New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne took home the most nominations for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards—eight total! Wayne was rewarded for his hit 2008 album Tha Carter III, which spawned hits like “A Milli” and “Lollipop.” Although Wayne has been in the rap running for over a decade, it was Tha Carter III that tipped him over onto the mainstream, and collaborations on other artists' albums this year only helped his cause. Tha Carter III is the year's top seller with 2.7 million copies sold, and was the only album to sell one million copies in its first week. Help Lil Wayne celebrate his best year in music by seeing him perform live; check out http://www.stubhub.com for Lil Wayne tickets.



Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., aka Lil Wayne, grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans' 17th Ward and became inducted to the Cash Money Collectives fold as a teenager. When Wayne was 18 he made his recording debut on the Hot Boys album Get It How U Live! (1997) along with Juvenile, B.I.G. and Turk (he was the youngest group member) and appeared on one more Hot Boys disc before stepping out solo for 1999's Tha Block Is Hot. The album went double platinum but was followed by a less successful sophomore solo effort, 2000's Lights Out. 2002's 500 Degreez was also only moderately successful, and Wayne subsequently decided to postpone working on his fourth album in favor of releasing the first in a string of underground mixtapes in the form of 2003's Da Drought.

With the release of 2004's Tha Carter the tides changed for Lil Wayne when the album featured his biggest hit in years, “Go DJ.” Around the same time Wayne guest starred on several projects such as Destiny's Child's “Soldier” and in December 2005 Tha Carter, Vol. 2 debuted at number two on the charts and was both a commercial and critical success. Now a well-known freestyle rapper, Wayne unleashed a bevy of mixtapes such as 2006's Dedication, Vol. 2 and collaborated with several artists. To see the prolific rapper live, get your Lil Wayne tickets at http://www.stubhub.com/lil-wayne-tickets.

The announcement of Lil Wayne's sweep of the Grammys came during a concert held for the nominee announcements at the Nokia Theatre, and the show was also in celebration of the opening of the Grammy Museum. Past Grammy winners like Christina Aguilera, the Foo Fighters and Mariah Carey performed while other artists who took home multiple nods were Coldplay and Radiohead. Coldplay took home seven nominations for their most recent album Viva La Vida while Radiohead earned five for In Rainbows. Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West each earned six nods. Newcomers Leona Lewis, Sara Bareilles and Duffy all came away with nominations and industry veterans Metallica, Bruce Springsteen and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss took home nominations, as well. CBS will telecast the awards show, which will be held at Staples Center Feb. 8, 2009, so check back to see who takes home the most awards (Lil Wayne will undoubtedly be in the running.)