LAS VEGAS (Top 40 Charts) - R&B newcomer
Ashanti added yet more trophies to her cabinet as she scooped eight honours at the Billboard
Music Awards.
And rap star
Nelly walked away from the Las
Vegas awards show with six titles, including top artist of 2002.
Rapper and actor Eminem continued an impressive year by winning album of the year for The Eminem Show.
And there was a special lifetime achievement award for the flamboyant Cher.
A special tribute was paid to the Run-DMC rapper Jam Master Jay, who was shot dead in October, as Nelly performed with Aerosmith.
The rock group, led by Steven Tyler, scored a massive hit with their signature song Walk This Way when it was remade with Run-DMC in the 80s.
Among the accolades for 22-year-old Ashanti were top female artist, R&B/hip-hop artist and best single for Foolish.
Earlier in the year she won entertainer of the year at the Lady of Soul Awards and she leads the nominations for American Music Awards with five.
Nelly's Hot in Herre won recognition, while he also picked up the top male artist award.
Puddle of Mudd became the first group to win all four rock awards since U2 in 1992, scooping best rock artist best rock single for Blurry and top modern rock act.
Nickelback also won a quartet of gongs including the Hot 100 Single of the Year for How You Remind Me.
The show, held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, featured performances from Avril Lavigne, Faith Hill and Justin Timberlake.
The multitude of awards given out on the night are to recognise the best of the year's music.
The winners are determined by Billboard magazine's end of year chart listings, based on record sales and airplay.
The 2002 Billboard Music Awards winners (full list):
Album: "The Eminem Show," Eminem.
Hot 100 single: "How You Remind Me," Nickelback.
Artist: Nelly.
Group/duo: Creed.
Male artist: Nelly.
Female artist: Ashanti.
New pop artist: Ashanti.
R&B/hip-hop artist: Ashanti.
New R&B/hip-hop artist: Ashanti.
Hot 100 singles group/duo: Nickelback.
Top 40 track: "How You Remind Me," Nickelback.
Hot 100 airplay single: "How You Remind Me," Nickelback.
Hot 100 singles artist: Ashanti.
Hot 100 singles male artist: Nelly.
R&B/hip-hop singles artist: Ashanti.
R&B/hip-hop album: "The Eminem Show," Eminem.
R&B/hip-hop single: "Foolish," Ashanti.
R&B/hip-hop single sales: "Uh Huh," B2K.
R&B/hip-hop male artist: Nelly.
R&B/hip-hop female artist: Ashanti.
Country singles artist: Toby Keith .
Rock artist: Puddle of Mud.
Rock track: "Blurry," Puddle of Mud.
Modern rock artist: Puddle of Mud.
Modern rock track: "Blurry," Puddle of Mud.
Group/duo albums artist: Creed.
Catalog artist: Creed.
Catalog album: "Human Clay," Creed.
Rap artist: Nelly.
Rap track: "Hot in Herre," Nelly.
Electronic album: "18," Moby.
Electronic albums artist: Moby.
Artist achievement award: Cher.
Century Award for creative achievement: Annie Lennox.
