Nominations for the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards were announced recently by The Recording Academy. Kanye West topped the nominations with eight, Amy Winehouse garnered six, and the Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and T-Pain each earned five nods.

For Gospel music the top nods went to Casting Crowns with three nominations for Best Gospel Performance, Best Gospel Song, and Best Pop/Contemporary Album. Israel and New Breed received two nominations for Best Gospel Performance and Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.

The Clark Sisters was also nominated as well as their cousin J Moss keeping the award nominations coming for that talented family.


"The GRAMMY Awards process once again has yielded a comprehensive group of excellent nominees and coupled with the fact that it's our milestone 50th year, this year's telecast promises music fans a spectacular show filled with stellar performances and unique GRAMMY Moments," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy in a recent press release.

A partial list is below...for a complete list of all the nominations log on to www.grammy.com

Best Gospel Performance
(For solo, duo, group as collaborative performances. Singles or tracks with vocal containing Gospel lyrics. All genres of Gospel music are eligible.)

East To West
Casting Crowns
Track from: The Altar And The Door
[Beach Street Records/Reunion Records]


Blessed & Highly Favored
The Clark Sisters
Track from: Live - One Last Time
[EMI Gospel]


Never Gonna Break My Faith
Aretha Franklin & Mary J. Blige (Featuring The Harlem Boys Choir)
Track from: Bobby: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
[Island Def Jam]


With Long Life
Israel And New Breed Featuring T-Bone
Track from: A Deeper Level
[Integrity Music]


He Set My Life To Music
CeCe Winans
Track from: She Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool - A Tribute To Barbara Mandrell
[BNA Records]



Best Gospel Song
(A Songwriter(s) Award. For Song Eligibility Guidelines see Category #3. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)

Blessed & Highly Favored
Karen Clark-Sheard, songwriter (The Clark Sisters)
Track from: Live - One Last Time
[EMI Gospel; Publisher: K. Sheard's Melody]


East To West
Mark Hall & Bernie Herms, songwriters (Casting Crowns)
Track from: The Altar And The Door
[Beach Street Records/Reunion Records; Publishers: Club Zoo Music, Sparrow Song, Swecs Music, Banahama Tunes/Word Music]


Encourage Yourself
Donald Lawrence, songwriter (Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers)
Track from: The Grand Finale: Encourage Yourself
[EMI Gospel; Publishers: QW Songs/Zomba Publishing]


Made To Love
Cary Barlowe, Toby McKeehan, Jamie Moore & Aaron Rice, songwriters (TobyMac)
Track from: Portable Sounds
[ForeFront Records; Publishers: Achtober Songs/Emack Music/Lowe Bar Music/Jammu Music/Rizzle Music]


Praise On The Inside
James L. Moss, songwriter (J. Moss)
[Gospo Centric; Publisher: Millenni-era Music]

Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

Before The Daylight's Shot
Ashley Cleveland
[204 Records]


HIStory: Our Place In His Story
The Cross Movement
[Cross Movement Records]


Open Book
Da' T.R.U.T.H.
[Cross Movement Records]


The Reckoning
Pillar
[Flicker Records]


Comatose
Skillet
[Atlantic/Lava/Ardent/INO]