LOS ANGELES — With five nominations each, Dr. Dre and Destiny's Child's Beyoncé lead the pack of contenders for the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy announced Wednesday (January 3).

"It's such an honor for us to be nominated for four awards," Beyoncé, who attended the ceremony, said afterward. "It definitely lets us know that nothing has stopped us. We're just even more successful. And people are appreciating our hard work." While Destiny's Child have four nominations, Beyoncé picked up an extra nod as a songwriter in the Song of the Year category.

Eminem, R&B singer Joe, producer Rodney Jerkins and songwriter LaShawn Daniels have four nominations each, as do former Destiny's Child members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson and current member Kelly Rowland.

Beck's Midnite Vultures, Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP, Radiohead's Kid A, Paul Simon's You're the One and Steely Dan's Two Against Nature are the nominees for Album of the Year.

Eminem, who won two Grammys last year but didn't show up to claim them, rapped about the awards on "The Real Slim Shady": "You think I give a damn about a Grammy?/ Half of you critics can't even stomach me, let alone stand me." Eminem, who has faced protests from gay and lesbian activists who say his lyrics encourage gay-bashing, has no comment on this year's nominations, according to his label, Interscope.

Destiny's Child's "Say My Name," Macy Gray's "I Try," Madonna's "Music," 'NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye" and U2's "Beautiful Day" are nominated for Record of the Year, while "Beautiful Day," "I Try" and "Say My Name" are nominated for the songwriting prize Song of the Year, along with Faith Hill's "Breathe" and Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance."

"We figured we'd be in a pop category, but it's pretty cool being up for Record of the Year," said 'NSYNC's JC Chasez, who also attended the ceremony. "It's kind of bizarre being in the same category as Madonna and U2. It's exciting — it's an honor for sure."

Papa Roach, R&B singer Jill Scott and Sisqó are nominated for Best New Artist, along with country acts Brad Paisley and Shelby Lynne.

Sisqó has been recording since 1996 with his group Dru Hill, while Shelby Lynne — who released the critically acclaimed I Am Shelby Lynne last January — recorded her first album in 1989. Scott and Paisley are more genuine newcomers, though Papa Roach formed in 1993 and issued several independent releases before making their major-label debut in 2000.

"I'm not gonna lie — I just want one [Grammy]," Sisqó said after the ceremony. "The first year of my career, Dru Hill won several awards, but we've never been nominated for a Grammy, ever. The next two years, we kind of got used to losing. We lost everything. I kind of got in a losing mode."

Britney Spears' "Oops! ... I Did It Again" will battle Christina Aguilera's "What a Girl Wants" in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category, along with Gray's "I Try," Madonna's "Music," Aimee Mann's "Save Me" and Joni Mitchell's re-recording of her '60s hit "Both Sides Now."

Marc Anthony's "You Sang to Me" is pitted against Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, along with Don Henley's "Taking You Home," Brian McKnight's "6, 8, 12" and Sting's "She Walks This Earth (Soberano Rosa)."

The Backstreet Boys' "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" will compete with rival boy band 'NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye" for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. Steely Dan's "Cousin Dupree," Barenaked Ladies' "Pinch Me" and the Corrs' "Breathless" are also nominated.

Boyz II Men's Nathan, Michael, Shawn, Wanya, Toni Braxton's The Heat, D'Angelo's Voodoo, Joe's My Name is JOE, Jill Scott's Who Is Jill Scott? Words & Sounds Vol. 1 and Sisqó's Unleash the Dragon are the nominees for Best R&B Album.

In the Best Hip-Hop Album category, the contenders are DMX's ... And Then There Was X, Dr. Dre's Dr. Dre 2001, Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP, Jay-Z's Vol. 3 ... Life & Times Of S. Carter and Nelly's Country Grammar.

"I'm gonna go back to the room and get some sleep, and hopefully when I wake up this won't be a dream," Nelly said. "Last year, I was sitting home hoping I could make it to this year's Grammys."

In the Best Rock Album category, Bon Jovi's Crush will compete against a slate of albums from bands of more recent vintage: Rage Against the Machine's The Battle of Los Angeles, No Doubt's Return of Saturn, the Foo Fighters' There Is Nothing Left to Lose and Matchbox Twenty's Mad Season.

Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney garnered an unlikely Best Alternative Music Album nomination for his Liverpool Sound Collage, an experimental collaboration with the Welsh group Super Furry Animals, among others. The album will compete against Beck's Midnite Vultures, Fiona Apple's When the Pawn ..., the Cure's Bloodflowers and Radiohead's Kid A.

Two deceased artists are nominated in the Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals category: Frank Sinatra for an electronically enhanced "duet" with Celine Dion on "All the Way" and Bob Marley for a similar pairing with Lauryn Hill on "Turn Your Lights Down Low."

The other contenders in that category are the team of Mariah Carey, Joe and 98 Degrees on "Thank God I Found You," B.B. King and Dr. John for "Is You Is, or Is You Ain't (My Baby)," and Sheryl Crow and Sarah McLachlan for a live duet of "The Difficult Kind."

Albums or singles up for this year's Grammys had to have been released within the eligibility period of October 1, 1999, to September 30, 2000. The deadline excluded such acclaimed late-2000 releases as U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind (although not the single "Beautiful Day," released earlier), Outkast's Stankonia and PJ Harvey's Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea.

The 43rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be held February 21 at Los Angeles' Staples Center and broadcast on CBS. (MTVi's parent company, Viacom, also owns CBS.)

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