The list of performers for the 45th annual Grammy Awards has just doubled.

Avril Lavigne, Ashanti, Vanessa Carlton, the Dixie Chicks and John Mayer will join Norah Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay and other previously announced players on the Grammy stage, according a spokesperson for the Recording Academy.

The addition of Ashanti and Lavigne means that five of the eight artists with the most nominations will get a chance show the thousands in attendance at Madison Square Garden, as well as millions more watching at home, that they can back up their nods with live renditions. ([article id="1459405"]Click for photos of this year's Grammy nominees and performers[/article].)

Members of the New York Philharmonic have also been tapped to play at the February 23 awards ceremony, which brings the total number of Grammy acts to 11 (see [article id="1459716"]"Norah Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Faith Hill Added To Grammy Performers List"[/article])

Lavigne's five nominations include nods for Song of the Year ("Complicated") and Best Pop Vocal Album (Let Go), while Ashanti's share is highlighted by a nod for Best New Artist, where she'll be competing with fellow performers Lavigne, Norah Jones and Mayer. (Click here for the list of nominees.)

When the nominations were announced last month, Mayer shed some light on the pros and cons of performing at such an illustrious event.

"I would love to be asked," he said after a press conference in Madison Square Garden, "but at the same time I would be relieved to not to have to get up there for the three-and-a-half-minute laxative known as playing in front of millions of people. Either way, I'm cool with it."

The Dixie Chicks were nominated four times, including a nod for Album of the Year (Home), while Vanessa Carlton is gunning for three golden gramophones, including Record of the Year ("A Thousand Miles").

[article id="1469939"]For a look back at previous big Grammy winners, red carpet photos and much more, visit our Grammy News Archive.[/article]