Coldplay win two Grammys
Coldplay have crowned a triumphant year with two prizes at the Grammy awards in New York.
The band won the alternative music album award for A Rush of Blood to the Head and another Grammy for the single, In My Place.
But the music of singer Norah Jones garnered eight Grammy awards, including album and record of the year, capping a year in which the sultry singer catapulted to international acclaim.
“I feel really blessed and really lucky,” Jones said after winning the album of the year at the end of the 45th annual awards show.
Jones, who won in every category where she was nominated, tied Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys for most wins by a female artist in a single night.
As unknown as triple-winner Bruce Springsteen was acclaimed before the last year, Jones won five individual Grammys.
“I never ever thought that the music I made would become popular music, so this is amazing,” Jones said as she picked up an award for best pop vocal album.
She also won for best female pop vocal, best new artist and for record of the year for Don’t Know Why.
Her album, Come Away With Me, earned best engineered album and producer of the year honours for Arif Mardin.
The 23-year-old New Yorker, who emerged last year from obscurity after signing with the tiny Blue Note jazz label, sold more than six million copies of her debut worldwide. She appeared almost overwhelmed in accepting one award from the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.
Springsteen was clearly a favourite of the crowd inside Madison Square Garden as the Grammys returned to New York for the first time in five years.
Performing only a few miles north of ground zero, Springsteen delivered a rousing performance of the title track midway through the 45th annual award.
The Dixie Chicks, after a bitter legal battle with their label Sony, took best country album among their three Grammys. The trio’s multiplatinum Home, a return to their country roots, was co-produced by member Natalie Maines’s father, Lloyd.
“I want to check the record books and see how many fathers and daughters have won Grammys together,” she said, grabbing her father.
Among the double winners were Eminem, Coldplay and Nelly. Eminem won for best rap album, the third time he’s won in the category.
Instead of offering an acceptance speech, Eminem rattled off a list of rappers who had inspired him, including Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.
“Thank you, because I learned from all of you,” he said.
Eminem, Jones, Springsteen and Nelly were all nominated for a leading five Grammys apiece, along with perennial Grammy favourite Sheryl Crow, neosoul singer-songwriter Raphael Saadiq, teen rocker Avril Lavigne and R&B newcomer Ashanti. Saadiq, Crow and Ashanti all won one.
Country singer Alan Jackson, who wrote Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning) in the weeks after the terrorist attacks, won best country song for the mournful tune.
India.Arie, who was nominated for seven Grammys last year but lost them all, finally got her first two, winning for best urban-alternative performance for Little Things and best R&B album for Voyage to India.
Some other veteran artists added to bulging trophy cases: bluesman BB King won two, for 13 in his career, while Johnny Cash won his 11th and Tony Bennett his 10th – while soul legend Solomon Burke won his first.
“We got a Grammy, baby!” Burke said as he hoisted his award.
The disc Vaughn Williams: A Sea Symphony garnered three awards, including best classical album.
The show opened with Dustin Hoffman – one in a revolving series of New York-based hosts – introducing a reunion performance by lifetime achievement award winners Simon and Garfunkel.
The pair, who sang The Sound of Silence, have shared a tumultuous relationship - this was their first performance together in a decade.
