Ray Charles and ‘Company’ Top List of BMI Grammy Winners
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| Kanye West | Ray Charles |
Charles, whose Grammy haul now totals 17, also took home the coveted Record of the Year title as well as Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Here We Go Again," featuring pianist/singer Norah Jones. She won three awards herself, two for her duet with Charles and one for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the song "Sunrise" from her sophomore release Feels Like Home.
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| Norah Jones | John Adams | Loretta Lynn |
Genius engineer Al Schmitt won four Grammys, including one for Best Engineered Album (non-classical); the album's producer, Don Mizell, also took home a statuette.
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| Maroon5 | Tim McGraw |
Ten-time nominee Kanye West took home three awards, including Best Rap Song for his hit "Jesus Walks" (co-written with Miri Ben-Ari) from his multiplatinum release The College Dropout, which earned the Best Rap Album title. His Best R&B Song win, also a songwriter award, was shared with BMI co-writer Harold Lilly for the smash "You Don't Know My Name."
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| Blind Boys of Alabama | Brian Wilson |
Pop-rockers Maroon5 took home the prestigious Best New Artist Grammy, a surprise to even the band's own members. When lead singer, Adam Levine, accepted the award, he commented: "Kanye West, I want to thank you so much for being unbelievable."
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| Miri Ben-Ari | Al Schmitt | Harold Lilly |
BMI artists once again dominated the Latin category, winning five of the six awards, including Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album (Street Signs) by multicultural, hip-hop outfit Ozomatli and Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album by Tejano-norte�o fusion band Intocable. Cuban bassist Israel "Cachao" L�pez's �Ahora S�! was named Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra won for Best Salsa/Merengue Album. The Best Tejano Album win went to BMI composers David Lee Garza, Joel Guzman and Sunny Sauceda.
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| Ozomatli |
BMI jazz artists also had a strong showing, winning Grammys in four out of six fields, with the Best Jazz Instrumental Album statuette going to McCoy Tyner, Gary Bartz, Terence Blanchard and Christian McBride for Illuminations. Herbie Hancock picked up his ninth career Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, Charlie Haden's release Land of the Sun was named Best Latin Jazz Album and Bill Frisell's Unspeakable earned the Best Contemporary Jazz Album title.
Winning two Grammys each were classical composer John Adams and BMI Icon Loretta Lynn. This is legendary country singer's second Grammy; she won in 1971 for her collaboration with Conway Twitty. Her album, Van Lear Rose, earned her the Best Country Album trophy, which she accepted with the album's producer Jack White of the White Stripes. The pair also won Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for the track "Portland Oregon."
Newcomers Los Lonely Boys opened the Grammy show with their #1 breakthrough smash "Heaven," which earned the Tex-Mex brothers the trophy for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. Hip-hop party band the Black Eyed Peas picked up a Grammy for "Let's Get It Started," named Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group, while crunk rapper Lil Jon received a Grammy nod for his collaboration on the Usher hit "Yeah!".
Other BMI winners included Basement Jaxx [PRS] (Best Electronic/Dance Album), Tim McGraw (Best Male Country Vocal Performance), The Blind Boys Of Alabama (Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album), Brave Combo (Best Polka Album), and BMI Icon Brian Wilson, who also earned his very first Grammy. The Beach Boys leader was also honored on February 11 as the Person of the Year at the annual MusiCares dinner, which cited him as "one of the most important songwriters and recording artists of our time."
BMI's 2005 Grammy Award Winners:
Ray Charles
Record Of The Year
"Here We Go Again"
Album Of The Year
Genius Loves Company
Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
"Here We Go Again"
Best Pop Vocal Album
Genius Loves Company
Best Gospel Performance
"Heaven Help Us All"
Al Schmitt
Record Of The Year
"Here We Go Again"
Album Of The Year
Genius Loves Company
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Genius Loves Company
Best Surround Sound Album
Genius Loves Company
Norah Jones
Record Of The Year
"Here We Go Again"
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
"Sunrise"
Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
"Here We Go Again"
Kanye West
Best R&B Song
"You Don't Know My Name"
Best Rap Song
"Jesus Walks"
Best Rap Album
College Dropout
John Adams
Best Classical Album
Adams: On The Transmigration Of Souls
Best Classical Contemporary Composition
Adams: On The Transmigration Of Souls
Loretta Lynn
Best Country Album
Van Lear Rose
Best Country Collaboration With Vocals
Portland Oregon"
Maroon5
Best New Artist
Don Mizell
Album Of The Year
Genius Loves Company
Los Lonely Boys
Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal
"Heaven"
Britney Spears
Best Dance Recording
"Toxic"
Basement Jaxx (PRS)
Best Electronic/Dance Album
Kish Kash
Mot�rhead (PRS)
Best Metal Performance
"Whiplash"
Brian Wilson
Best Rock Instrumental Performance
"Mrs. O'Leary's Cow"
Wilco
Best Alternative Music Album
A Ghost Is Born
Harold Lilly
Best R&B Song
"You Don't Know My Name"
The Black Eyed Peas
Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group
"Let's Get It Started"
Lil Jon
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
"Yeah!"
Miri Ben Ari
Best Rap Song
"Jesus Walks"
Tim McGraw
Best Male Country Vocal Performance
"Live Like You Were Dying"
Dixie Chicks
Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal
"Top Of The World"
Jack White
Best Country Collaboration With Vocals
"Portland Oregon"
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Best Country Instrumental Performance
"Earl's Breakdown"
Earl Scruggs
Best Country Instrumental Performance
"Earl's Breakdown"
Randy Scruggs
Best Country Instrumental Performance
"Earl's Breakdown"
Jerry Douglas
Best Country Instrumental Performance
"Earl's Breakdown"
Tim Nichols
Best Country Song
"Live Like You Were Dying"
Will Ackerman
Best New Age Album
Returning
Bill Frisell
Best Contemporary Jazz Album
Unspeakable
Herbie Hancock
Best Jazz Instrumental Solo
"Speak Like A Child"
McCoy Tyner
Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
Illuminations
Gary Bartz
Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
Illuminations
Terence Blanchard
Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
Illuminations
Christian McBride
Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
Illuminations
Charlie Haden
Best Latin Jazz Album
Land Of The Sun
Steven Curtis Chapman
Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album
All Things New
The Blind Boys Of Alabama
Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album
There Will Be A Light
Ozomatli
Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album
Street Signs
Israel L�pez "Cachao"
Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album
�Ahora S�!
Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Best Salsa/Merengue Album
Across 110th Street
Intocable
Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album
Intimamente
David Lee Garza
Best Tejano Album
Polkas, Gritos y Acorde�nes
Joel Guzman
Best Tejano Album
Polkas, Gritos y Acorde�nes
Sunny Sauceda
Best Tejano Album
Polkas, Gritos y Acorde�nes
Etta James
Best Traditional Blues Album
Blues To The Bone
Keb' Mo'
Best Contemporary Blues Album
Keep It Simple
Bill Miller
Best Native American Music Album
Cedar Dream Songs
Toots & The Maytals
Best Reggae Album
True Love
Brave Combo
Best Polka Album
Let's Kiss: 25th Anniversary Album
Paquito D'Rivera
Best Instrumental Composition
"Merengue"
Slide Hampton (SACEM)
Best Instrumental Arrangement
"Past Present & Future"
Ray Cooper (PRS)
Best Long Form Music Video
Concert For George
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
Best Classical Crossover Album
LAGQ's Guitar Heroes
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners:
Eddy Arnold
Art Blakey
The Carter Family
Jerry Lee Lewis
Pinetop Perkins
The Staple Singers
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