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Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, George Strait Among Leading Grammy Nominees

Lady Antebellum in Best New Artist Category

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss earned five Grammy nominations on Wednesday night (Dec. 3), including record of the year ("Please Read the Letter") and album of the year (Raising Sand) in the all-genre categories. The unlikely duo also secured nominations for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals ("Rich Woman"), best country collaboration with vocals ("Killing the Blues") and best contemporary folk/Americana album. Some of the nominations were announced during a prime-time Grammy concert on CBS.

Last year, Plant and Krauss won a Grammy for best pop collaboration with vocals for "Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)." Krauss has won more Grammy Awards than any woman in history, with 21. Plant's only other Grammy win was in 1998 for best hard rock performance with Jimmy Page.

George Strait landed four nominations -- best male country vocal performance ("Troubadour") and best country album (Troubadour), as well as two nods for best country collaboration with vocals ("Shiftwork" with Kenny Chesney and "House of Cash" with Patty Loveless). In a career stretching back to 1981, Strait has never won a Grammy.

Jamey Johnson, Jennifer Nettles and Trisha Yearwood each received three nominations. Johnson is up for best male country vocal performance ("In Color"), as a songwriter for best country song ("In Color") and as best country album (That Lonesome Song). As a songwriter, Nettles earned a best country song nomination for "Stay." As a member of Sugarland, she's nominated for best country performance by a duo or group with vocals for "Stay" and for best country collaboration with vocals for "Life in a Northern Town" with Little Big Town and Jake Owen. Yearwood is vying for best female country vocal performance ("This Is Me You're Talking To"), best country collaboration with vocals ("Let the Wind Chase You" with Keith Urban) and best country album (Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love).

Lady Antebellum earned a Grammy nomination for best new artist. They will compete against Adele, Duffy, Jonas Brothers and Jazmine Sullivan. They will also compete in the category of best country performance by a duo or group with vocals. Other double nominees in the country categories were bluegrass band Cherryholmes, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Patty Loveless, James Otto (as a singer and a songwriter) and Brad Paisley, as well as Nashville songwriters Ashley Gorley and Lee Thomas Miller.

Additional nominees include Trace Adkins, Brooks & Dunn, Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Charlie Louvin, Kathy Mattea, Martina McBride, Del McCoury Band, Rascal Flatts, LeAnn Rimes, Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, the SteelDrivers, Randy Travis, Dan Tyminski, Carrie Underwood and Lee Ann Womack.

In addition, the best country instrumental category includes nominees James Burton, Vince Gill, Lloyd Green, Charlie Haden, Bruce Hornsby, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Pat Metheny, Redd Volkaert and Steve Wariner. Songwriters Rodney Clawson, Monty Criswell, Wade Kirby and Bob Regan also earned nominations.

Kid Rock's Rock N Roll Jesus was nominated for best rock album. His hit, "All Summer Long," is up for best male pop vocal performance, along with James Taylor's cover of the country classic, "Wichita Lineman." The Eagles earned nominations for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals ("Waiting in the Weeds"), best rock performance by a duo or group with vocals ("Long Road Out of Eden") and best pop vocal album (Long Road Out of Eden).

The Grammys will take place on Feb. 8, 2009.

View photos from the Grammy Nominations Concert

Grammy Nominations in Country Categories

Best Female Country Vocal Performance

(For a solo vocal performance. Singles or tracks only.)

• "For These Times"

Martina McBride

Track from: Waking Up Laughing

• "What I Cannot Change"

LeAnn Rimes

Track from: Family

• "Last Name"

Carrie Underwood

Track from: Carnival Ride

• "Last Call"

Lee Ann Womack

• "This Is Me You're Talking To"

Trisha Yearwood

Track from: Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love

Best Male Country Vocal Performance

(For a solo vocal performance. Singles or tracks only.)

• "You're Gonna Miss This"

Trace Adkins

Track from: American Man, Greatest Hits Volume II

• "In Color"

Jamey Johnson

• "Just Got Started Lovin' You"

James Otto

Track from: Sunset Man

• "Letter to Me"

Brad Paisley

Track from: 5th Gear

• "Troubadour"

George Strait

Track from: Troubadour

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals

(For established duos or groups with vocals. Singles or tracks only.)

• "God Must Be Busy"

Brooks & Dunn

Track from: Cowboy Town

• "Love Don't Live Here"

Lady Antebellum

Track from: Lady Antebellum

• "Every Day"

Rascal Flatts

Track from: Still Feels Good

• "Blue Side of the Mountain"

SteelDrivers

Track from: The SteelDrivers

• "Stay"

Sugarland

Track from: Enjoy the Ride

Best Country Collaboration With Vocals

(For a collaborative performance, with vocals, by artists who do not normally perform together. Singles or tracks only.)

• "Shiftwork"

Kenny Chesney & George Strait

Track from: Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates

• "Killing the Blues"

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Track from: Raising Sand

• "House of Cash"

George Strait & Patty Loveless

Track from: Troubadour

• "Life in a Northern Town"

Sugarland, Jake Owen & Little Big Town

Track from: Love on the Inside [Deluxe Fan Edition]

• "Let the Wind Chase You"

Trisha Yearwood & Keith Urban

Track from: Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love

Best Country Instrumental Performance

(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, without vocals. Singles or tracks only.)

• "Sumatra"

Cherryholmes

Track from: Cherryholmes III: Don't Believe

• "Two Small Cars in Rome"

Jerry Douglas & Lloyd Green

Track from: Glide

• "Sleigh Ride"

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones

Track from: Jingle All the Way

• "Is This America? (Katrina 2005)"

Charlie Haden, Pat Metheny, Jerry Douglas & Bruce Hornsby

Track from: Family & Friends -- Rambling Boy

• "Cluster Pluck"

Brad Paisley, James Burton, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert & Steve Wariner

Best Country Song

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

• "Dig Two Graves"

Ashley Gorley & Bob Regan, songwriters (Randy Travis)

Track from: Around the Bend

• "I Saw God Today"

Rodney Clawson, Monty Criswell & Wade Kirby, songwriters (George Strait)

Track from: Troubadour

• "In Color"

Jamey Johnson, Lee Thomas Miller & James Otto, songwriters (Jamey Johnson)

Track from: That Lonesome Song

• "Stay"

Jennifer Nettles, songwriter (Sugarland)

Track from: Enjoy the Ride

• "You're Gonna Miss This"

Ashley Gorley & Lee Thomas Miller, songwriters (Trace Adkins)

Track from: American Man, Greatest Hits Volume II

Best Country Album

(Vocal or Instrumental.)

That Lonesome Song

Jamey Johnson

Sleepless Nights

Patty Loveless

Troubadour

George Strait

Around the Bend

Randy Travis

Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love

Trisha Yearwood

Best Bluegrass Album

(Vocal or Instrumental.)

Cherryholmes III: Don't Believe

Cherryholmes

Del McCoury Band -- Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

Del McCoury Band

The Ultimate Collection/Live at the Ryman

Earl Scruggs With Family & Friends

Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

Wheels

Dan Tyminski

Best Traditional Folk Album

(Vocal or Instrumental.)

Coal

Kathy Mattea

Comedians & Angels

Tom Paxton

Bring Me Home

Peggy Seeger

At 89

Pete Seeger

Strangers in Another Country

Rosalie Sorrels

Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album

(Vocal or Instrumental.)

Day After Tomorrow

Joan Baez

I, Flathead

Ry Cooder

Sex & Gasoline

Rodney Crowell

All I Intended to Be

Emmylou Harris

Raising Sand

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

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