Beyonce Leads Grammy Nods After Trailblazing Country Album

Beyonce's groundbreaking "Cowboy Carter" album nabbed her a leading 11 nods for this season's Grammy Awards, the music industry's most coveted prizes, where she will face off against Taylor Swift and a new class of pop hitmakers.

The nominations announced Friday by the Recording Academy make Beyonce the Grammys' most nominated artist -- and reignites the conversation about genre and race sparked by her innovative album vaunting Black cowboy culture.

But the megastar -- who despite her accolade-rich career still has never won the Grammy's most prestigious top album and record trophies -- faces stiff competition from perennial contenders Swift and Billie Eilish, who scored six and seven chances at Grammy gold, respectively.

And a buzzy, of-the-moment group of young artists including club hitmaker Charli XCX (seven nods) along with pop sensations Sabrina Carpenter (six) and Chappell Roan (six) are all also in contention for major prizes.

Kendrick Lamar -- whose dig-heavy rap battle with Drake earned him Grammy favor this year -- and the shapeshifter Post Malone also each scooped seven nominations, including in the top categories.

The Recording Academy will hand out trophies in all 94 categories at a concert gala on February 2 in Los Angeles.

The nominee list sets up a showdown between Beyonce and Swift, both globally known pop figures and regulars at the Grammys.

The 43-year-old Beyonce was already the show's most decorated artist ever -- and also among the most snubbed. She conspicuously has lost out the top album award to the likes of Adele and Harry Styles.

The 34-year-old juggernaut Swift, on the other hand, last year swept past Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon to win more best album prizes than anyone. A win this year would mark her fifth.

Her album "Fearless" beat Beyonce for the prestigious prize in 2010.

The Tay vs. Bey narrative highlights once again the Grammys complicated history with race.

The Academy is routinely criticized for sidelining the work of Black artists, including at last year's gala when Beyonce's husband Jay-Z castigated the institution onstage.

Also in contention for Album of the Year are records by Carpenter, Charli XCX, Eilish, Roan and...Andre 3000's "New Blue Sun," a flute album the former Outkast hip-hop star released late last year.

The multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier rounds out the category.

Top nominee Post Malone was buoyed to the top thanks to his collaborations with both Beyonce and Swift.

And an entry by The Beatles into the top record category will likely prompt a little head-scratching: "Now and Then" was the "last" song released by the iconic group, put together based on John Lennon's rough demo.