Beyonce praises ‘queen’ Linda Martell for Grammy nomination

Beyonce has congratulated country music “queen” Linda Martell for her Grammy nod after dominating the award nominations herself.

The US singer, 43, led the pack with 11 nominations for her chart-topping country music album Cowboy Carter, which marked the follow-up to Renaissance, act one of a planned trilogy.

In a post to Instagram, Beyonce congratulated Martell, who is nominated for best melodic rap performance alongside her and Shaboozey with the single Spaghettii.

Martell also delivers a spoken-word segment on track The Linda Martell Show from the same album.

Beyonce made history during the Grammys ceremony in 2023, securing the most awards won in a lifetime after picking up her 32nd gong.

However, the star has never won the prestigious album of the year prize.

This year, Cowboy Carter has secured nods for album of the year and best country album while track Texas Hold ‘Em is up for the coveted record of the year, song of the year and country song of the year.

Tracks from the album include Bodyguard, which was nominated for best pop solo performance, and Levii’s Jeans featuring Post Malone, which is up for best pop duo performance, while 16 Carriages received a nod for best country solo performance and II Most Wanted featuring Miley Cyrus is up for best country duo.

Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish are among those with seven nominations each while Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan each scored six nods at the female-dominated nominations.

Elsewhere, Sabrina Carpenter’s slew of nods included a song of the year nomination for Please Please Please.

Her boyfriend, Saltburn star Barry Keoghan, who starred in the song’s music video, reacted to her nods on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show.

He said: “I’m really happy for her, obviously.

“I don’t know anyone who works as hard, I’m in awe watching her work and how committed and the standards that she sets.”

Swift’s surprise double album The Tortured Poets Department will compete for album of the year, with her track featuring Post Malone titled Fortnight up for record of the year and song of the year.

It comes after Swift made Grammy history in February as the first person to win album of the year four times.

The US star used her acceptance speech at the ceremony to announce the release of her 11th studio album, which saw her become the most-streamed artist in a single day on streaming platform Spotify.

The Grammy nominations on Friday also saw US star Eilish nominated in the top categories for her third studio album Hit Me Hard And Soft, which is up for album of the year.

The fourth track on the record, titled Birds Of A Feather, scored nods for record of the year and song of the year.

Eilish reposted a statement from her brother Finneas on Instagram following the nominations that said: “So many people I love and respect nominated for Grammys today, congratulations to all of you and know that I feel very honoured to be amongst you.”

The nominations also contained a host of British stars, including Charli XCX, whose sixth studio album Brat, which inspired a summer trend, is competing in the album of the year category.

Her track 360 is also up for record of the year while her duet with Eilish titled Guess secured a nod for best pop duo performance.

The Beatles Now And Then track is also up for record of the year while British star Raye received nods for best new artist and songwriter of the year non-classical.

She shared a video of herself crying after receiving news of the nominations, writing: “God knows all it took to get here. This is too much. I can’t stop crying.”

Raye will compete with breakout star Roan in the new artist category.

Roan’s album The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess features in the album of the year category while her track Good Luck, Babe! is up for record and song of the year.

The two will also compete against Carpenter for best new artist. Her hit Espresso is up record of the year and her album Short N’ Sweet received an album of the year nod.

Only recordings commercially released in the US between September 16 2023 to August 30 2024 are eligible for nominations for the 2025 ceremony.

The annual awards show will take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 2 next year.