David Bowie has received four posthumous nominations at this year's MTV Video Music Awards.

The global superstar was recognised in four categories, with Blackstar nominated for Best Art Direction, while Lazarus got a nod for Best Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Editing.

Both tracks were part of the Life on Mars singer's final album, Blackstar, which was released on January 8 just two days before Bowie died from cancer at the age of 69.

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Talented: David Bowie has received four posthumous nominations for his work at this year's MTV Video Music Awards

The album, which was recorded in the 18 months after he was diagnosed with cancer, was described as a 'parting gift' to fans by the star's producer Tony Visconti.

The video for Lazarus saw Bowie in a hospital bed, which led many fans to ponder whether he was preemptively hinting at his health issues and untimely passing.

As he sings ominously: 'Look up here, I'm in heaven / I've got scars that can't be seen,' on the second track.

The album, whose lyrics ponder life and mortality, sold almost 150,000 copies in all formats, giving Bowie his 10th No. 1 album soon after its release in the UK.

Recognised: The global superstar was nominated in four categories, with Blackstar nominated for Best Art Direction, while Lazarus got a nod for Best Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Editing

Melancholic: The video for Lazarus saw Bowie in a hospital bed, which led many fans to ponder whether he was preemptively hinting at his health issues and untimely passing

His 25th studio album came three years after his previous release, the chart-topping The Next Day.

The MTV Video Music Awards nominations were revealed on Tuesday, and Beyonce and Adele are led the pack ahead of this year's ceremony.

While Beyonce scored 11 nods (her highest ever amount for the awards), Adele also raked in an impressive eight nominations.

The pair will compete for the night's top honour in the form of Video Of The Year, alongside Kanye West, Drake and Justin Bieber.

Timeless work: Blackstar was recorded in the 18 months since he was diagnosed with cancer and was described as a 'parting gift' to fans by the star's producer Tony Visconti

Blackstar: The album, whose lyrics ponder life and mortality, sold almost 150,000 copies in all formats, giving Bowie his 10th No. 1 album soon after its release in the UK

Leading the pack: Beyonce has scored the most nominations for this year's MTV Video Music Awards, with 11 nods in total, six of which were for Formation

The Video Of The Year hopefuls were unveiled with a huge panoramic street mural, via a Facebook Live broadcast on DailyMail.com and MTV from New York City, before the rest of the nominees were revealed.

Beyonce's whopping 11 nods are thanks to her album Lemonade, with Formation up for Video Of The Year, Best Pop Video, Best Choreography, Best Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Editing.

Meanwhile Hold Up is nominated for Best Female Video and Best Art Direction, Sorry is nominated for Best Choreography, Freedom (featuring Kendrick Lamar) is up for Best Collaboration and Lemonade is up for Best Breakthrough Long Form Video - a new category.

Top prize: The mural depicting the five Video Of The Year nominees was created by visual artists BD White, John Paul Ogrodnick (JPO), Damien Mitchell, Marc Evan, Resa and BKFoxx

Now that's quite the comeback: Adele has garnered eight nods, seven of which are for her hit Hello

Adele's Hello received seven nods: Video Of The Year, Best Female Video, Best Pop Video, Best Art Direction, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing.

The British star also has a Best Visual Effects nomination for Send My Love (To Your New Lover).

Drake's Hotline Bling - up for Video Of The Year - will also compete for Best Male Video, Best Hip Hop Video, and Best Art Direction, while Rihanna's Work (which he features on) is nominated for Best Female Video and Best Collaboration.

Smash hit: Drake's Hotline Bling is also up for the coveted Video Of The Year title, and additionally boasts nominations for Best Male Video, Best Hip Hop Video and Best Art Direction

Justin Bieber's Sorry (which the pop star does not actually appear in) is nominated for Video Of The Year and Best Pop Video, and he also received a Best Breakthrough Long Form Video nod for PURPOSE: The Movement.

Calvin Harris and Coldplay have three nods apiece, while The Weeknd, FKA Twigs, Fergie (whose raunchy M.I.L.F.$ video features Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teigen) and Florence + The Machine each have two.

The mural depicting the five Video Of The Year nominees, at First Street Green Art Park in New York's East Village, was created by visual artists BD White, John Paul Ogrodnick (JPO), Damien Mitchell, Marc Evan, Resa and BKFoxx.

Making Lemonade: Meanwhile Beyonce's Hold Up is nominated for Best Female Video and Best Art Direction

Voting became available via the MTV VMAs website after the nominations were announced on Tuesday. Fans can vote in each category once per day.

The 2016 MTV Video Music Awards will take place on Sunday, August 28. And for the first time ever, the ceremony will be held at New York City's iconic Madison Square Garden.

It has not yet been announced who will host this year's awards, which in 2015 were hosted by Miley Cyrus.