
Eight artists were vying for five awards apiece at this year's GRAMMY® Awards ceremony, but singer-pianist Norah Jones was the only one to walk away with all five trophies.
Almost one year to the day after it arrived in stores, Jones' debut, "Come Away With Me," was crowned Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, while its lead-off track, "Don't Know Why," scored the newcomer the Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance awards. Jones, meanwhile, was crowned Best New Artist.
In addition to the five awards Jones picked up, "Come Away With Me" also earned "Don't Know Why" songwriter Jesse Harris the Song of the Year trophy, as well as the Best Producer, Non-Classical award for producer Arif Mardin and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical award for engineers Mardin, Husky Huskolds and Jay Newland.
During the ceremony, Jones--the daughter of 82-year-old Indian musician Ravi Shankar--performed "Don't Know Why" before receiving her numerous awards. The singer seemed genuinely surprised by each win, and said during one acceptance speech that she never thought that her music--a laid-back, jazz-infused collection of songs that feature her husky, sultry vocals--"would be considered pop music."
Trailing Jones with three awards each were Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and the Dixie Chicks . Springsteen's "The Rising"--which Jones beat out for Album of the Year--took Best Rock Album, while the title track snagged Best Male Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song. The Dixie Chicks' "Home" picked up Best Country Album, and its tracks "Long Time Gone" and "Lil' Jack Slade" won the Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Country Instrumental Performance awards, respectively.
Eminem , Coldplay, India.Arie, Nelly and veteran blues-smith B.B. King each picked up two awards, and single-trophy winners included John Mayer, No Doubt, Ashanti and Sheryl Crow. (A complete list of winners is posted at this link to the official GRAMMY website).
Of the 104 categories in which awards were given, only 11 were televised during CBS's broadcast of the event. Emphasis was instead placed on performances.
Legendary folk-music duo Simon and Garfunkel reunited for a show-opening performance of "The Sounds of Silence," a song that appeared in the 1967 Dustin Hoffman classic, "The Graduate;" Hoffman introduced the pair, and also introduced a subsequent performance by No Doubt.
Singer-songwriters Vanessa Carlton, John Mayer and James Taylor gave back-to-back performances, during which Mayer introduced Taylor as "the blueprint." Moments later, Mayer's "Your Body Is a Wonderland" beat out the title-track to James Taylor's "October Road" to claim the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance category.
Recently deceased Bee Gee Maurice Gibb and Clash frontman Joe Strummer were remembered with tribute performances.
'NSync paid homage to 2003 Legend Award winners the Bee Gees by performing an a capella medley of Bee Gees hits such as "Lonely Days, "How Deep Is Your Love" and "Stayin' Alive." Surviving Bee Gees members Barry and Robin Gibb gave their award to Adam Gibb, Maurice Gibb's son.
Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band guitarist Little Steven, Elvis Costello, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters (who scored Best Hard Rock Performance for "All My Life") and No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal teamed up for a rendition of the Clash's 1979 hit "London Calling."
Two-time winners Coldplay delivered their hit "Politik" while backed by members of the New York Philharmonic, who were led by conductor and frequent rock-music collaborator Michael Kamen.
Nelly performed his hits "Hot In Herre" and "Dilemma"--the latter of which also featured Kelly Rowland--while Ashanti sang "Dreams."
One-time couple Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock hooked up to perform Crow's "You're an Original," and Avril Lavigne--who struck out in all five categories in which she was nominated--hit the crowd with her punk-pop hit "Sk8ter Boi."
For the first time in its 45-year history, the event did not have a host. Instead, emcee duties were held down by a series of presenters that included Hoffman, Justin Timberlake, Queen Latifah, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Kim Cattrall, John Leguizamo, Busta Rhymes, Raphael Saadiq, Eve, Fred Durst, Bonnie Raitt, Vince Vaughn, Peter Gabriel and others.