New York's Fun. rises to get 6 Grammy nods

Fun. capped off an incredible year with a sold-out hometown show at Radio City Music Hall on Saturday night that showed how far the New York trio has come.

It was last year's Super Bowl Chevy commercial that launched the band's "We Are Young" into the iTunes stratosphere. Now, Fun. goes into Grammy night Sunday with six nominations, including the top four categories -- album, record, and song of the year, and best new artist.

However, considering the wild heroes' welcome they received, Fun. has already won.

Fun.'s "Some Nights" album features one ambitious anthem after another, crafting multigenre sing-alongs around the upbeat themes of celebration and support. In concert, Fun. is augmented not only by an impressive band -- including Long Island's Will Noon (of Straylight Run fame) on drums -- but also by its fans. Singer Nate Ruess is happy to lead them, often pumping his fists in the air like he's leading the crowd to storm The Bastille, especially during the thunderous single "Carry On."

It's just part of Fun.'s artistic growth spurt. After all, the difference between the masterful, experimental "One Foot" -- which combines hip-hop rhythms, rock guitar, tinkling piano and Ruess' soaring vocals -- and "All the Pretty Girls," a simple rocker from its debut with shades of REO Speedwagon, is huge. The way Fun. twisted the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" into something that easily fits into its set shows the growth is far from over.