Los Angeles, Feb 16 (IANS) The 58th Grammy Awards ceremony saw rapper Kendrick Lamar win big with five trophies for his album “To Pimp a Butterfly” here on Monday. The gala, attended by the who’s who of the global music industry, also saw Indo-British filmmaker Asif Kapadia win the golden gramophone for his film “Amy”.
Kapadia’s “Amy”, a documentary on the life of late singer Amy Winehouse, got the Best Music Film Award. The filmmaker, born and brought up in London, was excited more so as the Grammy Award comes to him after his victory at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards.
“Amazing! Thank you Grammys! ‘Amy’ wins Best Music Film,” tweeted Kapadia, known for “The Warrior” and “Senna”.
Sitarist Anoushka Shankar, who was nominated for the fifth time at the Grammys this year, failed to bag an award in the Best World Music Album category for “Home”. She has never won a Grammy, but was happy as this time she became the first Indian musician to be a presenter at the event — and she looked pretty in blue in a creation by Indian designer Manish Arora.
The star of the night, where separate tributes were paid to David Bowie, Eagles’s Glenn Frey and Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister and Michael Jackson, was Lamar. He not just impressed with his five-Grammy trove but also with his performance.
For the first time in three Grammy ceremonies, Ed Sheeran walked home with Song of the Year Award and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Thinking Out Loud”. Also, singer Taylor Swift was honoured with the Album of the Year Grammy Award for “1989” at the ceremony, held at Staples Centre here.
Interestingly, Lamar and Taylor Swift were in a face-off in multiple categories of the awards, but both emerged winners when the Best Music Video category honour was announced as the all-star video for Swift’s “Bad Blood” remix features Lamar.
There were other Indian connects too.
South African musician Wouter Kellerman’s latest album “Love language”, for which Bengaluru-based Grammy winner Ricky Kej composed, produced and mixed “Aishwarya”, lost the Grammy for the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category to “Sylva” by Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest.
The Best Intrumental Composition award went to “The Afro Latin Jazz Suite”, composed by Arturo O’Farrill and The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, featuring Indian artiste Rudresh Mahanthappa.
Singers Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk” nabbed the Record of the Year as well as Best Pop Group/Duo Performance; singer Meghan Trainor was named Best New Artist; while “Baby” hitmaker Justin Bieber walked away with his first ever Grammy in the Best Dance Recording for “Where Are Ü Now”, his collaborative work with Jack Ü (Skrillex and Diplo).
Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack Ü also took home the Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album.
The event also saw Chris Stapleton winning the Best Country Album and Best Country Solo Performance for “Traveller”, and lost out to Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” in the Best Country Song category.
The Weeknd, who had seven nominations, bagged Grammys for Best R&B Performance for “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)” and Best Urban Contemporary Album for “Beauty Behind the Madness”.
D’Angelo and the Vanguard’s acclaimed “Black Messiah” earned Best R&B Album while “Really Love” claimed Best R&B Song at the event, which saw star performers like Lady Gaga, Adele and Bieber taking to the stage.
In the rock categories, Alabama Shakes band picked up three Grammys for Best Alternative Album (Sound and Color), Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for “Don’t Wanna Fight”. Muse’s Drones bagged Best Rock Album, while mysterious metal outfit Ghost won Best Metal Performance for “Cirice”.
Bob Dylan and the Band’s comprehensive “The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11” nabbed the Best Historical Album while Maria Schneider won Best Arrangement, Instruments And Vocals for her work on the “Nothing Has Changed” version of David Bowie’s “Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)” and Roger Waters’s “Amused to Death” reissue earned Best Surround Sound Album.
Common and John Legend’s Oscar-winning Selma song “Glory” won the Grammy for Best Song Written For Visual Media, with “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me” scooping up Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media.
