Blige racks up 8 Grammy nods

It's Mary J. Blige's year. Thursday the R&B veteran received eight Grammy Award nominations, including record and song of the year ("Be Without You") as well as R&B album. On Monday, the 35-year-old singer collected nine trophies at the Billboard Music Awards and last month earned two at the American Music Awards.

Mysteriously, Blige's "The Breakthrough," which has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide and marked a major comeback for the artist, was not nominated for album of the year. Competing for that coveted honor at the 49th annual Grammy Awards are rock 'n' roll survivors the Red Hot Chili Peppers ("Stadium Arcadium"), controversial country trio the Dixie Chicks ("Taking the Long Way"), pop troubadour John Mayer ("Continuum"), rap-pop duo Gnarls Barkley ("St. Elsewhere") and superstar Justin Timberlake ("FutureSex/LoveSounds").

Also conspicuously absent from the album of the year category is Bob Dylan's "Modern Times," which reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts and was widely expected to follow 2002 nominee "Love And Theft" and 1997's Grammy-winning "Time Out of Mind" with a best album nod. Dylan did receive nominations for best solo rock vocal performance, best rock song (both for "Someday Baby"), and best contemporary folk/American album.

To the question of whether anybody on the voting body really thinks that Timberlake's fashionable but forgettable sophomore collection is better than Dylan's deep, elegant meditations, we can only say that music preferences are notoriously unfathomable.

Following Blige's lead with six nominations are the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who despite nearly a quarter-century of commercial and critical success have earned only two Grammys. "Stadium Arcadium," the Chili Peppers' sprawling, ambitious new double album, may well be the unlikely project that lands the California rockers overdue Grammy recognition.

The Dixie Chicks cap a turbulent few years with a triumphant five nominations — including country album of the year, a surprise after lead singer Natalie Maines' disparaging remarks about President Bush, on the eve of the Iraq invasion, sparked country-music radio boycotts and a sharp drop in album sales. This year's rock-oriented "Taking the Long Way," though again largely ignored by country radio, was both an artistic triumph and a strong seller. The album's defiant first single, "Not Ready to Make Nice," was nominated for record and song of the year. Considering the current political mood (and the number of Democrats in the Recording Academy), the Chicks are positioned to win big.