Los Angeles – The Red Hot Chili Peppers won three Grammys in the early going Sunday, Gnarls Barkley grabbed two and leading nominee Mary J. Blige took home one.
The bulk of the Recording Academy’s 108 Grammys are doled out during the “pre-show” before the nationally televised event, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were early winners, including best rock performance by a duo or group for “Dani California.” Gnarls Barkley’s two awards included a win for alternative music album.
Another double winner was rapper T.I.
Blige, who led all nominees with eight, won best R&B song for “Be Without You, which is also nominated for record and song of the year. The Dixie Chicks, John Mayer, Justin Timberlake (with rapper T.I. for the song “My Love”) also won one each.
Carrie Underwood won best female country vocal performance for her hit “Jesus Take the Wheel.” “This is my first Grammy! Hopefully the first of a few more,” said Underwood, the 2005 “American Idol” champ, who also singled out “Idol” creator Simon Fuller in her acceptance speech. (Last year, another “Idol” champ, Kelly Clarkson, was criticized for not paying tribute to her “Idol” roots.) Irma Thomas, known as the Queen of New Orleans Soul and a Hurricane Katrina survivor, was a tearful winner for best contemporary blues album for “After the Rain.” “First of all I want to say thank you God, and thank you New Orleans – 49 years you believed in me and it finally paid off,” she said.
Ike Turner also picked up a Grammy, for best traditional blues album, which his son produced. “Wow, I really don’t know what to say and I’m scared to death,” said the rock pioneer.
But most of the major names who were winners in the pre-telecast were not on hand, which did not go unnoticed by Lynn Redgrave, one of the presenters.
“I wish these guys would show up so I could say hello!” she joked after announcing a win by an absent Bob Dylan in the best contemporary folk/Americana album.
Blige, known as the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, had a chance to become Queen of the Grammys on Sunday with a leading eight nominations for her best-selling, critically acclaimed album, “The Breakthrough.” While Blige was the overall Grammy leader, there were several contenders for a Grammy sweep. The Dixie Chicks were also comeback darlings and were nominated for a total of five awards for their album, “Taking the Long Way,” their first disc since the country backlash over lead singer Natalie Maines’ criticism of President Bush in 2003. The trio was nominated for album of the year, and also for record and song of the year for their defiant anthem, “Not Ready to Make Nice.” Other contenders for album of the year included Timberlake, for his futuristic sounding club disc “FutureSex/LoveSounds”; Mayer’s “Continuum”; the Chili Pepper’s “Stadium Arcadium”; and “St.
Elsewhere” from the duo Gnarls Barkley.
Gnarls Barkley had one of the year’s most infectious tunes with the psychedelic soul of “Crazy,” and the group was rewarded with four Grammy nominations, including a record and song of the year nomination for the tune. Besides Blige and the Dixie Chicks, the other record of the year nominees were British newcomer Corinne Bailey Rae for her sweet and soulful “Put Your Records On,” and another Brit, James Blunt, for his aching ballad “You’re Beautiful.” Both Rae and Blunt were nominated for best new artist, along with another British singer-songwriter, Imogen Heap, and teenage R&B singer Chris Brown. But nominee Underwood, who had an amazing year with her multiplatinum debut album, “Some Hearts,” was seen by many as the favorite to win.
Of course, being the favorite and actually winning are two different things, and finding out who will take a Grammy home was part of the evening’s drama. But the Recording Academy, now in its 49th year, was hoping to inject more excitement into the show with its contest, “My Grammy Moment,” in which three women were contending for the chance to sing onstage with Timberlake during his performance; the winner was to be determined by viewers and revealed during the show.
Another performance was also primed to be the most-talked about of the night: the reunion of The Police. The band split in 1984, and last performed together in 2003 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They are set to go on a comeback tour this year.
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