Mary J. Blige Leads the Grammy Pack

With Thursday's announcement of the 49th annual Grammy Awards nominees, R&B star Mary J. Blige shined as the top contender with a total of eight nominations.

The singer, whose album The Breakthrough has been certified double platinum, picked up five nominations in the R&B category. Blige faces off against Natalie Cole, Beyonce, India Arie and personal friend Mariah Carey for best female R&B vocal performance.

Blige is also nominated in two of the ceremony's top categories, song of the year and record of the year. Also nominated for record of the year are "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt, "Not Ready to Make Nice" by the Dixie Chicks, "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley and "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Rae.

Album of the year nominees include the Dixie Chicks' Taking the Long Way, Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere, John Mayer's Continuum, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium and Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds.

The Dixie Chicks, will.i.am., Danger Mouse, Rick Rubin, Prince, John Mayer, James Blunt and John Williams also took five nominations each.

The ceremony will air live Feb. 11 from Los Angeles.