AND THE GRAMMY GOES TO …
Nearly eight months after his death, Ray Charles still
rules the music industry. In a glittering ceremony of
Grammy Awards he was awarded eight awards including
album of the year, for his final album, ‘Genius Loves
Company.’ "I think it just shows how wonderful music
can be," said Norah Jones, who dueted with Charles on
the album's Here We Go Again, which was named record of the year. Charles’s
previous best night at the Grammy’s was in 1960. He won four awards that
night including two for his classic hit “Georgia on My Mind.” Charles won a
total of 12 Grammy awards.
Another one of the most nominated acts of the night was Usher. He won three
awards including Best Contemporary R&B Album for his Confessions album.
Irish Rocker, Superstars U2, won the awards for Best Rock Song and Best
Short Form Music Video for ‘Vertigo’. This brings to them winning total 17
Grammy awards. John Mayer won one of the four coveted general field
categories, Song of the Year, for his latest single “Daughters.” He also won
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the same song.
Winning three awards this year, Norah Jones’s Grammy total increases to
eight. In addition to winning with Charles for Record of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with
Vocals, Jones also won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Sunrise”.
Green Day landed with the win in the Best Rock Album category for American Idiot. Their only other
win was back in 1994 for their album Dookie. Country veteran Loretta Lynn won two awards giving
her a total of three. Lynn won Best Country Album for her latest project Van Lear Rose, a collaboration
with Jack White of the White Stripes.
A REVIEW OF THIS YEAR´S GRAMMY AWARDS
Bright lights, big ass bore …
The 47th Annual Grammy Awards
15 February 2005
by Terry Sawyer
PopMatters Political Editor
Let me first say that this year's Grammy Awards probably did more to recoup the statuette's image
than any previous year when it was granted to embarrassing D.O.A. pop trash, so artistically bereft
that even future kitsch revivals won't dare resurrect former winners even for the good wink of
hipster sarcasm.
Though the Grammys still represent commercialism at its most whorish, I applaud the happy
accidents of some of this year's nominees. Pop music just seems to be getting better, or at least the
Kanye Wests and Franz Ferdinands help balance blights like Jennifer Lopez and Hoobastank. But
whatever assets the awards might have managed beforehand, the show squandered in a painful
three-hour bloat.
