Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa lead 2021 Grammy Awards nominations

Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa lead the nominations for the Grammy Awards announced in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The US Recording Academy revealed the candidates for the 63rd edition of the most recognized music awards in the world, to be held on Jan. 21, with "Folklore," Swift's album composed during COVID-19 lockdown, and "Black Parade," the song Beyoncé released in the heat of her country's racial justice protests, as the standouts.

Beyoncé leads the nominations with nine nods, followed by Swift and Lipa with six each.

One shock was the complete absence from the list of The Weeknd, a widespread pre-nomination favorite with album "After Hours" and single "Blinding Lights." Taking to Twitter after the nominations, the artist said: "The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency..."

Bob Dylan was also left out, despite the fact that this year he had released one of his best-received albums in decades, while Coldplay surprised with a single Album of the Year nomination for "Everyday Life," one of the band’s least celebrated works.

Despite the fact that the two best albums of Beyoncé's career, her namesake "Beyoncé" and "Lemonade," never won the best album Grammy, this year the Texan is the most nominated artist, thanks to the songs and individual works that she has published throughout the year.

Her weapons in the awards are a song that addresses racism in the US, "Black Parade," and "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion, a remix in which she featured after the song became a viral success. Her film "Black is King," released in collaboration with Disney and nominated for Best Music Film, completes her list of nominations.

The case of Swift is the opposite. The artist owes all her nominations to "Folklore," an album released by surprise in the summer, composed and recorded under high secrecy during the COVID-19 lockdown and which has attracted critical acclaim.

Thanks to this work, Swift could win the Grammy for Album of the Year for the third time, a record only held by two artists: Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder.

She aims to win six awards, thanks to the nods obtained for two songs on the album, "Cardigan" and "Exile," featuring Bon Iver, in addition to "Beautiful Ghosts" for the soundtrack of "Cats."

Dua Lipa was the big surprise. Just two years ago, she won the New Artist gong and now she aspires to win in three star categories: Recording, Album and Song of the Year.

"Future Nostalgia," a disco-inspired album featuring anthems such as "Don't Start Now," has catapulted the British woman to global superstardom and could deliver big surprises at the Jan. 31 gala.

Lipa garnered six nominations, the same as Swift and rapper Roddy Ricch, somewhat more unknown outside the US.

Among the other favorites are popular stars such as Post Malone, Justin Bieber, Megan Thee Stallion and Billie Eilish, last year's big winner, but also a host of artists from diverse genres and backgrounds.

The Academy has wanted to open up diversity in the general categories and has included somewhat unexpected works among the candidates: soul by Black Pumas, hip-hop by Jhené Aiko and indie rock by Haim, whose "Women In Music Pt . III" has drawn praise in the alternative music world.