The group had come under heavy criticism for an insular, secretive process of specialist committees that pared down huge fields of potential nominees to a final, select few in most of the Grammys' dozens of categories. This year's roster is the first since the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy Awards, made significant alterations to the nominations process. The leading nominee for this year is bandleader, pianist and composer Jon Batiste, who was nominated in 11 dizzyingly wide-flung categories, including Album of the Year (for his album We Are), Record of the Year (for the song "Freedom"), Best R&B Album (also for We Are), Best Jazz Instrumental Album (for his album of music from and inspired by the Disney/Pixar film Soul), Best American Roots Song ("Cry") and Best Contemporary Classical Composition, for his piece Movement 11'.
Nominees for the 64th annual Grammy Awards were announced on Tuesday. Jon Batiste, shown performing at Global Citizen Live: New York earlier this year, was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards.