Lil Wayne leads with 8 Grammy nominations

Los Angeles — Lil Wayne — the most prolific, ubiquitous and successful performer on today’s music scene — was the most rewarded by the Recording Academy on Wednesday, receiving eight Grammy nominations including album of the year for “Tha Carter III.”

Following close behind with seven was Coldplay, whose “Viva La Vida” is one of the year’s best-selling CDs. It was in album of the year contention, along with Radiohead’s groundbreaking “In Rainbows”; singer-songwriter Ne-Yo’s “Year of the Gentleman”; and Robert Plant’s collaboration with Alison Krauss, “Raising Sand.”

Nominations were announced in a brand-new format this year, with an hourlong live prime-time CBS concert special that featured a brisk procession of performers and LL Cool J and Taylor Swift as hosts.

Coldplay and Plant & Krauss were also nominated in the coveted record of the year category for the respective songs “Viva La Vida” and “Please Read the Letter.” Other record of the year nominees were British songstress Leona Lewis for “Bleeding Love”; another British newcomer, Adele, for chasing pavement; and M.I.A. for her breakthrough hit, “Paper Planes.”

The Grammy Awards are scheduled for live broadcast on CBS on Feb 8. Last year’s show drew 17.2 million viewers, making it one of the least-watched Grammys and continuing the trend of shrinking awards-show audiences.

Folk music, civil rights legend Odetta dies at 77

New York — Odetta’s monumental voice rang out in August 1963 when she sang “I’m on My Way” at the historic March on Washington, where Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.

She had hoped to perform again in Washington next month when Barack Obama is inaugurated as the nation’s first black president. But the acclaimed folk singer, who influenced generations of musicians and was an icon in the civil rights struggle, died Tuesday after battling heart disease. She was 77.

In spite of failing health, Odetta performed 60 concerts in the last two years, and her singing ability never diminished, manager Doug Yeager said.