The Hindu : Front Page : Ray Charles album gets 8 Grammys

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Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005

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Front Page

Ray Charles album gets 8 Grammys

By Fred Shuster

Stevie Wonder reads the names of nominees for Song of the Year in braille as fellow presenter Norah Jones looks on during the 47th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles. — AP

LOS ANGELES, FEB. 14. The American music industry handed the late Ray Charles a Valentine on Sunday when the genre-busting giant's album, ``Genius Loves Company,'' won eight Grammy Awards, including Album and Record of the Year.

Rapper-producer Kanye West won three of his leading 10 nominations, while Alicia Keys picked up four and Usher had three wins.

``I'm going to cry, actually,'' singer Norah Jones said as she accepted Charles' trophy for Record of the Year. ``I think it just shows how wonderful music can be. It's at a hundred per cent with Ray Charles.''

The Charles coronation reflected the Recording Academy's sentimental side with two separate musical tributes devoted to the singer during the telecast. In one, actor Jamie Foxx, Oscar-nominated for the Charles biopic ``Ray,'' introduced ``Georgia on My Mind,'' a duet with Keys, by dedicating the song ``to an old friend.'' Charles' posthumous duets disc ``Genius Loves Company'' recently passed two million in sales, making it the biggest success of his six-decade career. A second Charles tribute featuring Bonnie Raitt and Billy Preston closed the show.

``Humbly, we accept this wonderful, wonderful award and we offer you a humongous thanks to you, individually and collectively, from the bottom of our hearts,'' Joe Adams, Charles' long-time manager, said after the final album of the year trophy was presented. ``We love you madly, passionately, invigorously and continually.''

Charles, who died last June at the age of 73, had won 12 Grammys plus a lifetime achievement award in 1987. His Album of the Year win was the first posthumous award in that category since John Lennon won in 1982.

In a year when rap/hip-hop acts were expected to dominate the big four categories — album, record and song of the year, and best new artist — Grammy looked elsewhere. Charles grabbed the first two, while two pop acts took the latter two. John Mayer's ``Daughters'' won song of the year, and Maroon 5 was an upset winner over country singer Gretchen Wilson, British soul chanteuse Joss Stone and rockers Los Lonely Boys as the best new artist.

Keys' four wins included a trophy for her record of the year duet with Charles on a remake of his 1967 hit ``Here We Go Again.''

Rapper-producer West, who came close to dying in a car accident, made a heartfelt speech after winning best rap album. ``When I had my accident, I found out at that moment nothing in life is promised except death. If you have the opportunity to play this game of life, you need to appreciate every moment. A lot of people don't appreciate the moment until it's passed.''

The performance-heavy 47th annual ceremony kicked off with an unusual gambit — Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani with Eve, Los Lonely Boys, Maroon 5 and Franz Ferdinand, all appearing in tandem during the first 15 minutes to signify their expected impact in 2005. In all, two dozen musical segments were threaded among the 11 trophies handed out on the telecast. An additional 96 statuettes were awarded in a pre-telecast event.

Along with a second tribute to Charles, musical interludes feted late rocker Janis Joplin, and the gospel and Southern rock genres. In a rousing performance of Joplin's signature ``Cry Baby,'' a bald-headed Melissa Etheridge, who is suffering from cancer, and Stone drew a standing ovation from the glittery crowd.

Later, a tsunami-relief segment brought together a front line of Bono, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, Keys and others performing the Beatles' ``Across the Universe'' as the audience kept time. And in another selling point, newlyweds J. Lo and Marc Anthony cooed together on camera for the first time, performing amid an extravagant bedroom set; J. Lo managed to get a costume change in.

The amount of live music was a departure for the show, which has seen its ratings remain steady or decline over the years in shows bogged down by too much chatter. U2's Bono, whose band won for best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal for ``Vertigo,'' enthused onstage: ``This is the best Grammys I've ever seen.''

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