NEW YORK — This year’s Grammy Award nominations are as notable for their snubs as their honorees.
The Spice Girls may have been everywhere in magazines and on television this past year, but they won’t be heading to the stage of Radio City Music Hall when the 40th annual Grammy Awards are presented on Feb. 25. They didn’t earn any of the 460 nominations announced Tuesday.
Elton John’s eulogy of Princess Diana, “Candle in the Wind 1997,” is the best-selling single of all time but wasn’t nominated for song or record of the year. It did earn John a nod for best male pop vocal performance.
Rap impresario Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs earned seven nominations. But despite producing 14 singles on Billboard’s Top 40 last year, he wasn’t among the five nominees for producer of the year.
His best-selling tribute to slain rapper the Notorious B.I.G., “I’ll Be Missing You,” was also shut out of major categories. He was criticized for borrowing heavily from the Police song “Every Breath You Take” for his hit.
Last year’s best new artist, LeAnn Rimes, was shut out of the major categories of song, record and album of the year. So was Jewel. And newcomer Erykah Badu.
“These were the most surprising Grammy Award nominations that I’ve ever seen,” said Thomas O’Neil, author of “The Grammys: For the Record.”
The snubs come three years after the Grammys changed their nomination procedures in response to persistent criticism about honoring the music industry’s most conservative voices. Nominees for the top categories are chosen by a secret screening panel of veteran industry insiders, instead of by a general vote by members of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.
Sentimental Grammy voters like to honor old favorites, and this could be Bob Dylan’s year.
Dylan’s ghostly “Time Out of Mind,” his best sustained work in more than two decades, was nominated for best album and contemporary folk album. His “Cold Irons Bound” also was nominated for best rock vocal performance.
Dylan’s son, Jakob, received three nominations for his work as chief songwriter and singer of the Wallflowers.
At least the two Dylans won’t have to compete directly for a Grammy, unlike the father-and-son team of Julio and Enrique Iglesias. Each received a nomination for best Latin pop performance.
Versatile soul balladeer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, with eight, captured the most Grammy nominations for the second straight year. “The Day” was nominated for album of the year and “Every time I Close My Eyes” won a nod for best male pop vocal performance.
Paula Cole, a featured performer on last summer’s Lilith Fair tour, was a surprising big winner with seven nominations. Her plaintive “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone” earned song and record of the year nominations.
Cole, Badu, Puff Daddy, youthful singer Fiona Apple and teen faves Hanson will compete for the best new artist award. Hanson’s “MMMBop” was a somewhat unexpected record of the year nominee.
Dylan’s “Time Out of Mind” is up for album of the year against Paul McCartney’s “Flaming Pie,” Cole’s “This Fire,” Babyface’s “The Day” and the critically lauded “OK Computer” by Radiohead.
The Grammy Awards ceremony also promises to be somewhat somber, with the Notorious B.I.G., classical conductor Sir Georg Solti, John Denver and newsman Charles Kuralt among the posthumous nominees.
