U2 upstages Mariah Carey at Grammy Awards

The veteran Irish rock band U2 captured the limelight Wednesday night at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, winning five awards and overshadowing the comeback story of the evening, Mariah Carey, and the producer-turned-rapper Kanye West. Grammy voters, for the first time, honored a contestant on the Fox television smash “American Idol,” granting that populist phenomenon a measure of acceptance from the musical establishment. Kelly Clarkson, the winner on the show’s first season, won best pop vocal album for her second album, “Breakaway” (RCA), and best female pop vocal performance — beating Carey — for the hit single “Since U Been Gone.” U2 took home two of the most prestigious Grammys, album of the year for “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” (Interscope) and song of the year for “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own.” Bono, the group’s lead singer, said the album was largely a rumination on his often difficult relationship with his father. “He was the atomic bomb in question,” he said, while accepting the song of the year award. U2 has now won 22 Grammys. Carey won three awards: best contemporary R&B album for “The Emancipation of Mimi” (Island Def Jam), best R&B song for “We Belong Together” and best female R&B vocal performance for the same tune. But all those awards came before the live telecast, preventing her from making any acceptance speeches to the millions of viewers watching on CBS. And West captured three Grammys as well, including the award for best rap album with “Late Registration” (Roc-A-Fella). John Legend, the singer-songwriter regarded as a protégé of West, won in the best new artist category. Earlier in the evening, he won for best male R&B vocal performance. Green Day, meanwhile, won the Grammy for record of the year for “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Other winners announced before the live show began at the Staples Center here — 97 of the 108 awards were not televised — included the White Stripes, who nabbed the best alternative-music album Grammy for “Get Behind Me Satan” (V2), and the jazz veteran Dianne Reeves, who won for best jazz vocal album for “Good Night, and Good Luck” (Concord). Much of the evening’s suspense had nothing to do with the nominees. An elaborate tribute to the funk-music trailblazers Sly and the Family Stone was planned, and rumors flew that Sly Stone and his band would perform in a rare reunion. Stone, who served jail time for drug convictions, had not made a major public appearance since the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and had not performed live since 1987. Stone did not disappoint. After a medley of his hits like “Everyday People” was performed by an eclectic group of musicians, including the singers Ciara, Joss Stone and Fantasia of “American Idol” fame, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith beckoned Stone onto the stage. Resplendent in a silver overcoat and brightly colored Mohawk, he led the singers and band on the crowded stage in a rendition of “I Want to Take You Higher.” Backstage, Freddie Stone of the Family Stone offered the titillating possibility that the band might record new material together. “Sly is very much interested,” he said, in letting “fans know that there’s an evolution in the works as far as what we’re doing today.” Going into the awards, Carey’s back story of comeback from adversity was the most compelling. She won two Grammys in 1990, including the best new artist award, but her career took a downturn in 2001 when the movie “Glitter,” in which she starred, and its soundtrack were poorly received. Soon afterward, she was hospitalized for exhaustion. Then in early 2002 EMI Group paid $28 million to end her contract after just one album. Universal Music Group then signed her, yet the first album for her new bosses, “Charmbracelet,” sold only modestly. After a shift in the personnel around Carey — including the arrival of Antonio Reid as chairman of Universal’s Island Def Jam unit, which oversees her albums — Carey recorded “The Emancipation of Mimi.” Bursting with slick radio hits like the addictive torch song “We Belong Together,” the release was the top-selling album in the United States last year. Since then, “The Emancipation of Mimi” has sold more than 5.2 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Carey’s eight nominations, including ones in the top three categories (album, record and song of the year), tied her for the most with West and Legend. West’s outspokenness and bravado contrasted sharply with Carey’s image as a wounded star making a comeback. He accused President Bush last year during a televised hurricane telethon of not caring about black people, and he recently cast himself on the cover of Rolling Stone as a Christ figure. He has publicly challenged rappers’ denigration of homosexuality in their songs and has not been shy about his belief that his recordings are worthy of Grammy trophies. More than halfway through the show, no one had taken a pointer from West and lobbed any political barbs at the presidential administration. But during the preshow awards ceremony, when Burt Bacharach’s “At This Time” (Sony) was named best pop instrumental album, Bacharach accused Bush of taking the country into war by “lying” that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. “I never like to be lied to by a girlfriend or agent, and certainly not the president of the United States,” he said backstage. But, he quickly added, he would never say such things onstage. In other awards announced before the telecast, the producers of the album from the Broadway hit “Spamalot” won for best musical show album. And the guitar virtuoso Les Paul won for best rock instrumental performance, for “69 Freedom Special,” and best pop instrumental performance, for “Caravan.” Reminiscent of last year’s show, when Ray Charles won a slew of posthumous awards, the biopic “Ray” on Wednesday night won for best movie or television soundtrack and best score. Capturing the Grammy for best classical album was “Bolcom: Songs of Innocence and of Experience,” Leonard Slatkin, conductor (Naxos). In the less celebrated categories, John Prine won for best contemporary folk album with “Fair & Square,” beating Bruce Springsteen’s “Devils & Dust” among others. And the polka king, Jimmy Sturr, claimed his 15th Grammy, this time for “Shake, Rattle and Polka!” (Rounder). The victory pulled him into a tie for Grammys won with the decidedly better-known Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. The telecast opened with a duet of sorts between Madonna and Gorillaz, the cartoon rap-rock group orchestrated by Damon Albarn of the British band Blur. And Paul McCartney performed two songs on his own — “Fine Line,” from his latest album, and the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” — and joined the rapper Jay-Z and the hard-rock group Linkin Park as they performed “Numb/Encore.” The show ended with a tribute to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, with the New Orleans natives Allen Toussaint, Dr. John and Irma Thomas joined by Springsteen and Elvis Costello, among others. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences hoped such star power would boost ratings, which slipped dramatically last year. Slightly more than 18.8 million viewers tuned in to last year’s broadcast, down from the nearly 26.3 million and 24.8 million who watched the previous two years, according to Nielsen Media Research. The decline in viewership, however, has not hurt the prices CBS has been able to command for a 30-second commercial. Recordings released between Oct. 1, 2004, and Sept. 30, 2005, were eligible, meaning that U2’s winning album, released in November of 2004, made the cut even though it appeared on many critics’ best-of lists for that year. The winners were selected by the academy’s more than 11,000 voting members, who are recording industry professionals with creative or technical credits on at least six albums or songs.

LOS ANGELES The veteran Irish rock band U2 captured the limelight Wednesday night at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, winning five awards and overshadowing the comeback story of the evening, Mariah Carey, and the producer-turned-rapper Kanye West. Grammy voters, for the first time, honored a contestant on the Fox television smash “American Idol,” granting that populist phenomenon a measure of acceptance from the musical establishment. Kelly Clarkson, the winner on the show’s first season, won best pop vocal album for her second album, “Breakaway” (RCA), and best female pop vocal performance — beating Carey — for the hit single “Since U Been Gone.” U2 took home two of the most prestigious Grammys, album of the year for “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” (Interscope) and song of the year for “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own.” Bono, the group’s lead singer, said the album was largely a rumination on his often difficult relationship with his father. “He was the atomic bomb in question,” he said, while accepting the song of the year award. U2 has now won 22 Grammys. Carey won three awards: best contemporary R&B album for “The Emancipation of Mimi” (Island Def Jam), best R&B song for “We Belong Together” and best female R&B vocal performance for the same tune. But all those awards came before the live telecast, preventing her from making any acceptance speeches to the millions of viewers watching on CBS. And West captured three Grammys as well, including the award for best rap album with “Late Registration” (Roc-A-Fella). John Legend, the singer-songwriter regarded as a protégé of West, won in the best new artist category. Earlier in the evening, he won for best male R&B vocal performance. Green Day, meanwhile, won the Grammy for record of the year for “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Other winners announced before the live show began at the Staples Center here — 97 of the 108 awards were not televised — included the White Stripes, who nabbed the best alternative-music album Grammy for “Get Behind Me Satan” (V2), and the jazz veteran Dianne Reeves, who won for best jazz vocal album for “Good Night, and Good Luck” (Concord). Much of the evening’s suspense had nothing to do with the nominees. An elaborate tribute to the funk-music trailblazers Sly and the Family Stone was planned, and rumors flew that Sly Stone and his band would perform in a rare reunion. Stone, who served jail time for drug convictions, had not made a major public appearance since the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and had not performed live since 1987. Stone did not disappoint. After a medley of his hits like “Everyday People” was performed by an eclectic group of musicians, including the singers Ciara, Joss Stone and Fantasia of “American Idol” fame, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith beckoned Stone onto the stage. Resplendent in a silver overcoat and brightly colored Mohawk, he led the singers and band on the crowded stage in a rendition of “I Want to Take You Higher.” Backstage, Freddie Stone of the Family Stone offered the titillating possibility that the band might record new material together. “Sly is very much interested,” he said, in letting “fans know that there’s an evolution in the works as far as what we’re doing today.” Going into the awards, Carey’s back story of comeback from adversity was the most compelling. She won two Grammys in 1990, including the best new artist award, but her career took a downturn in 2001 when the movie “Glitter,” in which she starred, and its soundtrack were poorly received. Soon afterward, she was hospitalized for exhaustion. Then in early 2002 EMI Group paid $28 million to end her contract after just one album. Universal Music Group then signed her, yet the first album for her new bosses, “Charmbracelet,” sold only modestly. After a shift in the personnel around Carey — including the arrival of Antonio Reid as chairman of Universal’s Island Def Jam unit, which oversees her albums — Carey recorded “The Emancipation of Mimi.” Bursting with slick radio hits like the addictive torch song “We Belong Together,” the release was the top-selling album in the United States last year. Since then, “The Emancipation of Mimi” has sold more than 5.2 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Carey’s eight nominations, including ones in the top three categories (album, record and song of the year), tied her for the most with West and Legend. West’s outspokenness and bravado contrasted sharply with Carey’s image as a wounded star making a comeback. He accused President Bush last year during a televised hurricane telethon of not caring about black people, and he recently cast himself on the cover of Rolling Stone as a Christ figure. He has publicly challenged rappers’ denigration of homosexuality in their songs and has not been shy about his belief that his recordings are worthy of Grammy trophies. More than halfway through the show, no one had taken a pointer from West and lobbed any political barbs at the presidential administration. But during the preshow awards ceremony, when Burt Bacharach’s “At This Time” (Sony) was named best pop instrumental album, Bacharach accused Bush of taking the country into war by “lying” that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. “I never like to be lied to by a girlfriend or agent, and certainly not the president of the United States,” he said backstage. But, he quickly added, he would never say such things onstage. In other awards announced before the telecast, the producers of the album from the Broadway hit “Spamalot” won for best musical show album. And the guitar virtuoso Les Paul won for best rock instrumental performance, for “69 Freedom Special,” and best pop instrumental performance, for “Caravan.” Reminiscent of last year’s show, when Ray Charles won a slew of posthumous awards, the biopic “Ray” on Wednesday night won for best movie or television soundtrack and best score. Capturing the Grammy for best classical album was “Bolcom: Songs of Innocence and of Experience,” Leonard Slatkin, conductor (Naxos). In the less celebrated categories, John Prine won for best contemporary folk album with “Fair & Square,” beating Bruce Springsteen’s “Devils & Dust” among others. And the polka king, Jimmy Sturr, claimed his 15th Grammy, this time for “Shake, Rattle and Polka!” (Rounder). The victory pulled him into a tie for Grammys won with the decidedly better-known Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. The telecast opened with a duet of sorts between Madonna and Gorillaz, the cartoon rap-rock group orchestrated by Damon Albarn of the British band Blur. And Paul McCartney performed two songs on his own — “Fine Line,” from his latest album, and the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” — and joined the rapper Jay-Z and the hard-rock group Linkin Park as they performed “Numb/Encore.” The show ended with a tribute to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, with the New Orleans natives Allen Toussaint, Dr. John and Irma Thomas joined by Springsteen and Elvis Costello, among others. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences hoped such star power would boost ratings, which slipped dramatically last year. Slightly more than 18.8 million viewers tuned in to last year’s broadcast, down from the nearly 26.3 million and 24.8 million who watched the previous two years, according to Nielsen Media Research. The decline in viewership, however, has not hurt the prices CBS has been able to command for a 30-second commercial. Recordings released between Oct. 1, 2004, and Sept. 30, 2005, were eligible, meaning that U2’s winning album, released in November of 2004, made the cut even though it appeared on many critics’ best-of lists for that year. The winners were selected by the academy’s more than 11,000 voting members, who are recording industry professionals with creative or technical credits on at least six albums or songs.

LOS ANGELES The veteran Irish rock band U2 captured the limelight Wednesday night at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, winning five awards and overshadowing the comeback story of the evening, Mariah Carey, and the producer-turned-rapper Kanye West. Grammy voters, for the first time, honored a contestant on the Fox television smash “American Idol,” granting that populist phenomenon a measure of acceptance from the musical establishment. Kelly Clarkson, the winner on the show’s first season, won best pop vocal album for her second album, “Breakaway” (RCA), and best female pop vocal performance — beating Carey — for the hit single “Since U Been Gone.” U2 took home two of the most prestigious Grammys, album of the year for “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” (Interscope) and song of the year for “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own.” Bono, the group’s lead singer, said the album was largely a rumination on his often difficult relationship with his father. “He was the atomic bomb in question,” he said, while accepting the song of the year award. U2 has now won 22 Grammys. Carey won three awards: best contemporary R&B album for “The Emancipation of Mimi” (Island Def Jam), best R&B song for “We Belong Together” and best female R&B vocal performance for the same tune. But all those awards came before the live telecast, preventing her from making any acceptance speeches to the millions of viewers watching on CBS. And West captured three Grammys as well, including the award for best rap album with “Late Registration” (Roc-A-Fella). John Legend, the singer-songwriter regarded as a protégé of West, won in the best new artist category. Earlier in the evening, he won for best male R&B vocal performance. Green Day, meanwhile, won the Grammy for record of the year for “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Other winners announced before the live show began at the Staples Center here — 97 of the 108 awards were not televised — included the White Stripes, who nabbed the best alternative-music album Grammy for “Get Behind Me Satan” (V2), and the jazz veteran Dianne Reeves, who won for best jazz vocal album for “Good Night, and Good Luck” (Concord). Much of the evening’s suspense had nothing to do with the nominees. An elaborate tribute to the funk-music trailblazers Sly and the Family Stone was planned, and rumors flew that Sly Stone and his band would perform in a rare reunion. Stone, who served jail time for drug convictions, had not made a major public appearance since the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and had not performed live since 1987. Stone did not disappoint. After a medley of his hits like “Everyday People” was performed by an eclectic group of musicians, including the singers Ciara, Joss Stone and Fantasia of “American Idol” fame, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith beckoned Stone onto the stage. Resplendent in a silver overcoat and brightly colored Mohawk, he led the singers and band on the crowded stage in a rendition of “I Want to Take You Higher.” Backstage, Freddie Stone of the Family Stone offered the titillating possibility that the band might record new material together. “Sly is very much interested,” he said, in letting “fans know that there’s an evolution in the works as far as what we’re doing today.” Going into the awards, Carey’s back story of comeback from adversity was the most compelling. She won two Grammys in 1990, including the best new artist award, but her career took a downturn in 2001 when the movie “Glitter,” in which she starred, and its soundtrack were poorly received. Soon afterward, she was hospitalized for exhaustion. Then in early 2002 EMI Group paid $28 million to end her contract after just one album.