Veering from the tradition of announcing the Grammy nominees at a primetime concert, this year's announcement became an all-day event, which began when Ed Sheeran and Pharrell Williams revealed the first wave of nominees from four categories on Friday morning via CBS.

For the category Record of the Year, Sam Smith will be battling the ladies, as he is the only male nominated for the awards. His "Stay With Me," will be going up against Taylor Swifts' "Shake It Off," Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass," Sia's "Chandelier" and "Fancy" sang by Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX.

Smith is also one of the nominees for the Best pop vocal album, where his In The Lonely Hour, will be competing against Coldplay's Ghost Stories, Bangerz of Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande's My Everything, Ed Sheeran's album X, and the Prism album of Katy Perry

Pharrell earned a nomination for best urban contemporary album for Girl. His competition includes Beyoncé's self-titled fifth album, Chris Brown's X, and newcomers Mali Music with Mali Is and Jhene Aiko's Sail OUT.

For best country album, the nominees include Dierks Bentley Riser, Brandy Clark's 12 Stories, Eric Church's The Outsiders, Lee Ann Womack The Way I'm Livin, and Miranda Lambert's Platinum, album, which won album of the year at the Country Music Association Awards.

When asked about his thoughts on the nominees, Williams said he was happy for all those who were nominated.

"Whoa... It's crazy, very happy for Miley. Super happy for Beyoncé. A lot of great names. ... Ed. That's big," the superstar said.

The 2015 annual Grammy Awards will take place on Feb. 8, 2015.