The race to the 2011 Grammy Awards is officially underway, with this year's nominees announced last night in a star-studded telecast. Leading the pack this year with seven nominations is Kanye West, who is followed closely by Adele, Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars in a three-way tie with six nods a piece.
It's the second year in a row that a hip hop artist has topped the nominations list, after Eminem had the honor last year. West was snubbed in the awards' most significant category, however, with neither of his nominated albums, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch The Throne with Jay-Z, making the short list for Album of The Year. That list includes Rihanna’s Loud, Bruno Mars’ Doo-Wops & Hooligans, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way, Adele’s 21 and The Foo Fighters' Wasting Light.
At the nominations concert, several eventual nominees took the stage for lively performances, including Lady Gaga and Rihanna. Common, Lupe Fiasco, Rick Ross, LL Cool J and members of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five also performed the latter group's classic, "The Message," which is being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. LL Cool J also hosted the event.
The 2011 Grammy Awards will be broadcast Sunday, February 12, at 8 PM ET/PT on CBS. This is the first year the show will operate under its new revamped all-inclusive category format. There will be no gender-based groupings. Take a look at some of the notable nominations below and, for the full list, click here.

Album of the Year
21 — Adele
Wasting Light — Foo Fighters
Born This Way — Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans — Bruno Mars
Loud — Rihanna

Record of the Year:
"Rolling In The Deep" — Adele
"Holocene" — Bon Iver
"Grenade" — Bruno Mars
"The Cave" — Mumford & Sons
"Firework" — Katy Perry

Best New Artist:

The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex

Song of the Year:
"All Of The Lights" — Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter & Kanye West, songwriters (Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi & Fergie)
"The Cave" — Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford & Country Winston, songwriters (Mumford & Sons)
"Grenade" — Brody Brown, Claude Kelly, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Bruno Mars & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Bruno Mars)
"Holocene" — Justin Vernon, songwriter (Bon Iver)
"Rolling In The Deep" — Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth, songwriters (Adele)

Best Pop Solo Performance

"Someone Like You" — Adele 
"Yoü And I" — Lady Gaga 
"Grenade" — Bruno Mars 
"Firework" — Katy Perry
"F***in' Perfect" — Pink 

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
"Body And Soul" — Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse
"Dearest" — The Black Keys
"Paradise" — Coldplay 
"Pumped Up Kicks" — Foster The People 
"Moves Like Jagger" — Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera 

Best Traditional R&B Performance:
"Sometimes I Cry" — Eric Benét
"Fool For You" — Cee Lo Green & Melanie Fiona
"Radio Message" — R. Kelly
"Good Man" — Raphael Saadiq
"Surrender" — Betty Wright & The Roots

Best R&B Album:
F.A.M.E. — Chris Brown
Second Chance — El DeBarge
Love Letter — R. Kelly
Pieces Of Me — Ledisi
Kelly — Kelly Price

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:
"Party" — Beyoncé & André 3000 
"I'm On One" — DJ Khaled, Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne
"I Need A Doctor" — Dr. Dre, Eminem & Skylar Grey
"What's My Name?" — Rihanna & Drake
"Motivation" — Kelly Rowland & Lil Wayne
"All Of The Lights" — Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi & Fergie

Best Rap Performance:
"Look At Me Now" — Chris Brown, Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes
"Otis" — Jay-Z & Kanye West
"The Show Goes On" — Lupe Fiasco
"Moment 4 Life" — Nicki Minaj & Drake
"Black And Yellow" — Wiz Khalifa

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