Higher and higher ...

RAY CHARLES

If the late soul great wins all six possible Grammys, he’d have a career total of 18. That figure would boost him dramatically from No. 34 all the way up to a tie for No. 7, leapfrogging over such performers as Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson, U2, Ella Fitzgerald, Sting, Vince Gill and Aretha Franklin, to name a few.

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ALISON KRAUSS

The country singer-fiddler, who is part of the bluegrass group Union Station, could reach the 19-Grammy level if she collects both trophies she’s nominated for this year. That would leave her knocking on the door of the elite circle of Henry Mancini (20); Stevie Wonder (22); Vladimir Horowitz and Pierre Boulez (25 each); Quincy Jones (27); and Georg Solti (31).

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VINCE GILL

Cashing in one of his two nominations would push the country singer’s total to 17 and put him in 8th place. Winning both would bump him to a tie with John Williams (and, potentially, Ray Charles) for 7th place. (But then Williams could add one more for his score for “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.”)

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KANYE WEST

A sweep of

all 10 of the artist’s nominated categories would propel the first-time nominee into a 13-way tie for 48th place. That might not sound like much, but it would move him ahead of Al Green, Eminem, Count Basie and Frank Sinatra.

-- Randy Lewis