KENDRICK LAMAR HAS GOLDEN TOUCH AT GRAMMYS
Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Chris Stapleton, Alabama Shakes also shine
Winning song of the year was a highlight for Ed Sheeran at Monday night’s Grammy Awards. Picking it up from Stevie Wonder was the cherry on top.
Sheeran took the big song prize as well as pop solo performance for Thinking Out Loud at the 58th annual Grammys, and he said he’d have been amazed by being handed an award by Wonder “at 11 years old, at 5 years old, at any age, really.” Sheeran also thanked his parents for coming to the show for the fourth time he has been nominated: “Every time I lose they go, ‘ Maybe next year!’ ”
He also was nominated for record of the year, but that prize went instead to the Uptown Funk duo of Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. Uptown also won for pop duo/ group performance and nonclassical remixed recording. Kendrick Lamar won rap album for
To Pimp a Butterfly, one of four honors for the artist that also included rap performance and rap song for Alright, and rap/ sung collaboration for These Walls with Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat.
“This is for hip- hop. This is for Ice Cube. This is for Snoop Dogg. This is for Nas,” Lamar said when accepting his rap album award Monday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. “We will live forever, believe that.”
Taylor Swift took home another of the night’s top prizes with 1989 winning album of the year. She struck earlier with two awards in a pre- show ceremony: pop vocal album for 1989 and best music video for Bad Blood. She also started off the night’s main ceremony with a rendition of her hit Out of the Woods.
Alabama Shakes shook up the rock categories and took three awards: alternative music album for Sound & Color as well as rock song and rock performance for Don’t Wanna Fight.
“Never thought I’d be here doing this,” said lead singer Brittany Howard. “When we started this, we were in high school. … We just did it for fun. We didn’t think we’d be getting any awards or recognition like this.”
Other artists and groups who won multiple honors: The Weeknd with best urban contemporary album for Beauty Behind the Madness and R& B performance for Earned It; Skrillex and Diplo with best dance recording for Where Are Ü Now, a collaboration with Justin Bieber, and dance/ electronic album for Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack Ü. Chris
Stapleton took country album and solo performance for Traveller.
Little Big Town won country duo/ groupper formance for Girl Crush, which also won best country song.
Lips were movin’ as teary pop singer Meghan Trainor could hardly get through her acceptance speech for another of the night’s top awards: new artist.
“I’m a mess. I have to go cry,” Trainor said, making sure to thank record executive L. A. Reid “for looking at me as an artist and not a songwriter.”
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, a track from a cappella group Pentatonix’s
That’s Christmas to Me, won a best- arrangement award, and best album notes went to Joni Mitchell’s Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced.
Jason Isbell captured a couple of Grammys — best American roots song for 24 Frames and Americana album for
Something More Than Free. And married couple Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn won best folk album for their self- titled effort.
“When we realized we were pregnant, we decided we should finally make a record together,” Washburn said. The Amy Winehouse documentary Amy won for bestmusic film, the soundtrack for the documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be There garnered a compilation Grammy, the Selma track Glory captured best song, and Birdman composer Antonio Sanchez made up for being disqualified from last year’s Academy Awards by winning the best- soundtrack Grammy.
Broadway’s Hamilton won best musical theater album.
Jimmy Carter became the first U. S. president to win two spoken- word Grammys with a prize for A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety,
The Steeldrivers’ The Muscle Shoals Recordings finally garnered bluegrass album for the group after four nominations.
Mavis Staples won best American roots performance for See That My Grave Is Kept Clean.
Buddy Guy’s Born to Play Guitar won best blues album. “At least I know the blues is not dead yet.” Guy said.