ARCH MUSIC NEWS for 2/11/13

Arch MUSIC NEWS is compiled by Jay Philpott -

Kelly Clarkson, Adele and fun. are among the artists celebrating wins at the 55th annual Grammy Awards, which took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday night. Adele picked up the first award of the night in the Best Pop Solo Performance category for “Set Fire To The Rain.” She was also on hand to present the Album of the Year award to her fellow Brits, Mumford & Sons. Kelly Clarkson took home one out of the four awards for which she was nominated, winning Best Pop Vocal Album for “Stronger.” She was also on hand to perform two short tributes to Patti Page and Carole King, two of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award winners. Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” featuring Kimbra picked up the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance award, along with Record of the Year, which was presented to them by Prince. Fun. was named Best New Artist and also took home the Song of the Year award for “We Are Young” featuring Janelle Monae. Rihanna’s video for “We Found Love” featuring Calvin Harris won for Best Short Form Video.

Rihanna also took the stage twice during Sunday’s ceremony. First, she performed her latest single “Stay” along with Mikki Ekko and came back later to be a part of the Bob Marley tribute with Bruno Mars and Sting. But the big performance of the night came from Justin Timberlake, who took the Grammy stage for the first time in over six years. After being introduced by Ellen DeGeneres and Beyonce, he started out with a retro “Suit & Tie, which featured a guest appearance by Jay-Z. He also performed another song from his upcoming album called “Pusher Love Girl.” Taylor Swift opened the show with “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” She may have taken a jab at her latest ex, One Direction’s Harry Styles, when she appeared to have spoken a few key lines of the song in a British accent. Alicia Keys and Maroon 5 mixed their hits “Girl On Fire” and “Daylight” and fun. performed “Carry On.” The evening’s host LL Cool J closed out the show with the help of Chuck D, Tom Morello and Blink 182′s Travis Barker.

Jennifer Lopez found a way around the Grammy’s dress code. The singer-actress arrived at the awards on Sunday night in a black gown with a nearly-waist high split that exposed her right leg. Before presenting the first award of the night, she said, “as you can see I read the memo” – referring to CBS’ much talked-about list of wardrobe restrictions that made headlines last week. She presented the award for Best Pop Solo Performance to Adele. While talking to E! on the red carpet earlier that night, she said that she “thought she was being such a good girl” since the new dress code “didn’t say anything about leg!” Lopez famously made headlines at the 2000 Grammys for her plunging green Versace silk dress.

Here is a list of winners from select categories at the 55th annual Grammy Awards.

RECORD OF THE YEAR
Gotye featuring Kimbra, “Somebody That I Used To Know”

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Mumford and Sons, “Babel”

SONG OF THE YEAR
Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe, “We Are Young” (Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess, songwriters)

BEST NEW ARTIST
Fun.

BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE
Adele, “Set Fire To The Rain”

BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
Gotye featuring Kimbra, “Somebody That I Used To Know”

BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM
Kelly Clarkson, “Stronger”

BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM
Paul McCartney, “Kisses On The Bottom”

BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE
The Black Keys, “Lonely Boy”

BEST ROCK SONG
The Black Keys, “Lonely Boy” (Dan Auerbach, Brian Burton and Patrick Carney, songwriters)

BEST ROCK ALBUM
The Black Keys, “El Camino”

BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM
Gotye, “Making Mirrors”

BEST HARD ROCK/METAL PERFORMANCE
Halestorm, “Love Bites (So Do I)”

BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE
Carrie Underwood, “Blown Away”

BEST COUNTRY DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
Little Big Town, “Pontoon”

BEST COUNTRY SONG
Carrie Underwood, “Blown Away” (Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, songwriters)

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM
Zac Brown Band, “Uncaged”

BEST AMERICANA ALBUM
Bonnie Raitt, “Slipstream”

BLUES ALBUM
“Locked Down,” Dr. John

BEST R&B PERFORMANCE
“Climax,” Usher

BEST TRADITIONAL R&B PERFORMANCE
“Love On Top,” Beyoncé

BEST R&B SONG
Miguel, “Adorn” (Miguel Pimentel, songwriter)

BEST R&B ALBUM
“Black Radio,” Robert Glasper Experiment

BEST RAP PERFORMANCE
“N****s In Paris,” Jay-Z & Kanye West

BEST RAP SONG
Jay-Z & Kanye West, “N****s In Paris,” (Shawn Carter, Mike Dean, Chauncey Hollis & Kanye West, songwriters)

BEST RAP ALBUM
“Take Care,” Drake

BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION
“No Church in the Wild,” Jay-Z and Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean and The-Dream

BEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM
“Channel Orange,” Frank Ocean

BEST DANCE RECORDING
Skrillex featuring Sirah, “Bangarang”

BEST DANCE/ELECTRONICA ALBUM
Skrillex, “Bangarang”

BEST GOSPEL ALBUM
“Gravity,” LeCrae

LATIN POP ALBUM
“MTV Unplugged Deluxe Edition,” Juanes

LATIN ROCK, URBAN, OR ALTERNATIVE ALBUM
“Imaginaries,” Quetzal

BEST SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO
Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris, “We Found Love”

BEST LONG FORM MUSIC VIDEO
Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros & Old Crow Medicine Show, “Big Easy Express”

RECORDING PACKAGE
“Biophilia,” Bjork

HISTORICAL ALBUM
“The Smile Sessions (Deluxe Box Set)” Brian Wilson and other producers

BEST REMIXED RECORDING, NON-CLASSICAL
“Promises,” (Skrillex & Nero Remix)

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Dan Auerbach

BEST SPOKEN WORD ALBUM
“Society’s Child,” Janis Ian

BEST COMEDY ALBUM
“Blow Your Pants Off,” Jimmy Fallon

SCORE SOUNDTRACK ALBUM
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” Trent Reznor, Atticus

SONG WRITTEN FOR VISUAL MEDIA
“Safe & Sound (From Hunger Games),” Taylor Swift & The Civil Wars, T-Bone Burnett

The late Levon Helm is among the stars who were remembered at last night’s Grammy Awards. Elton John led an all-star tribute performance of The Band’s “The Weight” to cap off the In Memorium segment. Mavis Staples, Mumford And Sons, the Zac Brown Band’s Zac Brown, the Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, and T Bone Burnett also took part in the Helm tribute. Bob Marley received a musical salute as well. Sting and Bruno Mars led off the segment performing their own reggae-inspired songs before welcoming Rihanna and Ziggy Marley to the stage to sing “Could You Be Loved.” The 55th annual Grammy Awards were presented in a ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and aired on CBS Sunday night.

Bruce Springsteen continues to raise money for charity — even when he’s being honored for his charitable efforts. Billboard.com says The Boss drove the price of an autographed guitar from 70-thousand-dollars to a quarter-of-a-million-dollars at the MusiCares Person of the Year gala, where he was the honoree. He generated even greater interest by tossing in an hour-long guitar lesson, a ride in the sidecar of his Harley, concert tickets, and a pan of lasagne which his mother would cook. It means Springsteen will be spending quite a bit of time with the winning bidder, which is something he doesn’t seem to mind. In his acceptance speech, he shared how musicians “want to be great” and “want to be important in your life.” He added that it’s the fans who “keep us in search of the force that reignites our gifts.”

Bruce also praised the stars who honored him with a musical salute, saying they made him “proud to be a musician.” More than 20 stars were on hand for the special tribute Highlights included Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” John Legend’s “Dancing in the Dark,” and Mumford And Sons’ “I’m On Fire.” Sting, Elton John, Kenny Chesney, Alabama Shakes, and Juanes also performed, while Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello took the stage twice. Springsteen also played a five-song set, and led the all-star finale of “Glory Days.” As the MusiCares person of the Year, Springsteen was honored for his musical contributions and his charitable work. The event took place in Los Angeles Friday night.

Friends, family, and fans are remembering the late Whitney Houston today, on the first anniversary of her death. She was honored over the weekend by her one-time mentor, Clive Davis, who paid tribute to her at his annual pre-Grammy gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel Saturday. According to “Entertainment Weekly,” Davis told the room of stars and industry peers that his world continues to be shattered by Whitney’s passing and that her death still feels “unreal.” Houston’s brother and sister-in-law Gary and Pat Houston were among those in attendance. But the late singer’s mother, Cissy Houston, chose not to attend, calling the the invitation “obscene” and “unheard of” in an interview with “Access Hollywood” last week. Whitney’s death came just hours before she was due to attend Davis’ pre-Grammy gala last year.

This year’s gala also included a tribute to Gladys Knight. Billboard.com says the Motown legend was honored with a performance from Jennifer Hudson before she took the stage to join her on “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.” Knight closed the show on her own with a performance of her classic “Midnight Train to Georgia.”

Steven Tyler is actively backing legislation that bears his name in Hawaii. The “Hawaiian Reporter” says Tyler as well as Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood were on hand to testify in favor of the “Steven Tyler Act” last Friday. The new privacy legislation was introduced by Maui Senator Kalani English at the rocker’s request. The bill would make it illegal for someone to photograph or tape people when they are “engaging in a personal or familial activity with a reasonable expectation of privacy.” In his testimony Tyler admitted that being a celebrity means living in the public eye. But he explained that “it hurts” when he sees someone snapping a photo of him when he’s showering, dressing, or celebrating a special occasion with his family, and that picture ends up in a magazine. He added that the invasion of privacy has made his kids reluctant to do things with him, and this past Christmas was “one of the first times” that he was able to celebrate the holiday as a family.

Mick Fleetwood, who made Maui his home ten years ago, admitted that after being in Hawaii for so long he’s “immune to it to some extent.” But he said he agreed with Tyler, and is supporting the Aerosmith frontman because “enough is enough.” Tyler’s attorney Dina LaPolt helped draft the legislation, because technology has enabled the paparazzi to become much more invasive from a much further distance. She also testified, saying her goal was to give celebrities “peace of mind.” Numerous other stars, including Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee, Guns N’ Roses’ Dizzy Reid, Quiet Riot’s Franike Banali, and Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly, and Jack Osbourne, have also submitted testimony in favor of the bill. Those who oppose the measure say it violates freedom of speech rights.