The Recording Academy reconfirmed Mary J. Blige's place in music royalty Thursday, showering her with eight Grammy nominations, including record and song of the year for her hit "Be Without You," off her album "The Breakthrough."
Other multiple nominees included the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who had six, and the Dixie Chicks, who had five. Nominees for album of the year were Gnarls Barkley's "St. Elsewhere," Justin Timberlake's "FutureSex/LoveSounds," John Mayer's "Continuum," the Dixie Chicks' "Taking the Long Way" and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Stadium Arcadium."
On the local front, and in classical music, Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony got double nominations for their live recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 7, one for best classical album and the other for best orchestral performance. MTT and the group previously won Grammys for other Mahler symphonies in their recording project, a best classical album award in 2003 for the Third and a best orchestral performance in 2005 for the Sixth.
Other Bay Area nominees included jazz piano wunderkind Taylor Eigsti, whose album "Lucky To Be Me" generated nominations in the jazz instrumental solo and jazz instrumental composition categories. Also, Quartet San Francisco and John Santos received a bid in the classical crossover album category for their collaboration on "Latigo." And NorCal cowboy Ramblin' Jack Elliott was nominated in the traditional folk album category for "I Stand Alone."
Blige's nominations capped off a glorious year for the 35-year-old, who had the most mainstream success in her career with the record. The album sold more than 2 million copies and won the singer armloads of awards, including nine Billboard Awards and two American Music Awards.
"That's a beautiful thing, that I'm still going," Blige told the Associated Press. "'The Breakthrough' is about triumph, about not being a victim, but being a victor. It's about loving yourself."
Blige wasn't the only one celebrating a comeback. The Dixie Chicks' five nominations -- including record, song and album of the year -- marked a triumph for a group that weathered boycotts from the country-music establishment and a drop in album sales after lead singer Natalie Maines criticized President George Bush in 2003. The band's album, "Taking the Long Way," was produced by Rick Rubin, who scored five nominations.
Mayer, already a three-time Grammy winner, collected five nods altogether, including pop vocal album and best rock album for "Try!" with his blues trio.
Gnarls Barkley -- the duo of producer Danger Mouse and rapper/singer Cee-Lo -- earned four nominations, including record of the year for the smash hit "Crazy." Timberlake, a two-time Grammy winner, captured four nods, too.
Corinne Bailey Rae, a silky pop-soul singer from Britain, was nominated for best new artist and was a surprise nominee for record and song of the year for "Put Your Records On."
The 49th Grammy Awards are scheduled to air live on CBS from the Staples Center on Feb. 11. Here's a partial list of Grammy nominees announced Thursday in key categories: more
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