Rap and R&B dominate the 46th Grammy award nominations list with Beyonce Knowles, rapper Jay-Z and OutKast each enjoying six nominations.
Beyonce Knowles leads the field with six nominations
Nine artists share five nominations each, including Eminem, Justin Timberlake and Missy Elliott.
The lengthy list of nominations was announced by artists including Dido at a press conference at the Beverley Hills Hilton.
The awards will be presented on Sunday 8 February in Los Angeles.
In the record of the year category, Beyonce's Crazy in Love will fight it out with the Blackeyed Peas/Justin Timberlake single Where is the Love?, Coldplay's Clocks, Eminem's Lose Yourself and OutKast's Hey Ya.
Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams have three of their nominations each for their work together as the production team The Neptunes.
Hugo has a further two nominations, while Williams joins the leading pack of shortlisted artists with a further three.
The late Warren Zevon has five nominations. The singer-songwriter, best-known for his song Werewolves of London, died in September after a long battle with cancer.
Other artists who have scored five nominations are rappers Eminem and 50 Cent, rock band Evanescence, soul singer Luther Vandross and country artist Ricky Skaggs.
The song of the year award for songwriters, is between Christina Aguilera's Beautiful, Luther Vandross' Dance With My Father, Avril Lavigne's I'm With You, Warren Zevon's Keep Me in Your Heart, and Eminem's Lose Yourself.
British band Radiohead are nominated for best alternative album for Hail to the Thief and best rock performance by a duo or group with vocals for the song There There.
The late Beatle George Harrison is nominated in the best male pop vocal performance, best pop vocal album and best pop instrumental performance.
Other British performers to receive recognition include:
David Bowie (best male rock vocal)
Annie Lennox (best pop album)
Coldplay (record of the year, best video)
Dido (best female pop vocal)
Sting (best male pop vocal, pop collaboration)
Groove Armada ( best dance)
Rod Stewart (traditional pop)
Floetry (best R&B vocal)
There were also some unusual nominations for a musical honour - former US president Bill Clinton and his wife Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton were both nominated for their work on spoken world albums.
Mr Clinton shared a nomination with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and actress Sophia Loren in the children category for Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.
The former US first lady was nominated for Living History, based on her recently published memoirs. She won a Grammy in 1996 for her reading of the book It takes a village.
The Grammys are regarded as the most prestigious music prize in the world. They are handed out by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Earlier this year, jazz singer Norah Jones scored a surprise sweep at the 45th awards, winning eight awards including album of the year, pop vocal album and female pop performance.