Grammy nominations: Sam Smith, Beyonce get top nods

Sam Smith won’t be lonely on Grammy night.

The British soul singer is the tenth artist in Grammy history – and the first since fun. in 2012 – to land nominations in the top four Grammy categories. His debut “In the Lonely Hour” and his smash single “Stay With Me” follow the tried-and-true Grammy-attracting formula of modernizing classic sounds and it has paid off handsomely.

Smith landed six nominations, including record of the year, album of the year, song of the year and best new artist. He will compete with Beyonce – who also landed six nominations, making her the most nominated woman in Grammy history with 53 nods in her career – for album of the year, alongside Beck's "Morning Phase," Ed Sheeran's "X" and Pharrell's "GIRL."

In the record of the year category, Smith’s “Stay With Me” is taking on “Fancy” from Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX, Sia’s “Chandelier,” Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” and Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass.” In the song of the year category, Smith, Sia, Swift and Trainor will square off again, along with Hozier's "Take Me to Church.”

Smith will compete for best new artist with Azalea, Bastille, Brandy Clark and Haim. In the best pop vocal album category, his “In the Lonely Hour” album battles Coldplay’s “Ghost Stories,” Miley Cyrus’ “Bangerz,” Ariana Grande’s “My Everything,” Katy Perry’s “Prism” and Sheeran’s “X.”

“Dream come true,” Smith said after he landed the album of the year nomination.

The surprise “Beyonce” album, one of the year’s biggest sellers, also landed a nomination in the best urban contemporary album category and the best surround sound album category, while the single “Drunk in Love” is up for best R&B performance, best R&B song. “Beyonce & Jay Z: On the Run Tour” is nominated for best music film.

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Miranda Lambert, who landed four nominations, is competing in the best country album category with Dierks Bentley’s “Riser,” Eric Church’s “The Outsiders,” Brandy Clark’s “12 Stories” and Lee Ann Womack’s “The Way I’m Livin’.”

Syosset native Idina Menzel’s omnipresent sing-along “Let It Go” landed a best song written for visual media nomination, and the soundtrack to “Frozen” snared a best compilation soundtrack nomination. Southold’s Brady Rymer and The Little Band That Could picked up a nomination in the best children’s album category for their “Just Say Hi!” album. "Yahoo for the little bands!" Rymer said after hearing of the nomination. "I'm honored to be included in such great company. I'm looking forward to walking the red carpet and bringing my family to L.A. for the big celebration in February."

The Recording Academy sorted through 20,000 entries released between Oct. 1, 2013 and Sept. 30, 2014. The winners will be announced on Feb. 8.