Beyonce performs with hubby JayZ

Newcomer Sam Smith joined Beyonce and Pharrell Williams on Friday to lead in nominations for the Grammy Awards, with the music industry’s annual picks weighted toward R&B-influenced artists.

Smith — the British blue-eyed soul singer who emerged in force this year with “Stay With Me,” a ballad about a one-night stand — was tied with Beyonce and Williams for nominations in six categories at music’s most-watched awards.

“What is going on! 6 Grammy nominations. Dear Lord,” Smith wrote on Instagram as he posted a picture of his face somewhere between tears and a grimace.

Sam Smith: surprised

Smith’s debut album “In the Lonely Hour” was nominated for the most prestigious Album of the Year along with the prolific Williams’ “Girl,” which features the globally viral anthem “Happy.”

Beyonce, who won six Grammys in 2010 in one of the awards’ biggest-ever hauls, was also tapped for Album of the Year with her latest, self-titled album, which includes her tune of marital bliss “Drunk in Love” sung with husband Jay Z.

One Grammy surprise was Beck, whose collage-like and sometimes ironic songs have won him a passionate following over two decades but who has often been considered outside the mainstream.

Beck was nominated in four categories including Album of the Year for his introspective “Morning Phase.”

British songwriter Ed Sheeran, who has collaborated with superstar pop acts such as One Direction, was also nominated for Album of the Year for his second studio album “X.”

– Nods to new artists –

The Grammy winners will be announced at a gala ceremony in Los Angeles on February 8.

The nominations, announced throughout the day on US television and Twitter, showed a shift in direction after French electronic duo Daft Punk won last year’s top Grammys. All but one of the nods for Record of the Year, which recognizes songs, went to a white artist heavily influenced by R&B or hip hop.

Here are the nominees in some of the major categories, as announced on Friday.

– Album of the Year –

– Beck, “Morning Phase”

– Beyonce, “Beyonce”

– Ed Sheeran, “X”

– Sam Smith, “In the Lonely Hour”

– Pharrell Williams, “Girl”

– Record of the Year (For Singles) –

– Iggy Azalea, featuring Charli XCX: “Fancy”

– Sia, “Chandelier”

– Sam Smith, “Stay With Me”

– Taylor Swift, “Shake It Off”

– Meghan Trainor, “All About That Bass”

– Song of the Year (For Songwriters) –

– Kevin Kadish and Meghan Trainor, “All About That Bass”

– Sia and Jesse Shatkin, “Chandelier”

– Max Martin, Shellback and Taylor Swift, “Shake It Off”

– Jimmy Napes, William Phillips and Sam Smith, “Stay With Me”

– Hozier, “Take Me to Church”

– Best New Artist –

– Iggy Azalea

– Bastille

– Brandy Clark

– Haim

– Sam Smith

– Best Pop Solo Performance –

– John Legend, “All of Me”

– Sia, “Chandelier”

– Sam Smith, “Stay With Me”

– Taylor Swift, “Shake It Off”

– Pharrell Williams, “Happy”

– Best Rock Album –

– Ryan Adams, “Ryan Adams”

– Beck, “Morning Phase”

– The Black Keys, “Turn Blue”

– Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “Hypnotic Eye”

– U2, “Songs of Innocence”

– Best Rap Album –

– Iggy Azalea, “The New Classic”

– Childish Gambino, “Because the Internet”

– Common, “Nobody’s Smiling”

– Eminem, “The Marshall Mathers LP 2”

– Schoolboy Q, “Oxymoron”

– Wiz Khalifa, “Blacc Hollywood”

– Best Dance/Electronic Album –

– Aphex Twin, “Syro”

– Deadmau5, “while (1<2)" - Little Dragon, "Nabuma Rubberband" - Royksopp & Robyn, "Do It Again" - Mat Zo, "Damage Control" – Best Alternative Music Album –

– Alt-J, “This Is All Yours”

– Arcade Fire, “Reflektor”

– Cage The Elephant, “Melophobia”

– St. Vincent, “St. Vincent”

– Jack White, “Lazaretto”