Co-hosts Kanye West (left) and John Legend congratulate each other at the GOOD Music Grammy after-party in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Both artistes won three Grammys each. - REUTERS
LOS ANGELES (AP):
THE GRAMMYS finally showed Mariah Carey a little love - with an emphasis on 'little'.
Though Carey, 2005's biggest pop success, had a leading eight nominations and the chance to make history with the most Grammys won by a woman in a single night, she went home with just three trophies Wednesday. She lost in all of the major categories she was nominated for, including record, song and Album of the Year.
Instead U2 got all the Grammy glory, as the perennial favourites captured five Grammy awards for their album How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, including Album of the Year.
"We have to go through certain things in order to appreciate life and learn lessons," Carey said during an interview with the TV show Extra. Asked how she was doing, Carey replied: "I'm just in a really good, comfortable, happy place."
20TH GRAMMY FOR U2
It was the second time U2 had won the prestigious award for best album (the first was in 1987 for The Joshua Tree). It was their 20th Grammy and the eighth for Atomic Bomb, which was released in late 2004 and also won three last year.
"If you think this is going to go to our head, it's too late," U2 frontman Bono said after the group won Song of the Year for Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own. After winning the night's big award, Album of the Year, Bono told Carey "You sing like an angel."
Carey won three Grammys in the pre-telecast ceremony, including Best R&B Album. But the evening still seemed bittersweet for Carey, who had the year's best-selling album with The Emancipation of Mimi and its most popular song in We Belong Together. She was nominated for Album of the Year and Song and Record of the Year, among her other nominations, but won nothing during the televised ceremony.
LEGENDARY WINS
John Legend won three awards: Best New Artiste, Best R&B Album for his debut, Get Lifted, and Best Male R&B Vocal for the piano ballad Ordinary People. His mentor, Kanye West, also won three, including Best Rap Album for Late Registration.
"I had no idea, I had no idea," West said in mock shock as he pulled a huge sheet of paper that read 'Thank You List'.
A highlight was the appearance of Sly Stone, the mercurial, psychedelic soul-rock pioneer who disappeared from the music scene decades ago and had not performed in public since 1993. Toward the end of a sizzling all-star tribute to Stone, the man himself emerged, sporting a blond Mohawk against his 61-year-old brown scalp and made his way through I Want To Take You Higher. Though the tribute was planned, many didn't expect Stone to show up.
Former Beatle Paul McCartney was featured in the night's most intriguing mash-up, walking onstage to sing Yesterday with rockers Linkin Park and rap mogul Jay-Z.
Alison Krauss and Union Station also had three awards, including for Best Country Album, while Stevie Wonder, who released his first album in 10 years last year, had two. Guitar legend Les Paul, who at age 90 released his first rock album last year, also won two awards, for Best Pop Instrumental and Best Rock Instrumental.
A brief, impromptu performance by Wonder and Alicia Keyes was the first to energise the crowd. Wonder pulled out his harmonica and the two soulfully sang his classic Higher Ground as a tribute to the late Coretta Scott King, who was buried Tuesday.
"Let's keep trying to reach that higher ground," Keyes said. "I forever want to reach that higher ground."
