Eight recording artists receive five Grammy nominations apiece

NEW YORK -- The Recording Academy spread the wealth on Tuesday, awarding a leading five Grammy nominations to eight different artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, Nelly, Norah Jones and Avril Lavigne.

The quintet dominated the major categories, scoring at least one nomination each in record, song or album of the year categories.

After the nominations were announced, it seemed as if Grammy voters had taken their cue from a "NOW!" compilation disc, as a hodgepodge of genres and artists received multiple nominations. The other artists receiving five nominations apiece were perennial Grammy favorite Sheryl Crow, neosoul singer-songwriter Raphael Saadiq, and R&B newcomer Ashanti.

Grammy officials believed it was the first time eight artists had tied for the most nominations.

Among the quadruple and triple nominees: Vanessa Carlton, India.Arie, Johnny Cash, Dr. Dre, the Dixie Chicks and Alan Jackson.

"It's nice that people from different genres are reflected in different categories," said Carlton, whose "A Thousand Miles" was nominated for record and song of the year.

Eminem had the year's top-selling album with "The Eminem Show," and was rewarded with a nomination for album of the year and rap album of the year. His "Without Me" was nominated for record of the year, and Eminem was also nominated in two other rap categories and for a music video award.

Besides Eminem and Jones, Springsteen's Sept. 11-inspired disc "The Rising," received a nomination for album of the year, along with rapper Nelly's "Nellyville" and the Dixie Chicks' "Home."

Nelly also had a big day; his song "Dilemma," featuring Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland, was cited for record of the year; he also was nominated in three rap categories.

Nelly has been nominated twice. "Hopefully, the third time is a charm -- if I won, it will be a lot better," the St. Louis rapper said.

Among Crow's nominations: best female pop vocal performance for her feel-good summer hit, "Soak Up the Sun. "

The awards, in 104 categories, are to be handed out Feb. 23 at Madison Square Garden.

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