Mariah Carey, Kanye West, John Legend Lead Grammy Nominees

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Mariah is also up for Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (for "Mine Again"), Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("It's Like That"), Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (both for "We Belong Together").

Gwen Stefani's first studio effort sans No Doubt, Love, Angel, Music, Baby, stands in the way of Carey's Album of the Year win. Both women will vie for that prize at the February 8 ceremony, which will air live from Los Angeles' Staples Center Arena. But Mariah and Gwen face tough competition from three other Album of the Year hopefuls: Paul McCartney's Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (nominated on the 25th anniversary of former bandmate John Lennon's assassination), U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and Kanye West's Late Registration. Stefani and Mariah will contend with Kelly Clarkson ("Since U Been Gone"), Sheryl Crow ("Good Is Good") and Bonnie Raitt ("I Will Not Be Broken") in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category.

West's "Gold Digger" is also up for Record of the Year, along with "Feel Good Inc." by the Gorillaz, "Hollaback Girl" by Stefani and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day. Like Carey, U2 scored a nod for Song of the Year (for "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"), along with Rascal Flatts' "Bless the Broken Road," Bruce Springsteen's "Devils & Dust" and John Legend's "Ordinary People." Legend — who presented the list of this year's nominees on Thursday morning (December 8) along with Carey, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, Patti LaBelle, Natasha Bedingfield and others — is up for eight awards, including Best New Artist (nominated along with Ciara, Fall Out Boy, Keane and Sugarland), Best R&B Song (for "So High"), Best Traditional R&B Performance and Best R&B Album.

50 Cent scored six nominations, among them a nod in the Best Rap Solo Performance category for "Disco Inferno." The Best Rap Solo running also includes Kanye West's "Gold Digger," Eminem's "Mockingbird," Common's "Testify," T.I.'s "U Don't Know Me" and Ludacris' "Number One Spot." 50 is also up for Best Rap Song (for "Candy Shop" and his contributions to the Game's "Hate It or Love It") as is Kanye (for "Diamonds From Sierra Leone").

The Black Eyed Peas, with six nominations of their own, are up for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (for "Don't Phunk With My Heart") and Best Rap Song, while Gwen and Ciara are both in the running for Best Rap Song (Collaboration): Gwen for "Rich Girl" featuring Eve, and Ciara for "1, 2 Step" with Missy Elliott. Other nominees in that category include Common's "They Say" featuring West and Legend, Destiny's Child's "Soldier" featuring T.I. and Lil' Wayne, and Jay-Z's Linkin Park-imbued "Numb/ Encore."

Destiny's Child were also nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group for "Cater 2 U." Beyoncé, who earned a total of six nods for work with Destiny's Child and on her own, was also nominated in that category for "So Amazing," as were Legend, Alicia Keys ("If This World Were Mine") and Stevie Wonder ("How Will I Know"). "Cater 2 U" is also up for Best R&B Song (along with Fantasia's "Free Yourself," Legend's "Get Lifted," Keys' "Unbreakable" and Mariah's "We Belong Together") while Destiny's Child's Destiny Fulfilled is in the running for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Beyoncé's "Wishing on a Star" was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (along with Amerie for "1 Thing," Fantasia for "Free Yourself," Alicia Keys for "Unbreakable" and Mariah Carey).

Legend, Fantasia, Keys and Stevie Wonder will all face off against Earth, Wind & Fire (nominated for their Illumination album) for Best R&B Album, while Amerie and her Touch faces stiff competition from Mariah, Destiny's Child, Mario (Turning Point) and Omarion (O) for Best Contemporary R&B Album.

Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group nominees include Eminem for "Encore," Common for "The Corner," the Game for "Hate It or Love It," the Ying Yang Twins for "Wait (The Whisper Song)" and the Black Eyed Peas. In the Best Rap Album category, it will be Common's Be facing off against 50's The Massacre, Eminem's Encore, West's Late Registration and The Cookbook by Missy Elliott. Missy is also in the running for Best Rap Song for "Lose Control."