U2 Leads UMG's Grammy Charge With Eight Nods

Universal Music Group leads all record companies with 142 nominations for the 44th annual Grammy Awards, to be handed out Feb. 27 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Sony Music follows with 80; EMI is close behind with 79. Warner Music Group and BMG earned 60 and 41, respectively. The numbers do not include producer categories.

U2 leads all artists with eight nominations. India.Arie earned seven; Alicia Keys and conductor Pierre Boulez snared six each. Brian McKnight, Alison Krauss, and Outkast have five. "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack producer T Bone Burnett, Nelly Furtado, Train, Steven Tyler, and Lucinda Williams are named in four categories.

U2's nods include album of the year for "All That You Can't Leave Behind" (Interscope), song of the year for "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get out Of," record of the year for "Walk On," and best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal for "Elevation." The latter two tracks will compete against each other for best rock song. Last year, "Beautiful Day" from "All That You Can't Leave Behind" won song and record of the year.

India.Arie, Keys, Furtado, David Gray, and Linkin Park are up for best new artist. India.Arie's "Acoustic Soul" (Motown) is the lone R&B set nominated for album of the year; also named in the category are Outkast's "Stankonia" (LaFace/Arista), Bob Dylan's "Love and Theft" (Columbia), and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (Mercury Nashville). Keys' six nods include record and song of the year for "Fallin'."

Winners are determined by the 13,000 voting members of the Recording Academy.