Avril Lavigne, Creed, Nelly, and Puddle Of Mudd are the first artists confirmed to perform at the 2002 Billboard Music Awards, set to air live Dec. 9 on Fox from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The 13th annual awards will recognize and honor the year's most successful acts as determined by the Billboard charts. The show's hosts, additional performers, and finalists will be announced in the coming weeks.

Creed is a two-time winner of Billboard's rock artist of the year honor, and Nelly was a four-time finalist last year, though he didn't pick up any awards. This will be the first appearances at the Billboard Music Awards for Lavigne and Puddle Of Mudd, each of whom have had releases certified platinum this year: "Let Go" (Arista) and "Come Clean" (Flawless), respectively.