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Monday, February 9, 2015

Sam Smith Sweeps The Grammys

Alt-rocker Beck was the unlikely winner at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, as his 12th studio album “Morning Phase” was awarded album of the year—despite selling far fewer copies than its competitors in the category.

The Wall Street Journal reports the win underscored the diminishing importance of record sales, which continue to shrink across the board as music streaming services such as Spotify AB amass listeners.

Sam Smith
Streaming also has driven more artists to focus on turning out strings of hit singles rather than creating full-length, cohesive albums. But pop star Prince, who announced the best album award in a shimmering, loose, orange suit, declared that “like books and black lives, albums still matter.”

Beck
British 22-year-old Sam Smith was another big winner, taking home the bulk of the six awards he was nominated for, including best new artist, best pop vocal album, record of the year and song of the year.

Miranda Lambert took home Best Country Album for Platinum, Eminem won Best Rap Album for The Marshall Mathers LP2 and Beck won the big award of the night with Album of the Year for Morning Phase.

WINNER'S LIST





Record of the Year
“Stay With Me” (Darkchild Version), Sam Smith

Album of the Year
“Morning Phase,” Beck

Song of the Year
James Napier, William Phillips and Sam Smith (“Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” Sam Smith)

New Artist
Sam Smith

Pop Solo Performance
“Happy (Live),” Pharrell Williams

Pop Performance, Duo or Group
“Say Something,” A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera

Pop Vocal Album
“In the Lonely Hour,” Sam Smith

Dance Recording
“Rather Be,” Clean Bandit and Jess Glynne

Dance/Electronic Album
“Syro,” Aphex Twin

Traditional Pop Vocal Album
“Cheek to Cheek,” Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga

Rock Performance
“Lazaretto,” Jack White

Metal Performance
“The Last in Line,” Tenacious D

Rock Song
Hayley Williams and Taylor York (“Ain’t It Fun,” Paramore)

Rock Album
“Morning Phase,” Beck

Alternative Music Album
“St. Vincent,” St. Vincent

R&B Performance
“Drunk in Love,” Beyoncé and Jay Z

Traditional R&B Performance
“Jesus Children,” Robert Glasper Experiment, Lalah Hathaway and Malcolm-Jamal Warner

R&B Song
Shawn Carter, Rasool Diaz, Noel Fisher, Jerome Harmon, Beyoncé Knowles, Timothy Mosely, Andre Eric Proctor and Brian Soko, (“Drunk in Love,” Beyoncé and Jay Z)

R&B Album
“Love, Marriage & Divorce,” Toni Braxton and Babyface

Rap Performance
“I,” Kendrick Lamar

Rap/Sung Collaboration
“The Monster,” Eminem and Rihanna

Rap Song
K. Duckworth and C. Smith (“I,” Kendrick Lamar)

Rap Album
“The Marshall Mathers LP2,” Eminem

Urban Contemporary Album
“G I R L,” Pharrell Williams

Country Solo Performance
“Something in the Water,” Carrie Underwood

Country Duo/Group Performance
“Gentle on My Mind,” the Band Perry

Country Song
Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond (“I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” Glen Campbell)

Country Album
“Platinum,” Miranda Lambert

New Age Album
“Winds of Samsara,” Ricky Kej and Wouter Kellerman

Improvised Jazz Solo
“Fingerprints,” Chick Corea

Jazz Vocal Album
“Beautiful Life,” Dianne Reeves

Jazz Instrumental Album
“Trilogy,” Chick Corea Trio

Large Jazz Ensemble Album
“Life in the Bubble,” Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band

Latin Jazz Album
“The Offense of the Drum,” Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

Gospel Performance/Song
Aaron W. Lindsey and Smokie Norful (“No Greater Love,” Smokie Norful)

Contemporary Christian Music

Performance/Song
Torrance Esmond, Ran Jackson, Ricky Jackson, Kenneth Chris Mackey, Lecrae Moore, Joseph Prielozny, Joel Smallbone and Luke Smallbone (“Messengers,” Lecrae and For King & Country)

Gospel Album
“Help,” Erica Campbell

Contemporary Christian Music Album
“Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong.” For King & Country

Latin Pop Album
“Tangos,” Rubén Blades

Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
“Multiviral,” Calle 13

Regional Mexican or Tejano Album
“Mano a Mano — Tangos a la Manera de Vicente Fernández,” Vicente Fernández

Tropical Latin Album
“Más & Corazón Profundo,” Carlos Vives

American Roots Song
Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal (“A Feather’s Not a Bird,” Rosanne Cash)

Americana Album

“The River & the Thread,” Rosanne Cash

Bluegrass Album
“The Earls of Leicester,” The Earls of Leicester

Blues Album
“Step Back,” Johnny Winter

Folk Album
“Remedy,” Old Crow Medicine Show

Regional Roots Music Album
“The Legacy,” Jo-El Sonnier

Reggae Album
“Fly Rasta,” Ziggy Marley

World Music Album
“Eve,” Angelique Kidjo

Children’s Album
“I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Malala Yousafzai),” Neela Vaswani

Spoken Word Album
“Diary of a Mad Diva,” Joan Rivers

Comedy Album
“Mandatory Fun,” Weird Al Yankovic

Musical Theater Album
“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” Jessie Mueller, principal soloist; Jason Howland, Steve Sidwell and Billy Jay Stein, producers; Carole King, composer and lyricist

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
“Frozen,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Tom MacDougall and Chris Montan, compilation producers

Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Alexandre Desplat, composer

Song Written for Visual Media
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, “Let It Go,” from “Frozen” (Idina Menzel)

Instrumental Composition
“The Book Thief,” John Williams (John Williams)

Producer of the Year, Nonclassical
Max Martin

Producer of the Year, Classical
Judith Sherman

Remixed Recording, Nonclassical
“All of Me (Tiësto’s Birthday Treatment Remix),” Tijs Michiel Verwest (John Legend)

Orchestral Performance
“Adams, John: City Noir,” David Robertson, conductor (St. Louis Symphony)

Opera Recording
“Charpentier: La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers,” Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, conductors; Aaron Sheehan; Renate Wolter-Seevers, producer (Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble; Boston Early Music Festival Vocal Ensemble)

Music Video
“Happy,” Pharrell Williams

Music Film
“20 Feet From Stardom,” Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer and Judith Hill




PERFORMANCES
  • AC/DC kicked off the night of music with performances of "Rock or Bust" and "Highway to Hell."
  • After hitting the red carpet, Ariana Grande did an outfit change into a navy blue gown to perform "Just A Little Bit of Your Heart" with a live mini orchestra.

  • With her hair blowing in the wind, with fire shooting from the stage Miranda Lambert performed "Little Red Wagon."
  • Contributing to the theme of the evening, blending new-school with old-school, Jessie J and Tom Jones performed "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'."
  • Then, for the first time in six years, Kanye West hit the stage and performed "Only One" -- which is dedicated to his baby girl North West.
  • Shortly after, introduced by Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus, Madonna performed her new single "Living for Love" with minotaurs and a live choir. Let's not forget how she defied gravity and was lifted into the sky on a rope.
  • Ed Sheeran performed his record "Thinking Out Loud" with John Mayer on the guitar, Questlove on the drums, Herbie Hancock on the keys. Following Ed was ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) to perform "Evil Woman." Ed then joined them for Mr. Blue Sky.
  • Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani performed Maroon 5's "My Heart Is Open"

  • Hozier performed "Take Me To Church" with Annie Lennox. She then performed "I Put A Spell On You."
  • Pharrell gave us a new rendition of "Happy" with dancers in robes, black hooded sweatshirts, violinists and a pianist. Basically, the whole nine yards.
  • Katy Perry performed "By The Grace of God" -- which was dedicated to domestic violence.
  • Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett performed a 1920s inspired rendition of "Cheek to Cheek."
  • Usher performed a touching acoustic tribute to Steve Wonder singing "If It's Magic" and was joined by Stevie himself on the harmonica.
  • Eric Church sang "Give Me Back My Hometown."
  • Rocking black suits, Rihanna, Paul McCartney and Kanye hit the stage to perform "FourFive Seconds."
  • While facing the wall the entire performance, Sia let Kristen Wiig and Maddie Ziegler perform an interpretive dance "Chandelier."
  • Beck and Chris Martin performed "Heart is a Drum."
  • Beyonce closed the show with a chilling performance of "Take My Hand Precious Lord" with help from an all male choir. Bey concluded her performance and introduced John Legend and Common's performance of "Glory" which brought the show home.

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