Frank Ocean, the R&B standout of the year, is nominated for six awards at the 2013 Grammys. The Odd Future member and "Thinkin Bout You" singer lined up nods for Best New Artist, Record of the Year ("Thinkin Bout You"), Album of the Year ("channel ORANGE"), Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Rap Sung Collaboration (with Kanye West and Jay-Z on "No Church in the Wild") and Best Short Form Music Video (for "No Church in the Wild").
That ties Ocean with Kanye West, Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, fun., Jay-Z and Mumford & Sons, who each remarkable scored six nominations.
Ocean was heavily favored as a nominee for Best New Artist, much-deserved hype built on the strength of not only his debut studio album, "channel ORANGE," but also his earlier mixtapes (his self-released "nostalgia ULTRA" was rated one of the best albums of 2011). Come Feb. 10, 2013, Ocean could be among the more decorated musicians at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.
Other artists who enjoyed a similar level of pre-nominations buzz included Mumford & Sons, whose "Babel" was expected to contend for Album of the Year against Ocean's disc.
While critics often gripe about the Grammys' somewhat peculiar way of picking nominees and awarding winners, the awards continue to live up to their motto, Music's Biggest Night. According to the Grammys, the award telecast attracted 39.9 million viewers last year -- the largest TV audience since 1984.
The nominations were announced during Tuesday's Grammy Nominations Concert Live!, a one-hour special that aired live from Nashville and was hosted by Taylor Swift and LL Cool J. As with the nominations, CBS will exclusively air the broadcast of the award show.
Photos from last year's show and our live blog of the nominations proceedings are available below.
