The Weeknd, Drake, Justin Bieber earn Grammys nods

Toronto R&B artist The Weeknd is a top contender for the Grammy Awards, earning nods for his catchy track Can't Feel My Face and album Beauty Behind the Madness. He and Taylor Swift are tied with seven nods each, behind leader Kendrick Lamar with 11.

Kendrick Lamar leads with 11 nods; Toronto singer The Weeknd ties with Taylor Swift with 7

Jessica Wong · CBC News · Posted: Dec 07, 2015 8:00 AM EST | Last Updated: December 8, 2015

The Weeknd, Drake, Justin Bieber earn Grammy nods

9 years ago

1:47

Kendrick Lamar leads with 11 nominations; Toronto singer The Weeknd ties Taylor Swift with seven

Toronto R&B singer The Weeknd is a top contender for the Grammy Awards, earning nods for his catchy track Can't Feel My Face and his album Beauty Behind the Madness as part of the nominations released Monday morning.

The Weeknd, the stage name of Abel Tesfaye, along with perennial nominee Taylor Swift earned seven nominations each, behind the leading contender, American rapper Kendrick Lamar, who has 11.

Previous Grammy winner Alicia Keys was in New York City early Monday morning to unveil nominees in four general field categories live on CBS, which will broadcast the awards gala in February.

The ubiquitous Swift, seen in concert in October, had hit after hit from her blockbuster album 1989. (Matt Sayles/Invision/Associated Press)

Best new artist

Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor

Record of the year

Really Love, D'Angelo and the Vanguard
Uptown Funk, Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
Thinking Out Loud, Ed Sheeran
Blank Space, Taylor Swift
Can't Feel My Face, The Weeknd

American rapper Kendrick Lamar leads the race, with 11 nominations. (Simon Laessoee/Scanpix Denmark/Reuters)

Song of the year

All Right, Kendrick Lamar
Blank Space, Taylor Swift
Girl Crush, Little Big Town
See You Again, Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth
Thinking Out Loud, Ed Sheeran

Album of the year

Sound and Color, Alabama Shakes
To Pimp a Buttterfly, Kendrick Lamar
Traveller, Chris Stapleton
1989, Taylor Swift
Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd

Organizers of the Grammy Awards, handed out by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the U.S. to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry, subsequently revealed the balance on grammys.com.

"There's a broad spectrum and certainly it shows there's been quite a bit of wonderful and excellent recordings in the last year," Recording Academy CEO Neil Portow told AP in an interview Monday.

Toronto rapper Drake is up for Grammy Awards in five categories. (Reuters)

Toronto rapper Drake, a former collaborator of The Weeknd, is up for Grammy Awards in five categories.

He will vie for best rap performance (Back to Back), best rap song (for Energy) and best rap album (If You're Reading This It's Too Late). The popular performer also shared in two nominations for featured appearances on Nicki Minaj songs: best rap/sung collaboration (for his cameo on Minaj's track Only) and best rap performance (for her Truffle Butter).

Stratford, Ont., singer Justin Bieber, who is set to play an intimate benefit show in Toronto on Monday night, earned one nod for his track Where Are U Now, a collaboration with Skrillex and Diplo.

Canadian singer Justin Bieber picked up one Grammy nod for his track Where Are You Now. His latest album, Purpose, a huge hit, was released after the eligibility window closed. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

Other Canadians in the Grammy running include:

Caribou (best dance/electronic album for Our Love)
Alex Cuba (best Latin pop album for Healer)
Stephan Moccio with Abel Tesfaye and others (best song written for visual media for Earned It from Fifty Shades of Grey)
Joni Mitchell (best album notes for Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting to be Danced)
Marc-André Hamelin with Takacs Quartet (best chamber music/small ensemble performance)
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (shared best opera recording nomination for Mozart: Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail)
Ron Korb (best new age album for Asia Beauty)
Matt Maher (best contemporary Christian music album for Saints And Sinners and

best contemporary Christian music performance/song for Because He Lives (Amen)
Producer Kevin Howes (best historical album for Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, And Country 1966-1985)
Michael Silver, also known as CFCF (best remixed recording non-classical for Berlin By Overnight - CFCF Remix)
Jan Haust and Peter J. Moore (part of the team up for best historical album for The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
Charles Moniz (as part of the team behind record of the year nominee Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson)

Alex Cuba won best singer-songwriter album for his release Healer at the Latin Grammy Awards in November. The album has now earned a Grammy nomination for best Latin pop album. (Chris Pizzello]/Invision/Associated Press)

Popular music leads contenders

Swift's music was unavoidable over the past year. She had hit after hit from her blockbuster album 1989 thanks to much-watched music videos and a popular tour that saw surprise guests at nearly every stop.

Lamar and Sheeran earned praise for their latest efforts (To Pimp A Butterfly and x, respectively). The Weeknd crossed over into the mainstream with his catchy tracks Can't Feel My Face and The Hills, along with his song Earned It for the film Fifty Shades of Grey.

Musician Ed Sheeran earned a quartet of nominations. ( Charles Sykes/Invision/Associated Press)

Drake was also ubiquitous, whether for his platinum, surprise digital release If You're Reading This It's Already Too Late, his mixtape collaboration with rapper Future titled What a Time to Be Alive, his viral video hit Hotline Bling or releasing "diss tracks" during a feud with former collaborator Meek Mill.

Music that was released between Oct. 1, 2014, and Sept. 30, 2015, is eligible for the latest Grammys, so Adele's record-breaking 25 will have to wait another year.

The 58th annual Grammy gala will take place Feb. 15 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.