2013 Grammys Guide: For Your Eyes and Ears

En español | Taylor Swift is just 22, but 2013 marks the fourth time she's been in the running at the Grammys. Swift has won six trophies since her first nomination as Best New Artist in 2008. She mines her love life for many of her catchiest pop country tunes. And she holds a grudge: Her nominated song is "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." Ed Sheeran, 21, a singing, songwriting Brit who is Swift's opening act on her 2013 tour, had a big hit with the ballad "The A Team."

Was there anyone with whom Jay-Z, 43, didn't work last year? The prolific artist and producer's six nominations include collaborations with no less than six different artists, including West, 35 (pictured with girlfriend Kim Kardashian, 32). Jay-Z's wife, Beyoncé, 31 (recently named the most beautiful woman of the century by GQ), scored a Best R&B Performance nomination for "Love On Top."

The group has been together since 1994, but it has rocketed to new heights of popularity off 33-year-old front man Adam Levine's work as a judge on NBC's The Voice and their 2011 hit "Moves Like Jagger." The band's Overexposed is up for Best Pop Album and featured singles "One More Night" and "Payphone," the latter of which is nominated as Best Pop Group/Duo Performance.

More than a decade since becoming the first winner of American Idol, the Texan pop star is now 30 and already has two Grammys on her mantle. "Stronger," her air-punch inspiring anthem about resiliency after a break-up, is a contender in three categories — Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.

The New Orleans native, 25, burst onto the music scene in 2012 with his debut album Channel Orange. With a classic R&B voice and sound that brings to mind a young Marvin Gaye, Ocean gives the genre a next-gen electronica jolt on songs like the nominated "Thinkin Bout You."

Though Canadians may have been familiar with the 27-year-old singer after her third-place finish on Canadian Idol in 2007, she was an unknown to U.S. music fans as the year began. "Call Me Maybe" changed that. The insanely catchy tune (you're humming it right now, aren't you?) inspired countless YouTube cover versions by everyone from the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team to Sesame Street's Cookie Monster. It's up for Best Pop Song.

It's hard to argue with the band's name (besides that weird punctuation) after hearing party tunes like "We Are Young," and "Some Nights," both of which hovered near the top of the iTunes charts this year. Up for Best New Artist and five other Grammys, lead singer Nate Ruess, 30, and bandmates are joined on the nominated "We Are Young" by R& B singer Monae, 27 (near left), known to some audiences from her ads for Sonos speakers.

Both halves of country's hottest married couple — they sang "America The Beautiful" together at the Super Bowl last February — are up for Grammys this year. Shelton, 36, one of the judge's on NBC's The Voice, is in the running for Best Country Solo Performance for "Over." Lambert, 29, is nominated in Best Country Album for Four the Record.

The fun-loving Ohio garage rock duo (that's Dan Auerbach, 33, and Patrick Carney, 32, dressed as babies) draw on influences from Skynyrd to the Stones. Their album El Camino was a smash, their first-ever arena tour drew throngs, and they're in the running for five Grammys, including Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song.

It was a tumultuous year for dance music titans Redfoo, 37, and SkyBlu, 26. In February, the duo sang their Grammy-nominated hit "Sexy and I Know It" with Madonna during the Super Bowl halftime show. The tune is up for Best Pop/Duo Group Performance. In September, they announced a "hiatus" amid rumors of discord.

It's pronounced Got-ee-yay, and it's the stage name of 32-year-old Belgian singer Wouter De Backer. His big hit this year (with the help of New Zealand singer Kimbra, 22) was the crazily catchy "Somebody That I Used To Know." It dominated the iTunes charts for months, scored a Best Pop/Duo Group Performance nomination, and is the rare pop hit to prominently feature the xylophone.

The Southern quartet fuses blues and soul on hooky head-bobbers like the Grammy-nominated "Hold On," which is up for Best Rock Performance. In 2012, they released their debut album, Boys and Girls, closed out the opening night at Bonnaroo and also snagged a Best New Artist Grammy nomination. Not a bad year.

The Motor City native, 37 — and heir to the guitar god throne of Clapton, Hendrix and Page — released Blunderbuss, his first solo album, in 2012. It's up for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album. White delivers catchy riffs and guitar licks galore: Throw on some headphones and crank up "Freedom at 21," nominated for Best Rock Song, for proof.

Since their formation in 2007, this quartet of Englishmen has been unspooling a toe-tapping, knee-slapping brand of American bluegrass on tunes like the nominated "I Will Wait." They credit their love for American roots music to their youthful discovery of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. The film came out in 2000, when front man Marcus Mumford (in vest) was just 13.

Brit Florence Welch, 26, has a powerful voice that recalls some of the greatest women of rock — Kate Bush, Ann Wilson and Grace Slick (whom she has cited as an influence), just to name a few. In 2011, Florence and The Machine was up for a Grammy as Best New Artist, but lost out to Esperanza Spalding. This year, "Shake It Out" is nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, while Ceremonials is in the race for Best Pop Album.

His No. 1 single "Springsteen" isn't about the legendary rocker, but a summer romance that happened at the height of Bruce's mid-'80s Born in the USA popularity. Chief, Church's third album, became the 35-year-old's first to reach the top spot on the country charts. "Springsteen" is up for Best Country Performance and Best Country Song.

A couple of masters still producing great, new work after all these years, Springsteen and Sir Paul each scored multiple Grammy noms. At 63, Bruce is up for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for the angry anthem "We Take Care of Our Own," while McCartney, 70, is in the Best Traditional Pop Album category for his cheekily titled Kisses on the Bottom, plus two more for the 40th anniversary reissue of Ram.

... OK, trick question. Justin Timberlake wasn't in the running. But he did debut his new album on the Grammy telecast, and by many accounts, the performance was a highlight. Relive the night with our Grammy Awards Showcase slideshow.