Batiste wins album honour, Zelenskyy makes appeal at Grammys

04 April 2022 - 06:44 By Reuters
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Jon Batiste won big at the Grammys.
Jon Batiste won big at the Grammys.
Image: REUTERS/Steve Marcus

Multi-genre artist Jon Batiste won Album of the Year and R&B duo Silk Sonic took two top honours at a Grammy Awards ceremony that featured a surprise appeal for support from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Batiste landed the night’s biggest prize for We Are, an album inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I believe this to my core: There is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor,” Batiste said.

“The creative arts are subjective. I just put my head down and I work on the craft every day.”

Silk Sonic, featuring Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak, claimed the Song and Record of the Year awards for their 1970s-inspired hit Leave the Door Open.

“We are really trying our hardest to remain humble at this point,” joked Paak when the pair accepted the second honour.

DJ Black Coffee won his first Grammy, the Best Dance/Electronic Album award, for his seventh studio album, Subconsciously.

Olivia Rodrigo, the 19-year-old singer of the heartbreak ballad drivers licence, was crowned Best New Artist.

“This is my biggest dream come true. Thank you so much,” Rodrigo said while she held her trophy.

Midway through the ceremony host Trevor Noah introduced a video message from Zelenskyy, who contrasted the joy found through music to the devastation caused by Russia’s invasion of his country more than a month ago.

“What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people,” Zelenskyy said in a hoarse voice.

“Fill the silence with your music,” he added.

“Support us in any way you can. Any, but not silence.”

The remarks preceded a performance by John Legend featuring two Ukrainian musicians and a Ukrainian poet.

The highest honours in music were postponed from January during a spike in Covid-19 cases in the US and moved from Los Angeles to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Thousands of spectators packed the venue, a contrast to last year’s scaled-down outdoor event.

Winners were chosen by about 11,000 voting members of the Recording Academy.

Noah urged the audience to think of the evening as “a concert where we are handing out awards”.

“We are going to be keeping people’s names out of our mouths,” Noah said, a jab about last Sunday’s Oscars slap by actor Will Smith, who told comedian Chris Rock not to mention his wife’s name.

Here are the winners in key categories:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: We Are — Jon Batiste

RECORD OF THE YEAR: Leave The Door Open — Silk Sonic

SONG OF THE YEAR: Leave The Door Open — Silk Sonic

BEST NEW ARTIST: Olivia Rodrigo

BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE: Kiss Me More — Doja Cat featuring SZA

BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM: Sour — Olivia Rodrigo

BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE: Making A Fire — Foo Fighters

BEST RAP PERFORMANCE: Family Ties — Baby Keem featuring Kendrick Lamar

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM: Starting Over — Chris Stapleton

BEST MUSIC FILM: Summer Of Soul — Various artists.

Reuters


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