Carey, Morissette Lead Grammy Nominations Gunther Schuller Nominated For Classical Composition

The young Canadian singer Alanis Morissette and pop diva Mariah Carey received six Grammy nominations each on Thursday and will face off for the album of the year award.

Morissette’s acclaimed “Jagged Little Pill” also was nominated for best rock album. Her brutally raw song about a relationship gone bad, “You Oughta Know,” will compete for song of the year, best rock song and best female rocker performance.

The 21-year-old native of Ottawa, who sings with an intensity reminiscent of Janis Joplin, also was nominated for best new artist.

“It feels good to know that my songs have affected people along the way,” she said in a statement.

Carey’s song “Fantasy” was nominated for best female pop vocal performance. Her song “Always Be My Baby” will compete for best female R&B vocal performance. And “One Sweet Day,” a duet with Boyz II Men, was nominated for record of the year and best pop collaboration with vocals.

Carey’s album “Daydream” was nominated album of the year and best pop album.

Rounding out the album of the year category are Michael Jackson’s “HIStory Past, Present and Future Book I,” Joan Osborne’s “Relish” and Pearl Jam’s “Vitalogy.”

Osborne got five nominations, as did singer-songwriter Babyface and songwriter Glenn Ballard, who co-wrote “You Oughta Know” and other songs on Morissette’s album.

The winners will be selected by the 7,000 voting members of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and will be announced Feb. 28.

Hootie & the Blowfish, whose debut album “Cracked Rear View” was 1995’s biggest seller at 10 million copies, received only two nominations, for best new artist and best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal. The album itself was not eligible because it was released in the summer of 1994.

In the best rock album category, Pearl Jam’s “Vitalogy” is pitted against Neil Young’s “Mirror Ball,” on which Pearl Jam sang backup. Also in the running are Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill,” Tom Petty’s “Wildfire” and Chris Isaak’s “Forever Blue.”

In the classical contemporary composition category, Gunther Schuller, artistic director for Festival at Sandpoint and former conductor for the Spokane Sympony, was nominated for “Schuller: Of Reminiscences And Reflections.”