LOS ANGELES _ The Recording Academy announced Wednesday the first round of performers for the 59th annual Grammy Awards, and, as always, it's a far-flung bunch designed to attract as many viewers as possible to the televised ceremony branded as "music's biggest night."
Veteran heavy-metal band Metallica, R&B smoothie John Legend and country superstar Carrie Underwood will appear at the Grammys, set to be broadcast live on CBS on Feb. 12 from Staples Center in Los Angeles. Another Nashville heavyweight, Keith Urban, is on the bill as well.
Three of the four acts are nominated for awards.
In the rock song category, the title track from Metallica's recent "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct" is up against tunes by David Bowie, Radiohead, Twenty One Pilots and Highly Suspect. Underwood's "Church Bells" will compete for the country solo performance prize against recordings by Brandy Clark, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris and Urban.
And Urban is nominated for country album, a category that also includes efforts by Clark, Morris, Loretta Lynn and Sturgill Simpson.
Late-night personality James Corden will host the Grammy Awards after several years in which rapper LL Cool J played that role. Ratings for the 2016 telecast were down slightly from the year prior.
The Recording Academy said it expects to announce more performers for this year's show soon.
