Lamar shut out as Swift, Sheeran, Mars win top Grammy awards
View(s):
Recording Academy Person of the Year Lionel Richie performs “All Night Long” with John Legend (L), Demi Lovato (2nd from L, Meghan Trainor, Tyrese and Luke Bryan (R)
Rapper Kendrick Lamar led the Grammy winners with five wins but was shut out of the night’s top categories as Taylor Swift nabbed album of the year in an upset victory.
Compton, California rapper Lamar went into the awards with 11 nominations, and had looked on course to take album of the year for his critically-acclaimed “To Pimp A Butterfly,” but it was country-turned-pop artist Swift who won with “1989”, the best-selling album of 2014.
Swift, 26, made history as the first woman to win album of the year twice after also taking the Grammy in 2009 for “Fearless,” and delivered a feisty acceptance speech on female empowerment.
“To all the woman out there … there will be people who try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame,” the singer said on stage, adding “don’t let people sidetrack you.”
The speech appeared to be a swipe at Kanye West who last week released a song called “Famous” in which he claimed that he made Swift famous after the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards incident in which West hijacked Swift’s win live on stage.
R&B singer Bruno Mars and producer Mark Ronson won record of the year for their upbeat track “Uptown Funk!”
“We wouldn’t be up here if it wasn’t for the people dancing to this song,” Mars said.
British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran won his first Grammys, including song of the year for “Thinking Out Loud”, receiving a big hug from Swift as he went up on stage.
Pop star Meghan Trainor, who broke out last year with her body-confident hit “All About That Bass,” was named Best New Artist, tearfully thanking music executive L.A. Reid “for looking at me as an artist instead of just a song-writer.”
REUTERS
