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Mariah Carey, Kanye West lead Grammy nominees

Posted on: Thursday, 8 December 2005, 09:50 CST

By Dan Wilchins

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Comeback queen Mariah Carey, rapper Kanye West and newcomer John Legend led the field with eight nominations for the Grammy Awards when the contenders were unveiled in New York on Thursday.

Carey's "The Emancipation of Mimi" was nominated for best album of the year, while the ballad "We Belong Together" made the grade for best record of the year -- a triumph for a woman whose career was all but written off just a few years ago.

West was also nominated in those two categories, for the song "Gold Digger" and the hit album "Late Registration," while his protege Legend was nominated for best new artist and best male R&B vocal performance.

The other nominees for record of the year were "Feel Good Inc" by Gorillaz featuring De La Soul, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day and "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani.

On the day fans of former Beatle John Lennon gathered to mark the 25th anniversary of his murder, his former song-writing partner Paul McCartney was nominated for best album of the year for his latest record, "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard."

It was a good day for three more veteran acts -- Stevie Wonder with six nominations, Bruce Springsteen who picked up a surprise five, and Irish rockers U2, also nominated five times including for album of the year with "How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb."

Other artists picking up six nominations each were rap superstar 50 Cent and R&B diva Beyonce Knowles, while rapper Missy Elliot, Alicia Keys and Gwen Stefani took five each.

Stefani's "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." was the final nominee for album of the year.

The top female awards look to be another run off between Carey and Stefani, who staged a surprise upset at the American Music Awards last month when she was named favorite female pop/rock artist over the hotly tipped Carey.

50 Cent's huge selling album "The Massacre" was nominated for best rap album in a hotly contested category where nominees also included "Be" by Common, "The Cookbook" by Missy Elliot, Eminem's "Encore" and Kanye West's "Late Registration."

The eight nominations were a vindication for Carey whose album has been one of the biggest sellers of the year, with worldwide sales of more than 7 million copies, according to her Island Def Jam label. The single "We Belong Together" ruled the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 14 weeks.

Four years ago, Carey's career hit the skids as she released a flop movie and album. Her previous label, Virgin Records, which had just signed her to a contract reportedly worth $80 million, paid her $28 million to leave.

The full list of nominees can be seen at www.grammy.com

Source: REUTERS

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