Neil Young won his first-ever Grammy Award tonight (January 31) for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. This was the first-ever Grammy for the veteran rocker whose career has spanned almost half a century and who has bad-mouthed the awards ceremony for years.
Young shared the award with his co-art directors Gary Burden and Jenice Heo for the boxed set ‘Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972)."
Among other winners of interest were:
Phoenix who won the Grammy for Alternative Music Album for ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The French rockers beat off competition from David Byrne & Brian Eno, Death Cab For Cutie,Depeche Mode and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Kings of Leon won the Grammy for Record Of The Year for ‘Use Somebody’ beating out Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and The Black Eyed Peas. Kings of Leon also won Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals and another award for Best Rock Song – all for Use Somebody
Green Day won the Grammy for Rock Album Of The Year for ’21st Century Breakdown edging out competition from:
AC/DC – ‘Black Ice’
Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood – ‘Live From Madison Square Garden’
Dave Matthews Band – ‘Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King’
U2 – ‘No Line On The Horizon’
Bela Fleck won Best Pop Instrumental Performance for his version of "Throw Down Your Heart: off of Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3 – Africa Sessions. He also won Best Contemporary World Music Album for Throw Down Your Heart.
Booker T Jones along with help from the Drive By Truckers won Best Pop Instrumental album for Potato Hole
AC/DC won Best Hard Rock Performance for "War Machine" from Black Ice
Bruce Springsteen won Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for "Working On A Dream" from the album of the same name.
Zac Brown Band won the Best New Artist award
Best Contemporary Folk Album was won by Steve Earle for Townes
Best Contemporary Blues Album was won by The Derek Trucks Band for Already Free
Best Americana Album was won by Levon Helm for Dirt
Best Bluegrass Album was won by Steve Martin for The Crow / New Songs For The Five-String Banjo
Best Reggae Album was won by Stephen Marley for Mind Control -Acoustic
Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual Or Group was won by Chick Corea & John McLaughlin for Five Peace Band – Live
