Beyonce became the most-nominated female artist in Grammy award history, as she received a leading nine nods this year, followed closely by Drake, Rihanna and Kanye West with eight nominations each. 

Beyonce's haul of nine included album, song and record of the year-- the top three Grammy accolades, for her hit song "Formation" and visual album "Lemonade," a collection of songs about race, feminism and empowerment. The R&B singer has been nominated 62 times in Grammy history and has won 20 Grammy awards over her career spanning two decades.

British singer Adele is also up for the top three awards with her hit ballad "Hello" and album "25" and has a total of five nominations. The singer previously swept all three top categories in 2012 with her "19" album.

Canadian pop star Justin Bieber's "Purpose," Canadian hip hop star Drake's "Views" and country music singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson's "A Sailor's Guide To Earth" rounded out the contenders of album of the year.

The Grammy Awards are the top U.S. music honors and each year, members of the music industry choose nominees and winners across more than 80 categories.

This year's winners will be announced at a star-studded televised ceremony in Los Angeles on Feb. 12.

Other record of the year contenders include Lukas Graham's "7 Years," Rihanna's "Work" and Twenty One Pilots' "Stressed Out."

Chance The Rapper landed seven nominations including the best new artist category, in which the 23-year-old Chicago native is up against pop duo The Chainsmokers, California rapper Anderson Paak and country music singers Kelsea Ballerini and Maren Morris.

Late British singer David Bowie, who died in January two days after the release of his final album "Blackstar," received four nominations including best alternative album.