RCA Music Group Artists Earn 28 Nominations for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards

RCA Music Group Artists Earn 28 Nominations for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards

Alicia Keys, Foo Fighters and The Luther Vandross Tribute So Amazing

Each Earn Five Nominations

Four Nominations for Fantasia Two Nominations Each for Kelly Clarkson and Mario

NEW YORK, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- J Records artist Alicia Keys and RCA Records group Foo Fighters collected five nominations each-including Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best Rock Album -- in the 48th Annual Grammy Awards nominations announced today in New York. The various artists album So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross also gathered five nominations. Artists, songs and recordings from the RCA Music Group earned a total of 28 nominations.

Unplugged by J Records artist and nine-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys garnered four nominations including Best R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song for the track "Unbreakable" (written by Garry Glenn, Alicia Keys, Harold Lily, and Kanye West), and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for the track "If I Was Your Woman." A fifth nomination, for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals, went to "If This World Were Mine" by Alicia Keys featuring Jermaine Paul, from the J Records album So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross.

RCA Records group Foo Fighters and their platinum album In Your Honor earned five nominations including Best Rock Album, Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals (for the track "Virginia Moon" featuring Norah Jones), Best Rock Performance by A Duo or Group with Vocal (for the track "Best Of You"), Best Rock Song (for "Best of You," written by Foo Fighters), and Best Surround Sound Album.

Songs and artists from So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross received five nominations including "Creepin'" by Jamie Foxx and "Superstar" by Usher for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, and "A House Is Not A Home" by Aretha Franklin for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. Two tracks, "So Amazing" by Beyonce & Stevie Wonder and "If This World Were Mine" by Alicia Keys featuring Jermaine Paul, were nominated for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals. The J Records album was released in September 2005 and set a Billboard record, with the highest chart debut and the most units sold in its first week for any tribute album in Nielson SoundScan history.

Recordings by J Records artist Fantasia earned four nominations including Best R&B Album for her album Free Yourself, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for the track "Summertime," and Best Female R&B Performance for the title track "Free Yourself." In addition, "Free Yourself" (written by Craig Brockman, Missy Elliott, and Nisan Stewart) was nominated for Best R&B Song. Fantasia's Free Yourself has sold more than 1.7 million units in the US to date; earlier this year, she became the first female artist to place three songs in the Top Five of the Adult R&B Chart.

Breakaway, the 4X platinum album by RCA Records artist Kelly Clarkson, was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album and the song "Since U Been Gone" was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Kelly's album just celebrated its first anniversary on the Billboard Top 200 chart, and has appeared in the top 20 every week since its debut.

The J Records album Turning Point earned first-time Grammy nominations for Mario. His sophomore album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album, while the track "Let Me Love You" was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

Last year, Rod Stewart won the first Grammy Award of his career for the #1 album Stardust...The Great American Songbook Volume III. This year, the singer is nominated again for Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Thanks For the Memory...The Great American Songbook Volume IV. It is his fifteenth career Grammy Award nomination and his fourth consecutive nomination for albums in the Songbook series, which has sold more than 13 million units worldwide.

Winners of last year's Grammy Award for Best New Artist, Octone/J Records rock band Maroon 5 picked up a nomination for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for "This Love," from their album Live -- Friday The 13th.

"World On Fire" by Arista recording artist Sarah McLachlan received a nomination for Best Short Form Music Video (directed by Sophie Muller). "Square One," a track written and performed by Tom Petty on the RCA/Vinyl Films soundtrack Elizabethtown, was nominated for Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

Montana -- A Love Story by Windham Hill pianist George Winston was nominated for Best New Age Album, a category previously won by the artist in 1995. The Chieftains, three-time winners of the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album, are nominated once again in this category for their RCA Victor release Live From Dublin -- A Tribute to Derek Bell.

The RCA Music Group congratulates several of its artists for their participation in nominated recordings by other artists. Jamie Foxx is featured with Kanye West on the track "Gold Digger," nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rap Solo Performance. Christina Aguilera is featured on "A Song For You" by Herbie Hancock from his album Possibilities, nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds) is nominated for Best R&B Song as a co-writer of the track "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey, from her album The Emancipation of Mimi.

Further congratulations are due to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who are nominated for Producer(s) Of The Year for their work on the songs "Dance with My Father" and "Never Too Much" from So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross.

The 48th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 8, 2006 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the CBS network from 8:00 - 11:30 p.m. (ET) in high-definition HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound.

Source: RCA Music Group

CONTACT: Mika El-Baz of RCA Music Group, +1-646-840-5670,
Mika.ElBaz@sonybmg.com

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