Beyonce leads Grammys with 9 nominations

LOS ANGELES – Beyonce became the most-nominated female artist in Grammy award history on Tuesday as she received a leading nine nods this year, followed closely by Drake, Rihanna and Kanye West with eight nominations each. Beyonce's haul of nine included album, song and record of the year, the top three Grammy accolades, for her hit song "Formation" and visual album "Lemonade," a collection of songs about race, feminism and empowerment. The R&B singer, 35, has been nominated 62 times in Grammy history and has won 20 Grammy awards over her career spanning two decades. Rapper Kanye West, who has eight nominations this year for his "The Life of Pablo" album, has notched 68 Grammy nominations over his career, and won 21 awards. British singer Adele is also up for the top three awards with her hit ballad "Hello" and album "25" and has a total of five nominations. The singer previously swept all three top categories in 2012 with her "21" album. Canadian pop star Justin Bieber's "Purpose," Canadian hip hop star Drake's "Views" and country music singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson's "A Sailor's Guide To Earth" rounded out the contenders of album of the year. –Reuters