Going solo proved to be a wise career choice for several of this year's biggest Grammy nominees.
The move paid off today for Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake and even OutKast, whose album is made up of two solo efforts, as the nominations for the 46th Annual Grammy Awards were announced early Thursday morning.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Grammy voters were crazy for the Destiny's Child frontwoman, who received a leading six nominations, including Record of the Year for her single "Crazy in Love" from her debut solo album Dangerously in Love.
Her partnership with beau Jay-Z on "Crazy in Love" also scored the pair a nod for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration while the bootylicious babe all but tied up the R&B categories with nominations for Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best R&B Song for "Crazy in Love", Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Dangerously in Love" and Best R&B Duo Performance for "The Closer I Get to You" with Luther Vandross.
Also topping the list with half-dozen nods is a hip hop-heavy trifecta: OutKast's Andre 3000 and Big Boi who are up for Album of the Year with what many critics call their best effort to date, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below; Jay-Z for collaborations with Beyoncé and Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse; and Pharrell Williams, who received three noms alone for his production efforts with the Neptunes.
Pharrell's odds of winning Grammy gold could take a hit since he competes against himself in bookend categories: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for his performances with Snoop Dogg and Uncle Charlie Wilson on "Beautiful," and with Jay-Z on The Neptunes' single "Frontin'," while in the Best Rap Song category, he's up for cowriting the Neptunes' "Beautiful" and Jay-Z's "Excuse Me Miss."
As expected, Timberlake also fared well for his debut effort, Justified, scoring five nominations including Album of the Year and Record of the Year.
Ultimate Grammy Guide
Rundown of noms and all our past coverage.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E! News Live
Tune in tonight at 7 for recaps and reactions.
In all, nine artists scored five nods each, including sentimental faves Warren Zevon, who died of lung cancer in September, and Vandross, who continues to recover from a near-fatal stroke.
Also a part of the quintet crew: Powerhouse hip-hoppers 50 Cent, Eminem and Missy Elliott, whose Under Construction is up for Album of the Year. Rounding out the list: Pharrell Williams' Neptunes partner Chad Hugo, country crooner Ricky Skaggs and newbie angst-pop group Evanescence, up for Album of the Year for the group's first album Fallen and Best New Artist.
Others in the Best New Artist race include 50 Cent, Fountains of Wayne, Heather Headley and Sean Paul.
Not making the newcomers cut were any of the American Idol alumni, including the megaselling Clay Aiken. But inaugural Idol champ Kelly Clarkson did receive a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance nod for her single "Miss Independent" off her debut album, Thankful, and second-season champ Ruben Studdard picked up a nod for Best Male R&B Performance for "Superstar."
Meanwhile, competing against Evanescence, Timberlake, Elliott and OutKast in the Album of the Year race is surprise contender the White Stripes, for Elephant, their latest album.
Stripes frontman Jack White is up for a combined four nominations, including one individual nod for for Best Rock Song for writing the group's "Seven Nation Army." Other fourpeat nominees include Erykah Badu, Willie Nelson and Jose Serebrier.
Even with all the young 'uns competing for Grammy gold, expect this to be a potentially teary TV event as posthumous honors could go out to recently departed artists including Zevon, Celia Cruz, George Harrison, Rosemary Clooney, June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash, all of whom racked up nominations Thursday.
Harrison, who died of cancer in November 2001, is being considered in three categories, including Best Pop Vocal Album for Brainwashed and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his single "Any Road," where he'll be competing against Zevon's single "Keep My In Your Heart."
Also reaching out from beyond the grave are Cruz, who gets a Best Salsa/Merengue Album nod five months after her death from brain cancer, and Clooney, who died of complications from lung cancer in June 2002. Clooney scored an unusal twofer in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, where her own album, The Last Concert, competes with Bette Midler's homage, Bette Midler Sings The Rosemary Clooney Songbook.
Meanwhile, Carter Cash's recording "Keep On The Sunny Side" will vie for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and her and hubby Johnny Cash's "Temptation" competes in the Best Country Collaboration with Vocals category. The Man in Black, whose "Hurt" video is also nominated, and his lady died within months of each other this year.
Finally, in a bizarre twist the Clintons, as in America's former first family, will both compete in the Spoken Word categories: Senator Hillary and her autobiography Living History for Best Spoken Word Album and former President Bill, who partnered with fellow nominees Mikhail Gorbachev and Sophia Loren on Peter And The Wolf, for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.
The musical extravaganza honoring the old, new and just plain strange is back in Los Angeles after a detour to the Big Apple last year. The awards are set to be handed out February 8 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, with the televised portion airing live on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
Here's a rundown of nominees in the major categories:
Album of the Year:
Under Construction, Missy Elliott
Fallen, Evanescence
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, OutKast
Justified, Justin Timberlake
Elephant, White Stripes
Record of the Year:
"Crazy in Love," Beyoncé Knowles featuring Jay-Z
"Where is the Love?," Black Eyed Peas and Justin Timberlake
"Clocks," Coldplay
"Lose Yourself," Eminem
"Hey Ya!," OutKast
Song of the Year (Songwriter Award):
"Beautiful," Linda Perry (artist: Christina Aguilera)
"Dance with My Father," Luther Vandross and Richard Marx (Luther Vandross)
"I'm with You," Avril Lavigne and The Matrix (Avril Lavigne)
"Keep Me in Your Heart," Warren Zevon and Jorge Calderón (Warren Zevon)
"Lose Yourself," Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto (Eminem)
New Artist:
Evanescence
50 Cent
Fountains of Wayne
Heather Headley
Sean Paul
Pop Vocal Album:
Stripped, Christina Aguilera
Brainwashed, George Harrison
Bare, Annie Lennox
Motown, Michael McDonald
Justified, Justin Timberlake
Rock Album:
Audioslave, Audioslave
Fallen, Evanescence
One by One, Foo Fighters
More Than You Think You Are, Matchbox Twenty
The Long Road, Nickelback
Rap Album:
Under Construction, Missy Elliott
Get Rich or Die Tryin', 50 Cent
The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse, Jay-Z
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, OutKast
Phrenology, The Roots
Country Album:
Cry, Faith Hill
My Baby Don't Tolerate, Lyle Lovett
Run That By Me One More Time, Willie Nelson and Ray Price
Live and Kickin', Willie Nelson
Up!, Shania Twain
Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers, Various Artists
Going solo proved to be a wise career choice for several of this year's biggest Grammy nominees. 
