North Carolinians Rhiannon Giddens and The Avett Brothers earn Grammy nominations

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.North Carolina highlights include Rhiannon Giddens and The Avett Brothers. Giddens earned two nominations, one for “Factory Girl” for Best Folk Album and one for the song of the same name for Best Americana Performance. The Avett Brothers also earned a nod for Best Americana Roots Performance for “Ain’t No Man” and one for Best Americana Album for “True Sadness.” The following is a list of the nominees in key categories:ALBUM OF THE YEAR”25″ – Adele”Lemonade” – Beyoncé”Purpose” – Justin Bieber”Views” – Drake “A Sailor’s Guide To Earth” – Sturgill SimpsonRECORD OF THE YEAR”Hello” – Adele”Formation” – Beyoncé “7 Years” – Lukas Graham”Work” – Rihanna Featuring Drake”Stressed Out” – Twenty One PilotsSONG OF THE YEAR (Songwriters award)”Formation” – Khalif Brown, Asheton Hogan, Beyoncé Knowles &Michael L. Williams II, songwriters”Hello” – Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin, songwriters”I Took A Pill In Ibiza” – Mike Posner, songwriter “Love Yourself” – Justin Bieber, Benjamin Levin & Ed Sheeran,songwriters”7 Years” – Lukas Forchhammer, Stefan Forrest, Morten Pilegaard& Morten Ristorp, songwriters BEST NEW ARTISTKelsea Ballerini The Chainsmokers Chance The Rapper Maren Morris Anderson .PaakBEST POP VOCAL ALBUM”25″ – Adele”Purpose” – Justin Bieber”Dangerous Woman” – Ariana Grande”Confident” – Demi Lovato”This Is Acting” – SiaBEST ROCK ALBUM”California” – Blink-182″Tell Me I’m Pretty” – Cage The Elephant”Magma” – Gojira “Death Of A Bachelor” – Panic! At The Disco”Weezer” – WeezerBEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM”Lemonade” – Beyoncé”Ology” – Gallant”We Are King” – KING”Malibu” – Anderson .Paak”Anti” – RihannaBEST COUNTRY ALBUM”Big Day In A Small Town” – Brandy Clark”Full Circle” – Loretta Lynn”Hero” – Maren Morris”A Sailor’s Guide to Earth” – Sturgill Simpson”Ripcord” – Keith UrbanBEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM”22, A Million” – Bon Iver”Blackstar” – David Bowie”The Hope Six Demolition Project” – PJ Harvey”Post Pop Depression” – Iggy Pop “A Moon Shaped Pool” – RadioheadBEST RAP ALBUM”Coloring Book” – Chance The Rapper”And The Anonymous Nobody” – De La Soul”Major Key” – DJ Khaled”Views” – Drake”Blank Face” – ScHoolboy Q”The Life Of Pablo” – Kanye WestPRODUCER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICALBenny Blanco Greg Kurstin Max Martin Nineteen85 Ricky Reed