With four Grammys in the bag, including three in the main categories, Sam Smith takes his place alongside Adele and only a handful of other British artists who won multiple awards in one evening.
Last night, Smith took home Grammys for Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year (Stay With Me) and Best Pop Vocal Album (In The Lonely Hour). Receiving his third award, he confided to the audience that he was "having a really, really great night." He also performed Stay With Me with Mary J Blige.
Other multiple Grammy winners of the evening include Beck, with Album of the Year (Morning Phase) and Best Rock Album. Beck received his Album of the Year trophy from Prince who introduced the nominess by saying, "Like books and black lives, albums still matter."
Smith and Beck are both on Capitol Records in the US and both recipients thanked their label upon their wins.
The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy. The show was presented by rapper/actor LL Cool J and broadcast live on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 8. The night was somewhat disappointing for Taylor Swift and Katy Perry who left empty handed despite being nominated in three and two categories, respectively.
Recipients of three awards each included Beyoncé (nominated for six Grammys and winning Best R&B performance and Best R&B Song for Drunk In Love, and Best Surround Sound Album), Pharrell Williams (six nominations and awards for Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Video for Happy, and Best Urban Contemporary Album for Girl) and Rosanne Cash (Best American Roots Song for A Feather's Not A Bird, Best Americana Album for The River & The Thread and Best American Roots Performance).
The telecast lasted over three and a half hours, and included over 25 performances, including AC/DC who opened the show with Rock Or Bust and Highway To Hell, Ariana Grande, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, Juanes, Sia, Madonna for the premiere of Living for Love, Katy Perry and Beyoncé.
Kanye West went twice on stage, once for his solo performance of Only One and a second time for FourFiveSeconds with Paul MCcartney and Rihanna, as did Ed Sheeran first with John Mayer, Herbie Hancock and Questlove, and then joining ELO's Jeff Lynne for a rendition of Mr. Blue Sky.
Several duets or pairings were formed for the oaccasion: Tom Jones and Jessie J performing You Lost That Loving Feeling as a tribute to songwriters Barry Man and Cynthya Well, Marron 5's Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani, Hozier joined by Annie Lennox on Take Me To Church and then performing together I Put A Spell On You, Pharrell Williams with pianist Lang Lang in a performance of Happy arranged by Hans Zimmer, Dwight Yoakam and Brandy Clark, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, Usher with Stevie Wonder, Beck and Chris Martin, John Legend and Common.
At times the selection of songs was sombre such as Katy Perry's By The Grace Of God, Kanye West's Only One, and Beyoncé's Take My Hand, Precious Lord.
The show also featured a video recording on President Obama, on the issue of violence against women and girls and to promote the inititive "It's On Us". “It’s not OK, and it has to stop,” said Obama, who urged the audience at the Staples Center and the viewers to visit the site ItsOnUs.org. “Artists have a unique unique power to change minds and attitudes, to get us thinking and talking about what matters. All of us in our own lives have the power to set an example.”
Neil Portnow, the CEO of the Recording Academy, which organises the Grammy Awards, used the occasion of the telecast to announce the creation of the Grammy Creators Alliance, a new coalition to influence those who make legislation in the US. "Music matters and has tremendous value in our lives," said Portnow who said there was a risk the next generation of songwriters and artists will face difficult times due to a dearth of revenues, and he invited artist, songwriters and producers to take action and fight for "laws [that] protect those who create the soundtrack of our lives."
Meanwhile, the day prior to the Grammys, the 2015 GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons honored Sony/ATV Music Publishing Chairman and CEO Martin Bandier with the President’s Merit Award in recognition of his significant contributions to the music industry and his numerous philanthropic endeavours.
It was the first time the award -- whose previous recipient was Universal Music Group Chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge -- honoured a music publisher. The event, is organized by Sony Music chief creative officer Clive Davis and The Recording Academy. During his acceotance speech, Bandier paid tribute to songwriters.
"I have always felt that songwriters have never received the credit they deserve," said Bandier. This is particularly the case today when something like 95% of the songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart are written in whole or part by someone other than the performer. A songwriter doesn’t share lucrative touring revenue and they don’t do brand deals. Their entire livelihood is reliant on the income from the song and that proposition is now under threat in a way that it has never been before."
Bandier continued by tackling one of the issues at the heart of his agenda: The remuneration of songwriters. "The music industry is changing in ways that I could never have imagined even just a decade ago," he explained. "It is exciting for us that this has resulted in music lovers having new ways to listen to music as they move from CDs and digital downloads to streaming services. But it is also the case that songwriters are not being adequately compensated for their creations in today’s digital world. Their songs are the very reason these services exist; their songs are why we are all here tonight. As the saying goes, it all starts with the song."
Of Sam Smith's wins, Bandier said: “Sony/ATV Music Publishing is thrilled that the Academy has recognized the extraordinary talents of our songwriter Sam Smith with four Grammy Awards. Sam was undoubtedly the big new star of 2014 and we believe he has a long and exciting career ahead of him. The Grammy Awards continues to be an important platform for Sony/ATV songwriters and artists, and we are delighted to see their work recognised.”
The full list of Grammy winners is available at grammy.com/nominees