Stars line up for Grammy Awards

Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams and Macklemore and Lewis are among the stars who will be vying for glory when the prestigious Grammy Awards are handed out later, the BBC reports.

The Los Angeles ceremony is the biggest night in the US music calendar.

Rap giant Jay-Z leads the field with nine nominations, while pop hitmaker Williams and hip-hop duo Macklemore and Lewis are among the acts with seven.

British nominees include Ed Sheeran, James Blake and Sir Paul McCartney, who will perform at the event.

The ceremony is known for its heavyweight on-stage collaborations and this year's highlights will include Daft Punk, Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams being joined by Stevie Wonder to perform their hit Get Lucky.

Queens of the Stone Age will join forces with Nine Inch Nails, Dave Grohl and Lindsey Buckingham are to close the show, while Jay-Z is expected to duet with his wife Beyonce.

Jay-Z has the most nominations, up for awards including best rap song and best rap album. But he was left out of the three main categories - song, record and album of the year.

Rapper Macklemore and producer Ryan Lewis, who found fame after self-releasing their album The Heist, are up for awards including album of the year, best new artist and song of the year for Same Love.

Pharrell Williams is listed twice for record of the year and twice for album of the year thanks to his work with Daft Punk, Robin Thicke and Kendrick Lamar.

LA rapper Lamar also has seven nominations including album of the year for Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, plus best rap album, best rap performance and best new artist.

Justin Timberlake has seven nominations including best pop solo performance and best R&B song - but he was shut out of the main three categories.

Other leading contenders include 17-year-old New Zealand singer Lorde, who is up for record of the year, song of the year and best pop solo performance for her hit Royals.

There are five nominations each for Canadian hip-hop star Drake and mastering engineer Bob Ludwig, who is rewarded for his work with Daft Punk and the Rolling Stones.

The Rolling Stones will go up against Sir Paul McCartney in the best rock song category.

The Stones' Doom And Gloom, from their 50th anniversary album GRRR!, is up against Cut Me Some Slack, a collaboration between Sir Paul and the surviving members of Nirvana.

The other nominees in that category are veteran metal band Black Sabbath, stadium rockers Muse and US singer-guitarist Gary Clark Jr, the only non-British nominee on that shortlist.

Black Sabbath have two more nods - for best rock album and metal performance.

Meanwhile, two of the five nominees for best new artist are Brits - Mercury Prize winner James Blake and singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.

Rock legend David Bowie's comeback has earned nominations for best rock performance and best rock album. In both categories, fellow veterans Led Zeppelin are also nominated thanks to a live album recorded at their reunion concert in 2007.

Other British contenders include Calvin Harris, who is up for best dance/electronica album for 18 Months and best dance recording for Sweet Nothing with Florence and the Machine's Florence Welch.

UK acts Duke Dumont and Disclosure are also named in the dance categories, while Adele's James Bond theme Skyfall is in the running for one of the soundtrack awards.