KEY POINTS:
New Zealand-born country star Keith Urban, Sydney young guns Wolfmother and guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel were nominated for Grammy Awards yesterday
They will join the elite of the music world, led by R&B diva Mary J. Blige, who dominated with eight nominations, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers
with six, at
The 49th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles in February.
Wolfmother, a rock trio that burst on to the US music scene two years ago, will go head-to-head with some of the giants of rock in the best hard rock performance category.
Other nominees include System of a Down, Tool and Nine Inch Nails.
Urban, no stranger to the Grammys, won one of the prized awards last year for the male country vocal performance, beating Willie Nelson and Toby Keith.
He will defend the Grammy after his hit Once in a Lifetime was nominated in the same category, although he faces stiff competition from country greats Vince Gill and George Strait.
The Grammys have become an annual parade for the Caboolture-raised Urban, who at last February's Grammy Awards made his first high-profile appearance with Nicole Kidman.
The glamour couple have since married, but Urban has missed a number of country music awards ceremonies and events in recent months after entering rehab. Emmanuel, the 51-year-old Australian guitar great, was nominated in the best country instrumental performance for his medley, Gameshow Rag/Cannonball Rag.
Emmanuel was last nominated for a Grammy in 1998 when he teamed up with Chet Atkins.
Controversial female country group The Dixie Chicks will also be a force at the Grammys, set for February 11 at The Staples Centre in LA, after picking up five nominations, including the top three categories - album of the year for Taking the Long Way and record and song of the year nominations for Not Ready to Make Nice.
Prince, John Mayer and James Blunt also picked up five nominations.
Blige dominated the nomination ceremony at Hollywood's Fonda Theatre, with her multi-platinum album The Breakthrough.
The album was nominated for R&B album of the year while Be Without You earned Blige song of the year and record of the year nominations.
Justin Timberlake proclaimed he would bring sexy back to music, but he might bring a handful of Grammys home after the February ceremony.
Timberlake, 25, was nominated for his second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, which received nods for pop vocal album of the year and album of the year.
- AAP