Blige, Dixie Chicks score Grammy nominations

Singer Mary J. Blige poses during a news conference for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles December 7, 2006.[Reuters]

R&B singer Mary J. Blige led the nominees for the Grammy Awards on Thursday, while country outcasts the Dixie Chicks picked up key nods for a defiant tune stemming from critical comments they made about President George W. Bush.

Blige, the 35-year-old "queen of hip-hop soul," earned eight nominations, followed by the Los Angeles rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers with six.

The Dixie Chicks were one of eight acts with five nominations each. The others were English singer/songwriter James Blunt, singer/guitarist John Mayer, funk veteran Prince, producer Rick Rubin, Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am, Danger Mouse of the duo Gnarls Barkley, and composer John Williams.

Blige is riding high with her current album "The Breakthrough," which has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide. It was not nominated for the coveted album of the year, but the three-time Grammy-winner was cited in such key categories as record and song of the year.

Rock veterans the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who won their lone Grammy in 1993, will compete for album of the year ("Stadium Arcadium") alongside the Dixie Chicks ("Taking the Long Way"), Mayer ("Continuum"), and a pair of four-time nominees, Gnarls Barkley ("St. Elsewhere") and Justin Timberlake ("FutureSex/LoveSounds").

The Dixie Chicks have had a tough few years ever since the Texas trio's lead singer Natalie Maines said during a London concert in 2003 that she was ashamed to come from the same state as Bush. Country radio stations boycotted the group, and sales for "Taking the Long Way" were disappointing. The unrepentant single, "Not Ready to Make Nice," was nominated for both song and record of the year.

Rubin, who produced both the Dixie Chicks and Red Hot Chili Peppers albums, said he viewed the country trio's nominations as a validation of their creative integrity.

"They've told the truth. They didn't 'showbiz' their way out of it," he said of the album's tone.