Grammy Nominations Announced: Kanye West and Adele Lead the Pack

The 2012 Grammy nominations have been announced during a special concert on CBS, and, as usual, there are plenty of no-brainers and a handful of surprises. And, of course, a performance by Lady Gaga that made us go, "Hmm, OK, that's happening."

With all the nominees revealed, Kanye West leads the pack with seven total nominations, though he was surprisingly snubbed for the prestigious Album of the Year category for his excellent 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' LP (It's up for Best Rap Album). His biggest nod is for 'All of the Lights,' which is up for Song of the Year, as well as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Rap Song. His collaboration with Jay-Z, 'Watch the Throne,' was nominated for Best Rap Album, and their track 'Otis' is up for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.

Adele, meanwhile, is up for six, including three of the big four: Song and Record of the Year for 'Rolling in the Deep' and Album for '21,' the highest-selling LP of the year. She previously won Best New Artist in 2009.

To recap the evening's festivities: The first category announced was Record of the Year, which goes to the performer and production team behind the song. Adele got the no-brainer nod for 'Rolling in the Deep' and Bon Iver (pronounced Bon Eye-Vare by presenter Nicki Minaj) were recognized for 'Holocene' from their self-titled second album (we admit we didn't really see that coming, though we love it). British folk act Mumford and Sons were nominated for 'The Cave,' which also surprised us because they were nominated last year for Best New Artist and Best Rock Song for 'Little Lion Man.' (Every year, we forget the Grammy rules. Every. Year.) Bruno Mars and Katy Perry rounded out the nominees with their respective tracks 'Grenade' and 'Firework.'

Song of the Year, which goes to the songwriter or songwriting team, featured four of the same nominees: Adele, Bon Iver, Bruno Mars and Mumford and Sons. The "newcomer" in this category was Kanye for 'All of the Lights.'

Next up was the category that always leads to plenty of contention: Best New Artist (Last year, jazz artist Esperanza Spalding shockingly won the trophy over Mumford and Sons, Florence and the Machine, Drake and Justin Bieber). This year's nominees include pop-country act the Band Perry, Bon Iver (getting nods for their second album), rapper J. Cole, pop-rapper Nicki Minaj and one of the biggest names in the DJ world, Skrillex. As usual, it seems like a toss-up.

In a moving tribute to the late Jerry Leiber, one half of legendary songwriting duo Leiber and Stoller, Usher, Valerie Simpson and Mike Stoller performed a moving medley of 'You're All I Need' and 'Stand by Me.' The partners also wrote such classics as 'Hound Dog,' 'Yakety Yak' and 'Kansas City.'

The final category announced for this evening's show was Album of the Year, and there were a few surprises there as well. Lady Gaga (who, following the announcement, returned to the stage to perform with Sugarland) is up for 'Born This Way,' Foo Fighters could win for 'Wasting Light' and Rihanna got a nod for 'Loud.' Adele and Bruno Mars rounded out the nominations with '21' (again, shocker!) and 'Doo-Wops & Hooligans,' respectively.

In the Best Rock Performance AND Best Rock Song categories, the identical list of nominees is as follows: Coldplay for 'Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall,' the Decemberists for 'Down by the Water,' Foo Fighters for 'Walk,' Mumford and Sons for 'The Cave' and Radiohead for 'Lotus Flower,' which makes us hope we can see some of Thom Yorke's amazing dance moves at this year's ceremony.

Foo Fighters are also up for Best Rock Album for 'Wasting Light,' alongside Jeff Beck ('Rock 'N' Roll Party Honoring Les Paul'), Kings of Leon ('Come Around Sundown'), Red Hot Chili Peppers ('I'm With You') and Wilco ('The Whole Love').

Best Alternative Album will be awarded to one of the following: Bon Iver ('Bon Iver'), Death Cab for Cutie ('Codes and Keys'), Foster the People ('Torches'), My Morning Jacket ('Circuital') and Radiohead ('The King of Limbs').

The 2012 Grammy Awards will air on Sunday, Feb. 12 on CBS at 8PM ET.

See the Full List of 2012 Grammy Nominees

Adele Performs 'Rolling in the Deep' on Sessions