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The 43rd Grammy Awards were held on February 21, 2001. Steely Dan was the biggest winner winning three awards including Album of the Year for Two Against Nature. U2 was also a big winner winning three awards as well; including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for Beautiful Day. Dr. Dre also won 3 awards including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical & Best Rap Album for Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP. Eminem also managed to walk away with 3 awards out of his four nominations . Then Country pop star Faith Hill also took home 3 awards for Best Country Album for the album Breathe, Best Female Country Vocal Performance for the song's title track and for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals with Tim McGraw for "Let's Make Love".^[1]

General[link]

Record of the Year

"Say My Name" - Destiny's Child

"I Try" - Macy Gray

"Music" - Madonna

"Beautiful Day" - U2

"Bye Bye Bye" - *NSYNC

Album of the Year

Midnite Vultures - Beck

Two Against Nature - Steely Dan

The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem

Kid A - Radiohead

You're the One - Paul Simon

Song of the Year

"Say My Name" - Destiny's Child

"Beautiful Day" - U2

"I Try" - Macy Gray

"Breathe" - Faith Hill

"I Hope You Dance" - Lee Ann Womack

Best New Artist

Brad Paisley

Papa Roach

Shelby Lynne

Jill Scott

Sisqó

Alternative[link]

• Best Alternative Music Album
  • Nigel Godrich (producer & engineer/mixer) & Radiohead (producer & artist) for Kid A

Blues[link]

• Best Traditional Blues Album
  • Simon Climie (producer), Alan Douglas (engineer), Eric Clapton (producer & artist) & B. B. King for Riding with the King
• Best Contemporary Blues Album
  • Tony Braunagel (producer), Joe McGrath, Terry Becker (engineers/mixers), Taj Mahal & the Phantom Blues Band for Shoutin' In Key

Children's[link]

• Best Musical Album for Children
  • Joseph Miskulin (engineer/mixer & producer), Dan Rudin & Brent Truitt (engineers/mixers) & Riders in the Sky (Featuring Devon Dawson as Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl) for Woody's Roundup: A Rootin' Tootin' Collection of Woody's Favorite Songs
• Best Spoken Word Album for Children
  • David Rapkin (producer) & Jim Dale for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Classical[link]

• Best Orchestral Performance
  • Stephen Johns (producer), Mike Clements (engineer), Sir Simon Rattle (conductor) & the Berliner Philharmonic for Mahler: Sym. No. 10
• Best Classical Vocal Performance
  • Christopher Raeburn (producer), Jonathan Stokes (engineer), Cecilia Bartoli & Il Giardino Armonico for The Vivaldi Album (Dell'aura al sussurrar; Alma oppressa, Etc.)
• Best Opera Recording
  • Martin Sauer (producer), Jean Chatauret (engineer), Kent Nagano (conductor), Kim Begley, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich Henschel, Markus Hollop, Eva Jenis, Torsten Kerl & the Orchestre de l'Opera Nationale de Lyon for Busoni: Doktor Faust
• Best Choral Performance
  • Karen Wilson (producer), Don Harder (engineer), Helmuth Rilling (conductor) & the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra & Chorus for Penderecki: Credo
• Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra)
  • Grace Row (producer), Charles Harbutt (engineer), Roger Norrington (conductor), Joshua Bell & the London Philharmonic for Maw: Violin Concerto
• Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra)
  • Tobias Lehmann (producer), Jens Schünemann (engineer) & Sharon Isbin for Dreams of a World (Works of Lauro, Ruiz-Pipo, Duarte, Etc.)
• Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without conductor)
  • Christian Gausch (producer), Wolf-Dieter Karwatky (engineer) & the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for Shadow Dances (Stravinsky Miniatures - Tango; Suite No. 1; Octet, etc.)
• Best Chamber Music Performance
  • Da-Hong Seetoo, Max Wilcox (producers & engineers) & the Emerson String Quartet for Shostakovich: The String Quartets
• Best Classical Contemporary Composition
  • George Crumb (composer) & Thomas Conlin for Crumb: Star-Child
• Best Classical Album
  • Da-Hong Seetoo & Max Wilcox (producers & engineers) & the Emerson String Quartet for Shostakovich: The String Quartets
• Best Classical Crossover Album
  • Steven Epstein (producer), Richard King (engineer), Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer & Mark O'Connor for Appalachian Journey

Composing and arranging[link]

• Best Instrumental Composition
  • John Williams (composer) for "Theme From Angela's Ashes"
• Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
  • Randy Newman (songwriter) for "When She Loved Me" (From Toy Story 2) performed by Sarah McLachlan
• Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
  • Bill Bernstein, Thomas Newman (producers), Dennis Sands, Thomas Newman (engineers) & Thomas Newman (composer) for American Beauty
• Best Instrumental Arrangement
  • Chick Corea (arranger) for "Spain for Sextet & Orchestra"
• Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
  • Vince Mendoza (arranger) for "Both Sides Now" performed by Joni Mitchell

Country[link]

• Best Female Country Vocal Performance
  • Faith Hill for "Breathe"
• Best Male Country Vocal Performance
  • Johnny Cash for "Solitary Man"
• Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
  • Asleep at the Wheel for "Cherokee Maiden"
• Best Country Collaboration with Vocals
  • Faith Hill & Tim McGraw for "Let's Make Love"
• Best Country Instrumental Performance
  • Alison Brown & Béla Fleck for "Leaving Cottondale"
• Best Country Song
  • Mark D. Sanders & Tia Sillers (songwriters) for "I Hope You Dance" performed by Lee Ann Womack
• Best Country Album
  • Byron Gallimore (producer), Julian King, Mike Shipley (engineers/mixers) & Faith Hill (producer & artist) for Breathe
• Best Bluegrass Album
  • Steve Buckingham (producer), Gary Paczosa (engineer/mixer) & Dolly Parton for The Grass is Blue

Film/TV/media[link]

• Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
  • Danny Bramson & Cameron Crowe (producers) for Almost Famous performed by various artists

Folk[link]

• Best Traditional Folk Album
  • Mark Linett (engineer) & Dave Alvin (producer & artist) for Public Domain - Songs from the Wild Land
• Best Contemporary Folk Album
  • Malcolm Burn (engineer & producer), Jim Watts (engineer) & Emmylou Harris for Red Dirt Girl
• Best Native American Music Album
  • Tom Bee (producer) & Douglas Spotted Eagle (producer & engineer/mixer) for Gathering of Nations Pow Wow performed by various artists

Gospel[link]

• Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album
  • Dennis Herring (producer & engineer/mixer), Rich Hasal (engineer/mixer) & Jars of Clay for If I Left the Zoo
• Best Rock Gospel Album
  • Dino Elefante, John Elefante (producers), David Hall, J.R. McNeely (engineers/mixers) & Petra for Double Take
• Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album
  • Bubba Smith, Michael E. Mathis (producers) & Shirley Caesar (producer & artist) for You Can Make It
• Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album
  • Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell (producer) & Mary Mary for Thankful
• Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album
  • Brent King, Alan Shulman (engineers), Ricky Skaggs (producer & artist) & Kentucky Thunder for Soldier of the Cross
• Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album
  • Carol Cymbala & Oliver Wells (producers) for Live - God Is Working performed by The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

Historical[link]

• Best Historical Album
  • Steve Berkowitz, Seth Rothstein (producers), Phil Schaap (producer & engineer), Michael Brooks, Seth Foster, Andreas Meyer, Woody Pornpitaksuk, Ken Robertson, Tom Ruff & Mark Wilder (engineers) for Louis Armstrong: The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings

Jazz[link]

• Best Jazz Instrumental Solo
  • Pat Metheny for "(Go) Get It"
• Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
  • Rob 'Wacko' Hunter (engineer/mixer & producer), Branford Marsalis (producer) & the Branford Marsalis Quartet for Contemporary Jazz
• Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
  • James Farber (engineer/mixer) & Joe Lovano (producer & artist) for 52nd Street Themes
• Best Jazz Vocal Album
  • Erik Zobler (engineer/mixer), George Duke (producer) & Dianne Reeves for In the Moment – Live In Concert
• Best Contemporary Jazz Album
  • Richard Battaglia, Robert Battaglia (engineers/mixers), Béla Fleck (engineer/mixer & producer) & Béla Fleck and the Flecktones for Outbound
• Best Latin Jazz Album
  • Jon Fausty (engineer/mixer) & Chucho Valdés for Live at the Village Vanguard

Latin[link]

• Best Latin Pop Album
  • Adam Blackburn, Eric Schilling, Marcelo Añez, Sebastián Krys (engineers), Tim Mitchell (producer) & Shakira (producer & artist) for Shakira - MTV Unplugged
• Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album
  • Freddy Piñero Jr, Gustavo Celis, Javier Garza, Mauricio Guerrero, Scott Canto, Sebastián Krys (engineers), Emilio Estefan, George Noriega, Robert Blades (producers) & Gloria Estefan for Alma Caribeña
• Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album
  • Carlos Ceballos (engineer/mixer) & Pepe Aguilar (producer & artist) for Por Una Mujer Bonita
• Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album
  • Humberto Gatica (engineer & producer) & La Ley for Uno
• Best Tejano Album
  • Edward Pérez, Greg García, (engineers), Freddie Martínez, Hugo Guerrero (engineers & producers) & The Legends for ¿Qué Es Música Tejana?
• Best Salsa Album
  • Jon Fausty (engineer/mixer), Eddie Palmieri & Tito Puente (producers & artists) for Masterpiece/Obra Maestra
• Best Merengue Album
  • David Hewitt, Hector Ivan Rosa (engineers/mixers) & Olga Tañón (producer & artist) for Olga Viva, Viva Olga

Musical show[link]

• Best Musical Show Album
  • Frank Filipetti (engineer/mixer & producer), Guy Babylon & Paul Bogaev, Chris Montan (producers), Elton John (composer), Tim Rice (lyricist) & the original Broadway cast for Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida

Music video[link]

=Album performed by John Lennon

New Age[link]

• Best New Age Album
  • Gary Barlough, Peter R. Kelsey (engineers/mixers) & Kitarō (producer & artist) for Thinking of You

Packaging and notes[link]

• Best Recording Package
  • Kevin Reagan (art director) for Music performed by Madonna
• Best Boxed Recording Package
  • Arnold Levine & Frank Harkins (art directors) for Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961 performed by Miles Davis & John Coltrane
• Best Album Notes
  • Bob Blumenthal (notes writer) for Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961 performed by Miles Davis & John Coltrane

Polka[link]

• Best Polka Album
  • Jon Dickson, Ken Irwin (engineer), Tom Pick (engineer & producer) & Jimmy Sturr for Touched by a Polka

Pop[link]

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

"What a Girl Wants" - Christina Aguilera

"I Try" - Macy Gray

"Music" - Madonna

"Save Me" - Aimee Mann

"Both Sides Now" - Joni Mitchell

"Oops!...I Did It Again" - Britney Spears

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance

"You Sang to Me" - Marc Anthony

"Taking You Home" - Don Henley

"She Bangs" - Ricky Martin

"6, 8, 12" - Brian McKnight

"She Walks This Earth" - Sting

Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals

"Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely" - Backstreet Boys

"Pinch Me" - Barenaked Ladies

"Cousin Dupree" - Steely Dan

"Breathless" - The Corrs

"Bye Bye Bye" - *NSYNC

Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals

"Is You Is, or Is You Ain't (My Baby)" - B.B. King & Dr. John

"Thank God I Found You" - Mariah Carey, 98 Degrees & Joe

"The Difficult Kind" - Sheryl Crow & Sarah McLachlan

"All the Way" - Celine Dion & Frank Sinatra

"Turn Your Lights Down Low" - Lauryn Hill & Bob Marley

Best Pop Instrumental Performance

Brian Setzer for "Caravan" performed by the Brian Setzer Orchestra

Best Dance Recording

Michael Mangini, Steve Greenberg (producers & mixers) & Baha Men for "Who Let the Dogs Out"

Best Pop Vocal Album

Elliot Scheiner, Phil Burnett, Roger Nichols (engineers/mixers), Donald Fagen, Walter Becker (producers) & Steely Dan for Two Against Nature

Best Pop Instrumental Album

Dan Gellert (engineer/mixer) & Joe Jackson (producer & artist) for Symphony No. 1

Production and engineering[link]

• Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
  • Dave Russell, Elliot Scheiner, Phil Burnett & Roger Nichols (engineers) for Two Against Nature performed by Steely Dan
• Best Engineered Album, Classical
  • John M. Eargle (engineer) & Zdeněk Mácal (conductor) for Dvorák: Requiem, Op. 89; Sym. No. 9, Op. 95 "From the New World"
• Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
  • Dr. Dre
• Producer of the Year, Classical
  • Steven Epstein
• Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical
  • Hex Hector

R&B[link]

• Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
  • Toni Braxton for "He Wasn't Man Enough"
• Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
  • D'Angelo for "Untitled (How Does It Feel)"
• Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
  • Destiny's Child for "Say My Name"
• Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance
  • The Temptations for Ear-Resistible
• Best R&B Song
  • La Shawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney Jerkins, Beyoncé Knowles, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson & Kelendria Rowland for "Say My Name" performed by Destiny's Child
• Best R&B Album
  • Russell "The Dragon" Elevado (engineer/mixer) & D'Angelo (engineer/mixer, producer & artist) for Voodoo

Rap[link]

• Best Rap Solo Performance
  • Eminem for "The Real Slim Shady"
• Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
  • Dr. Dre & Eminem for "Forgot about Dre"
• Best Rap Album
  • Dr. Dre, Richard Huredia (engineers/mixers) & Eminem (producer & artist) for The Marshall Mathers LP

Reggae[link]

• Best Reggae Album
  • Beenie Man for Art and Life

Rock[link]

• Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
  • Sheryl Crow for "There Goes the Neighborhood"
• Best Male Rock Vocal Performance
  • Lenny Kravitz for "Again"
• Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
  • U2 for "Beautiful Day"
• Best Rock Instrumental Performance
  • Michael Kamen (conductor), Metallica & the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra for "The Call of Ktulu"
• Best Hard Rock Performance
  • Rage Against the Machine for "Guerrilla Radio"
• Best Metal Performance
  • Deftones for "Elite"
• Best Rock Song
  • Scott Stapp & Mark Tremonti (songwriters) for "With Arms Wide Open" performed by Creed
• Best Rock Album
  • Adam Kasper (engineer/mixer & producer) & Foo Fighters (producer & artist) for There Is Nothing Left to Lose

Spoken[link]

• Best Spoken Word Album
  • Rick Harris, John Runnette (producers) & Sidney Poitier for The Measure of a Man
• Best Spoken Comedy Album
  • John Runnette (producer) & George Carlin for Braindroppings

Traditional pop[link]

• Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
  • Allen Sides, Geoff Foster (engineers/mixers), Larry Klein (producer) & Joni Mitchell (producer & artist) for Both Sides Now

World[link]

• Best World Music Album
  • Antônio 'Moogie' Canàzio (engineer/mixer & producer), Caetano Veloso (producer) & João Gilberto for João Voz e Violão

Special Merit Awards[link]

• Lifetime Achievement Award
  • The Beach Boys
  • Tony Bennett
  • Sammy Davis, Jr.
  • Bob Marley
  • The Who

• MusiCares Person of the Year
  • Paul Simon

Trivia[link]

• The three awards Steely Dan won were their first ever career Grammy Wins.
• Eminem's controversial The Marshall Mathers LP which had several nominations including Album of the Year caused outrage. 200 protesters on behalf of GLAAD and other groups gathered outside the Staples Center to protest Eminem's album which they considered homophobic and sexist. He performed his hit "Stan" as a duet with openly gay musician Elton John at the ceremony in response to these allegations.

References[link]

Grammy Awards
54th Grammy Awards
The Grammy awards are named for the trophy: a small, gilded gramophone statuette.
Awarded for	Outstanding achievements in the music industry
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
Country	United States
First awarded	1959
Official website	grammy.com
Television coverage
Network	NBC (1959–1970) ABC (1971–1972) CBS (1973–present)

A Grammy Award (originally called Gramophone Award) – or Grammy – is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and some of the awards of more popular interest are presented in a widely viewed televised ceremony. It is the music equivalent to the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for stage performances, and the Academy Awards for motion pictures.

The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4, 1959, and it was set up to honor musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1958. Following the 2011 ceremony, NARAS overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 54th Grammy Awards were held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

History[link]

The Grammy Awards had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s.^[1][2] As the recording executives chosen for the Walk of Fame (Tabinda Walk) committee worked at compiling a list of important recording industry people who might qualify for a Walk of Fame star, they realized there were many more people who were leaders in their business who would never earn a star on Hollywood Boulevard. The music executives decided to rectify this by creating an award given by their industry similar to the Oscars and the Emmys. This was the beginning of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. After it was decided to create such an award, there was still a question of what to call it; one working title was the Eddie, to honor the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison. They finally settled on using the name of Edison's invention, the gramophone, for the awards, which were first given for the year 1958.^[3][4][5]

Gramophone trophy[link]

The gold-plated trophies, each depicting a gilded gramophone, are made and assembled by hand by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado. In 1990 the original Grammy design was revamped, changing the traditional soft lead for a stronger alloy less prone to damage, and making the trophy bigger and grander.^[6] The trophies with the recipient's name engraved on them are not available until after the award announcements, so "stunt" trophies are re-used each year for the broadcast.^[7]

As of February 2009, 7,578 Grammy trophies had been awarded.^[8]

Categories[link]

Bonnie Raitt holding the Grammys she won at the 1990 Grammy Awards.

The "General Field" are four awards which are not restricted by genre.

• Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a full album.
• Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a single song.
• Song of the Year is awarded to the writer(s)/composer(s) of a single song.
• Best New Artist is awarded to a performer who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording that establishes the public identity of that artist (which is not necessarily their first proper release).

Other awards are given for performance and production in specific genres, as well as for other contributions such as artwork and video. Special awards are given for longer-lasting contributions to the music industry.

Because of the large number of award categories (78 in 2012), and the desire to feature several performances by various artists, only the ones with the most popular interest are presented directly at the televised award ceremony.

2012 category restructuring[link]

On April 6, 2011, The Recording Academy announced a drastic overhaul of many Grammy Award categories for 2012.^[9] The number of categories were diminished from 109 to 78. The most important change is the elimination of the distinction between male and female soloists and between collaborations and duo/groups in various genre fields (pop, rock, R&B, country, and rap). Also, several categories for instrumental soloists were discontinued. Recordings in these categories now fall under the general categories for best solo performances.

In the rock field, the separate categories for hard rock and metal albums have been combined and the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category were be eliminated due to a waning number of entries.

In R&B, the distinction between best contemporary R&B album and other R&B albums has been eliminated. They now feature in one, general Best R&B Album category.

In rap, the categories for best rap soloist and best rap duo or group have been merged into the new Best Rap Performance category.

The most eliminations occurred in the roots category. Up to and including 2011, there were separate categories for various regional American music forms, such as Hawaiian music, Native American music and Zydeco/Cajun music. Due to the consistently low number of entries for these categories, The Recording Academy decided to combine all these music variations into the new Best Regional Roots Music Album, including polka, which lost its own separate category in 2009.

In the same genre field, the traditional and contemporary blues categories and the traditional and contemporary folk categories each were consolidated into one per genre, due to the number of entries and given the challenges in distinguishing between contemporary folk and Americana, and contemporary and traditional blues. In the world music genre field, the traditional and contemporary categories have also been merged.

In the classical genre field, its main category Best Classical Album has been discontinued because most recipients in this category had also won in one of the other classical categories for the same album. Classical recordings are now eligible for the main Album of the Year category.

There are also a few minor name changes to better reflect the nature of the separate categories. It was determined by the Recording Academy that the word "gospel" in the gospel genre field tends to conjure up the images and sounds of traditional soul gospel and leaves out the current contemporary Christian music (CCM). Therefore the genre field and some categories have been renamed as Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music.

Nomination process[link]

Record companies and individuals may submit recordings to be nominated. Nominations are made online and a physical copy of the work is sent to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Once a work is entered, reviewing sessions are held, by more than 150 experts from the recording industry, to determine whether the work is eligible and entered in the correct category for official nomination.

The resulting list is circulated to all NARAS members, each of whom may vote to nominate in the general field (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist) and in no more than nine out of 30 other fields on their ballots. The five recordings that earn the most votes in each category become the nominees. There may be more than five nominees if there is a tie in the nomination process.

Whereas members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are generally invited to screenings or are sent DVDs of movies nominated for Oscars, NARAS members do not receive nominated recordings.

After nominees have been determined, final voting ballots are sent to Recording Academy members, who may then vote in the general fields and in no more than eight of the 30 fields. NARAS members are encouraged, but not required, to vote only in their fields of expertise. Ballots are tabulated secretly by the major independent accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.^[10] Following the tabulation of votes the winners are announced at the Grammy Awards. The recording with the most votes in a category wins and it is possible to have a tie. Winners are presented with the Grammy Award and those who do not win are given a medal for their nomination.

In both voting rounds, Academy members are required to vote based upon quality alone, and not to be influenced by sales, chart performance, personal friendships, regional preferences or company loyalty. The acceptance of gifts is prohibited. Members are urged to vote in a manner that preserves the integrity of the academy.

The eligibility period for the 2012 Grammy Awards was October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011.

Venue[link]

Prior to 1971, the Grammy Award ceremonies were held in different locations on the same day. Originally New York City and Los Angeles were the host cities. Chicago joined being a host city in 1962, and then Nashville became the fourth location in 1965.

The 1971 ceremony, held at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, was the first to take place in one location. The ceremony was then moved to Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum in New York City, and then Nashville's Tennessee Theatre in the following two years. Then from 1974 to 2003, the Grammys were held in various venues in New York City and Los Angeles. Notable locations included New York City's Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall; and Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, the Staples Center and the Hollywood Palladium.

In 2004, the Staples Center became the permanent home of the award ceremonies. The Grammy Museum was built across the street from Staples Center in LA Live to preserve the history of the Grammy Awards. Embedded on the sidewalks at the museum streets are bronze disks, similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honoring each year's top winners, Record of the Year, Best New Artist, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year.

Leading winners[link]

With 31 Grammy Awards, Sir Georg Solti is the artist with the most Grammy wins.^[11] Alison Krauss is the biggest winner among female artists with 27 awards.^[12] U2, with 22 Grammy Awards, holds the record for most awards won by a group.

Criticism[link]

The Grammy Awards has received criticism from various recording artists and music journalists.

When his band Pearl Jam won a Grammy in the category Best Hard Rock Performance in 1996, singer Eddie Vedder commented on stage: "I don't know what this means. I don't think it means anything."^[13] Glen Hansard, leader of the Irish rock group The Frames, stated in 2008 that the Grammys represent something outside of the real world of music "that's fully industry based." He said he wasn't that interested in attending that year's ceremony, even though he had been nominated for two different awards.^[13] Maynard James Keenan, lead singer of metal band Tool, did not attend the Grammy Awards ceremony to receive one of their awards. He explained his reasons:

It has also been criticized for generally awarding or nominating more commercially successful albums rather than critically successful albums.^[15][16] In a 2011 article, Los Angeles Times writer Randall Roberts was critical of the nominations for the 54th Grammy Awards, particularly for the Album of the Year category, noting the exclusion of Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, "the most critically acclaimed album of the year, a career-defining record", as a snub in favor of nominating less substantial albums.^[17] Roberts went on to criticize the Grammy Awards for being "mired in the past" and out of touch with "new media" and trends amongs music listeners such as music sharing, stating:

In an article for Time, journalist Touré also responded to the snub and expressed his general displeasure with the awards, stating "I don’t pretend to understand the Grammys. I have never been able to discern a consistent logic around who gets nominated or who gets statues. I comprehend the particular logic of the Oscars, but not the big awards for music. My normal state of confusion around what drives Grammy decisions was exponentialized this week when, to the shock of many, Kanye’s masterpiece My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was not nominated for a Grammy for Album of the Year."^[18] He went on to compare understanding the Grammy Awards to Kremlinology and commented on The Recording Academy's exclusion of more "mature" hip hop albums as Album of the Year nominees, noting that it occasionally opts to nominate "pop-friendly" hip hop albums instead.^[18]

In a 2011 profile for The New York Times following the 53rd Grammy Awards, frontman Justin Vernon of indie band Bon Iver was asked his opinion of the Grammys and how he would react to a nomination for his group, to which he responded, "You know I was thinking about that a couple of months ago, someone asked me that, and I was like 'I would go and I would' – and I don’t think the Bon Iver record is the kind of record that would get nominated for a Grammy – 'I would get up there and be like, ‘This is for my parents, because they supported me,’' because I know they would think it would be stupid of me not to go up there. But I kinda felt like going up there and being like: 'Everyone should go home, this is ridiculous. You should not be doing this. We should not be gathering in a big room and looking at each other and pretending that this is important.' That’s what I would say."^[19] He reaffirmed this sentiment and felt the Grammys are held in too, saying:

98 percent of the people in that room, their art is compromised by the fact that they’re thinking that, and that they’re hoping to get that award. And who is that award given by? It’s like they think it’s literally handed down by the musical-history gods. And I don’t know who the voters are. Like, I have a friend who’s a voter who was like, “I had to be a voter because I don’t trust the other voters.” And I was like, “Me either!” And it’s just not important and people spend too much time thinking about it.^[19]

—Justin Vernon

Bon Iver subsequently received four nominations in November for the 54th Grammy Awards.^[19] After winning the award, Vernon said in his acceptance, "It's really hard to accept this award. There's so much talent out here [...] and there's a lot of talent that's not here tonight. It's also hard to accept because you know, when I started to make songs I did it for the inherent reward of making songs, so I'm a little bit uncomfortable up here."^[20]

In his article "Everything Is Praised Again", Jon Caramanica of The New York Times criticized Grammy voters for being "conservative" and disregarding more "forward-looking" music, and wrote in response to the 54th Grammy Awards, "for the umpteenth time, the Grammys went with familiarity over risk, bestowing album of the year honors (and several more) on an album that reinforced the values of an older generation suspicious of change."^[21] He cited the Grammy successes of Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation (1999), Norah Jones' Come Away with Me (2003), and Adele's 21 (2011) as examples of "the Grammys dropp[ing] a boatload of awards on a young female singer-songwriter and her breakthrough album." Of Kanye West's absence from the ceremony, Caramanica stated, "He didn’t even bother to show up for the broadcast, which was well enough, because hip-hop was almost completely marginalized".^[21]

In an article for The Huffington Post, music executive and author Steve Stoute criticized the Recording Academy and the Grammy Awards for having "lost touch with contemporary popular culture" and noted "two key sources" for it: "(1) over-zealousness to produce a popular show that is at odds with its own system of voting and (2) fundamental disrespect of cultural shifts as being viable and artistic."^[22] Stoute accused them of snubbing artists with more cultural impact, citing respective loses by the critical and commercial successes in Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) and Kanye West's Graduation (2007) in the Album of the Year category, and stated:

As an institution that celebrates artistic works of musicians, singers, songwriters, producers and technical specialists, we have come to expect that the Grammys upholds all of the values that reflect the very best in music that is born from our culture. Unfortunately, the awards show has become a series of hypocrisies and contradictions, leaving me to question why any contemporary popular artist would even participate. [...] While there is no doubt in my mind of the artistic talents of Steely Dan or Herbie Hancock, we must acknowledge the massive cultural impact of Eminem and Kanye West and how their music is shaping, influencing and defining the voice of a generation. It is this same cultural impact that acknowledged the commercial and critical success of Michael Jackson's Thriller in 1984.^[22]

—Steve Stoute

TV broadcasts and ratings[link]

Prior to the first live Grammys telecast in 1971 on American Broadcasting Company (ABC), a series of taped annual specials in the 1960s called The Best on Record were broadcast on National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The first Grammy Award telecast took place on the night of November 29, 1959, as an episode of the NBC anthology series Sunday Showcase, which was normally devoted to plays, original TV dramas, and variety shows. Until 1971, awards ceremonies were held in both New York and Los Angeles, with winners accepting at one of the two. Pierre Cossette bought the rights to broadcast the ceremony from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and organized the first live telecast.^[23] CBS Broadcasting bought the rights in 1973 after moving the ceremony to Nashville, Tennessee; the American Music Awards were created for ABC (by Dick Clark) as a result.

The Recording Academy announced on June 21, 2011 that it had reached a new deal with CBS to keep the awards show on the network for another 10 years. CBS also broadcasted the annual nominations concert special on November 30, 2011 from Los Angeles. The Grammys aired on February 12, 2012. The 2011 Grammy Award show had 26.6 million viewers.

See also[link]

• National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences
• Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences
• Latin Grammy Awards
• Grammy Museum

Notes and references[link]

External links[link]

Look up Grammy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Official website
• Grammy Awards winners at Grammy.com (searchable database)

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Sir Elton John CBE
Elton John attending the premiere of The Union at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival
Background information
Birth name	Reginald Kenneth Dwight
Born	(1947-03-25) 25 March 1947 (age 65) Pinner, Middlesex, England
Genres	Rock, R&B, pop rock, glam rock, soft rock
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, composer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar
Years active	1964–68 (Bluesology) 1969–present (Solo)
Labels	DJM, Uni, MCA, Geffen, Rocket/Island, Universal, Interscope, Mercury, UMG
Associated acts	Bernie Taupin, Tim Rice, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Kiki Dee, Billy Joel, George Michael, Eminem, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, Neil Sedaka
Website	eltonjohn.com

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriter partner since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date.

In his four-decade career John has sold more than 250 million records, making him one of the most successful artists of all time.^[1] His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" has sold over 33 million copies worldwide, and is the best selling single in Billboard history.^[2] He has more than 50 Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums, 56 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10, four No. 2 hits, and nine No. 1 hits. He has won six Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him Number 49 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.^[3]

John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.^[4] Having been named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996, John received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for "services to music and charitable services" in 1998.^[5]

He has been heavily involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s.^[6] In 1992, he established the Elton John AIDS Foundation and a year later began hosting the annual Academy Award Party, which has since become one of the most high-profile Oscar parties in the Hollywood film industry. Since its inception, the foundation has raised over $200 million.^[7]

John entered into a civil partnership with David Furnish^[8] on 21 December 2005 and continues to be a champion for LGBT social movements. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him as the most successful male solo artist on "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists" (third overall, behind only The Beatles and Madonna).^[9]

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947, the eldest child of Stanley and only child of Sheila Eileen Dwight (née Harris)^[10][11][12] and was raised in Pinner, Middlesex in a council house of his maternal grandparents. His parents did not marry until he was 6 years old, when the family moved to a nearby semi-detached house.^[13][14][15] He was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School and Pinner County Grammar School, until age 17, when he left just prior to his A Level examinations to pursue a career in the music industry.^[16][17][18]

When John began to seriously consider a career in music, his father, who served as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, tried to steer him toward a more conventional career, such as banking.^[16] John has stated that his wild stage costumes and performances were his way of letting go after such a restrictive childhood.^[18] Both of John's parents were musically inclined, his father having been a trumpet player with the Bob Millar Band, a semi-professional big band that played at military dances.^[18] The Dwights were keen record buyers, exposing John to the popular singers and musicians of the day, and John remembers being immediately hooked on rock and roll when his mother brought home records by Elvis Presley and Bill Haley & His Comets in 1956.^[16][17]