The 2012 Grammys were held on Sunday, February 12th 2012 at the Staple center in Los Angeles California. Though the night may have been overshadowed by the death of Whitney Houston the show continued on. Performances by Bruce Springsteen, the reformed Beach Boys, The Foo Fighters, and a touching rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” performed by Jennifer Hudson were definite highlights of the night. A heavily religious themed performance by Niky Minaj left people either scratching their heads or highly disturbed. LL Cool J did an ok job as the host for the event however his segues were kept very brief. Chris Brown made several appearances over the course of the evening as he has seemed to have earned his way back into the good graces of the music community. The big winners of the night were Adele who brought home 5 Grammy’s including one for Record of the Year and Album of the Year. The Foo Fighters also took home 5 Grammy’s which included Best Rock performance and Best Rock Album. Other noted winners were Bon Iver who beat out the likes of Skrillex and The Band Perry for Best new Artist while Lady Antebellum took home the award for Best Country Album beating out the likes of Jason Aldean and country staple George Strait. As with any awards show there will be high points and low points. Sadly I think the 2012 Grammy’s had more lows than highs but to end on a positive there are some really big releases slated for this year that will hopefully catch the attention of the right people.
2012 Grammy Award Winners
Record of the Year- “Rolling In the Deep” – Adele
Album of the Year- “21” – Adele
Song of the Year- “Rolling in the Deep” – Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth, songwriters (Adele)
Best New Artist- Bon Iver
Best Pop Solo Performance- “Someone Like You” – Adele
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance- “Body And Soul” – Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse
Best Pop Instrumental Album- “The Road From Memphis” – Booker T. Jones
Best Pop Vocal Album- “21” – Adele
Best Dance Recording- “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites” – Skrillex
Best Dance/Electronica Album- “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites” – Skrillex
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album- “Duets II” – Tony Bennett & Various Artists
Best Rock Performance- “Walk” – Foo Fighters
Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance- “White Limo” – Foo Fighters
Best Rock Song- “Walk” – Foo Fighters, songwriters (Foo Fighters)
Best Rock Album- “Wasting Light” – Foo Fighters
Best Alternative Music Album- “Bon Iver” – Bon Iver
Best R&B Performance- “Is This Love” – Corinne Bailey Rae
Best Traditional R&B Performance- “Fool For You” – Cee Lo Green & Melanie Fiona
Best R&B Song- “Fool For You” – Cee Lo Green & Jack Splash, songwriters (Cee Lo Green & Melanie Fiona)
Best R&B Album- “F.A.M.E.” – Chris Brown
Best Rap Performance- “Otis” – Jay-Z & Kanye West
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration- “All Of The Lights” – Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi & Fergie
Best Rap Song- “All Of The Lights” – Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter & Kanye West, songwriters (Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi & Fergie)
Best Rap Album- “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” – Kanye West
Best Country Solo Performance- “Mean” – Taylor Swift
Best Country Duo/Group Performance- “Barton Hollow” – The Civil Wars
Best Country Song- “Mean” – Taylor Swift, songwriter (Taylor Swift)
Best Country Album- “Own The Night” – Lady Antebellum
Best New Age Album- “What’s It All About” – Pat Metheny “Instrumental Oasis, Vol. 6” – Zamora
Best Improvised Jazz Solo- “500 Miles High” – Chick Corea, soloist
Best Jazz Vocal Album- “The Mosaic Project” – Terry Lyne Carrington & Various Artists
Best Jazz Instrumental Album- “Forever” – Corea, Clarke & White
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album- “The Good Feeling” – Christian McBride Big Band
Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance- “Jesus” – Le’Andria Johnson
Best Gospel Song- “Hello Fear” – Kirk Franklin, songwriter (Kirk Franklin)
Best Contemporary Christian Music Song- “Blessings” – Laura Story, songwriter (Laura Story)
Best Gospel Album- “Hello Fear” – Kirk Franklin
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album- “And If Our God Is For Us…” – Chris Tomlin
Best Latin Pop, Rock or Urban Album- “Drama Y Luz” – Maná
Best Regional Mexican or Tejano Album- “Bicentenario” – Pepe Aguilar
Best Banda or Norteño Album- “Los Tigres Del Norte And Friends” – Los Tigres Del Norte
Best Tropical Latin Album- “The Last Mambo” – Cachao
Best Americana Album- “Ramble At The Ryman” – Levon Helm
Best Bluegrass Album- “Paper Airplane” – Alison Krauss & Union Station
Best Blues Album- “Revelator” – Tedeschi Trucks Band
Best Folk Album- “Barton Hollow” – The Civil Wars
Best Regional Roots Music Album- “Rebirth Of New Orleans” – Rebirth Brass Band
Best Reggae Album- “Revelation Pt 1: The Root Of Life” – Stephen Marley
Best World Music Album- “Tassili” – Tinariwen
Best Children’s Album- “All About Bullies… Big And Small” – (Various Artists) James Cravero, Gloria Domina, Kevin Mackie, Steve Pullara & Patrick Robinson, producers
Best Spoken Word Album- “If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won’t)” – Betty White
Best Comedy Album- “Hilarious” – Louis C.K.
Best Musical Theater Album- “The Book Of Mormon” – Josh Gad & Andrew Rannells, principal soloists; Anne Garefino, Robert Lopez, Stephen Oremus, Trey Parker, Scott Rudin & Matt Stone, producers; Robert Lopez, Trey Parker & Matt Stone, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast)
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media– “Boardwalk Empire: Volume 1” – (Various Artists)
Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media- “The King’s Speech” – Alexandre Desplat, composer
Best Song Written For Visual Media- “I See The Light” (From “Tangled”) – Alan Menken & Glenn Slater, songwriters (Mandy Moore & Zachary Levi)
Best Instrumental Composition- “Life In Eleven” – Béla Fleck & Howard Levy, composers (Béla Fleck & The Flecktones)
Best Instrumental Arrangement- “Rhapsody In Blue” – Gordon Goodwin, arranger (Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band
Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist (s)- “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)” – Jorge Calandrelli, arranger (Tony Bennett & Queen Latifah)
Best Recording Packaging- “The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story” – Dave Bett & Michelle Holme, art directors (Bruce Springsteen) “25th Anniversary Music Box” – Matt Taylor & Ellen Wakayama, art directors (Danny Elfman & Tim Burton)
Best Album Notes- “Hear Me Howling!: Blues, Ballads & Beyond As Recorded By The San Francisco Bay By Chris Strachwitz In The 1960s” – Adam Machado, album notes writer (Various Artists)
Best Historical Album- “Band On The Run (Paul McCartney Archive Collection – Deluxe Edition)” – Paul McCartney, compilation producer; Sam Okell & Steve Rooke, mastering engineers (Paul McCartney & Wings)
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical- “Paper Airplane” – Mike Shipley, engineer; Brad Blackwood, mastering engineer (Alison Krauss & Union Station)
Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical- Paul Epworth – “Call It What You Want” (Foster The People) (T); “I Would Do Anything For You” (Foster The People) (T); “I’ll Be Waiting” (Adele) (T); “Life On The Nickel” (Foster The People) (T); “No One’s Gonna Love You” (Cee-Lo Green) (S); “Rolling In The Deep” (Adele)(T)
Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical- “Cinema” (Skrillex Remix) – Sonny Moore, remixer (Benny Benassi)
Best Surround Sound Album- “Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs (Super Deluxe Edition)” – Elliot Scheiner, surround mix engineer; Bob Ludwig, surround mastering engineer; Bill Levenson & Elliot Scheiner, surround producers (Derek & The Dominos)
Best Engineered Album, Classical- “Aldridge: Elmer Gantry” – Byeong-Joon Hwang & John Newton, engineers; Jesse Lewis, mastering engineer (William Boggs, Keith Phares, Patricia Risley, Vale Rideout, Frank Kelley, Heather Buck, Florentine Opera Chorus & Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra)
Producer Of The Year, Classical- Judith Sherman – “Adams: Son Of Chamber Symphony; String Quartet” (John Adams, St. Lawrence String Quartet & International Contemporary Ensemble); “Capricho Latino” (Rachel Barton Pine); “85th Birthday Celebration” (Claude Frank); “Insects & Paper Airplanes – Chamber Music Of Lawrence Dillon” (Daedalus Quartet & Benjamin Hochman); “Midnight Frolic – The Broadway Theater Music Of Louis A.
Best Orchestral Performance- “Brahms: Symphony No. 4” – Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Best Opera Recording- “Adams: Doctor Atomic” – Alan Gilbert, conductor; Meredith Arwady, Sasha Cooke, Richard Paul Fink, Gerald Finley, Thomas Glenn & Eric Owens; Jay David Saks, producer (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
Best Choral Performance-“Light & Gold” – Eric Whitacre, conductor (Christopher Glynn & Hila Plitmann; The King’s Singers, Laudibus, Pavão Quartet & The Eric Whitacre Singers)
Best Small Ensemble Performance- “Mackey: Lonely Motel – Music From Slide” – Rinde Eckert & Steven Mackey; Eighth Blackbird
Best Classical Instrumental Solo- “Schwantner: Concerto For Percussion & Orchestra” – Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Christopher Lamb (Nashville Symphony); Track from:
Best Classical Vocal Solo- “Diva Divo” – Joyce DiDonato (Kazushi Ono; Orchestre De L’Opéra National De Lyon; Choeur De L’Opéra National De Lyon)
Best Contemporary Classical Composition- “Aldridge, Robert: Elmer Gantry” – Robert Aldridge & Herschel Garfein “Crumb, George: The Ghosts Of Alhambra” – George Crumb; Track from:
Best Short Form Music Video- “Rolling In The Deep” – Adele; Sam Brown, video director; Hannah Chandler, video producer
Best Long Form Music Video- “Foo Fighters: Back And Forth” – Foo Fighters; James Moll, video director; James Moll & Nigel Sinclair, video producers
