Arie on the list of nominees for best new artist. The nominees for best country album are Diamond Rio's "One More Day," Tim McGraw's "Set This Circus Down," Willie Nelson's "Rainbow Connection," Tricia Yearwood's "Inside Out" and "Timeless -- Hank Williams Tribute," a collection of covers of Hank Williams tunes by various artists. Advertisement Singer Jamie O'Neal had two songwriting nominations in the country categories, for "There Is No Arizona" and "When I Think About Angels." The other nominees in the category are "One More Day" (Diamond Rio), "The Lucky One" (Alison Krauss and Union Station) and "I'm Already There" (Lonestar). Nominees for best rap album are Eve for "Scorpion," Ja Rule for "Pain is Love," Jay-Z for "The Blueprint," Ludacris for "Back For The First Time" and OutKast for "Stankonia." It's the second straight year that "All That You Can't Leave Behind" has generated Grammy nominations for U2. "Beautiful Day" -- the first single from the album -- won Grammys last year for record, song and rock performance by a duo or group with vocal. The album was released too late for consideration for album of the year honors last year. Destiny's Child, Furtado, India.Arie, Ja Rule, Stevie Nicks, Outkast, Carl Reiner and Usher helped announce the nominations at a news conference in Beverly Hills on Friday. The Recording Academy previously announced that Grammy-winner Billy Joel will be honored as this year's MusiCares Person Of The Year, in recognition of his "professional and philanthropic accomplishments." Advertisement An all-star line-up of music celebrities and others will gather in Los Angeles on Feb. 25 for a tribute to Joel's career. The 44th Grammy Awards will be presented Feb. 27 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, in ceremonies to be televised by CBS.
