50th Annual Grammy Awards

{{Short description|2008 edition of music award ceremony}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}

{{Infobox award

| name = 50th Annual Grammy Awards

| image = 50 Grammy Awards logo.png

| caption =

| date = February 10, 2008

| location = Staples Center, Los Angeles

| most_awards = Amy Winehouse (5)

| most_nominations = Kanye West (8)

| network = CBS

| previous = 49th

| main = Grammy Awards

| next = 51st

}}

The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonies were televised in the US on CBS; however, as has become the custom, most of the awards were handed out during a pre-telecast portion of the show held at the Los Angeles Convention Center and broadcast on XM Satellite Radio. Two nights prior to the show Aretha Franklin was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year.

The year's big winner was Amy Winehouse: the 24-year-old singer had recently entered a drug rehabilitation program and did not come to Los Angeles. American officials initially refused her a work visa; they reversed the decision, but by then it was too late for her to make the trip from the UK.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/arts/09arts-ALLOWEDINWIN_BRF.html|title=Allowed In, Winehouse Chooses to Stay Home|first=Jeff|last=Leeds|date=9 February 2008|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=1 August 2017|archive-date=August 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802044538/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/arts/09arts-ALLOWEDINWIN_BRF.html|url-status=live}} She became the fifth female solo artist to get five awards in one night, alongside Lauryn Hill, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé and later, Alison Krauss, Adele and Billie Eilish.

The golden anniversary of the Grammys and NARAS was noted in references and performances throughout this year's ceremony. Alicia Keys was the evening's opening musician, singing and playing piano alongside archived video and audio of Frank Sinatra. Other collaborative performances linking contemporary and past musicians included Beyoncé with Tina Turner, Rihanna with The Time, classical pianist Lang Lang with jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and inaugural Grammy winner Keely Smith with Kid Rock. Special recognition of the musical contributions of The Beatles also featured. The Foo Fighters won Best Rock Album and performed their nominated song "The Pretender" in a highly collaborative performance that involved a social media selection of classical musicians (the "My Grammy Moment" YouTube contest was won by violinist Ann Marie Calhoun).{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aurOPCzZ3O0|title=FOO FIGHTERS -"The Pretender" 2008 Grammy Awards|last=WestLAGuy|date=11 December 2014|publisher=YouTube|access-date=1 August 2017}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}}

Performances

Presenters

The following is a list of presenters:

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Winners and nominees

Bold type indicates the winner out of the list of nominees.

Multiple nominees and wins (wins/nominations)

  • Amy Winehouse (5/6)
  • Kanye West (4/8)
  • Foo Fighters (2/5)
  • Justin Timberlake (2/3)
  • Herbie Hancock (2/3)
  • Rihanna (1/6)

=General=

;Record of the Year

;Album of the Year

;Song of the Year

;Best New Artist

=Pop=

=Dance=

;Best Dance Recording

;Best Electronic/Dance Album

=Traditional Pop=

=Rock=

;Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance

;Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal

;Best Hard Rock Performance

;Best Metal Performance

;Best Rock Instrumental Performance

;Best Rock Song

;Best Rock Album

=Alternative=

=R&B=

;Best Female R&B Vocal Performance

;Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

;Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals

;Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance

;Best Urban/Alternative Performance

;Best R&B Song

;Best R&B Album

Best Contemporary R&B Album

=Rap=

=Country=

;Best Female Country Vocal Performance

;Best Male Country Vocal Performance

;Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal

;Best Country Collaboration with Vocals

;Best Country Instrumental Performance

;Best Country Song

;Best Country Album

;Best Bluegrass Album

=New Age=

;Best New Age Album

=Jazz=

Best Contemporary Jazz Album

Best Jazz Vocal Album

Best Jazz Instrumental Solo Performance

Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

Best Latin Jazz Album

=Gospel=

;Best Gospel Performance

;Best Gospel Song

;Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album

;Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album

;Best Southern/Country/Bluegrass Gospel Album

;Best Traditional Gospel Album

;Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album

=Latin=

;Best Latin Pop Album

;Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album

;Best Latin Urban Album

;Best Tropical Latin Album

;Best Mexican/Mexican–American Album

;Best Tejano Album

;Best Banda Album

=Blues=

=Folk=

;Best Traditional Folk Album

;Best Contemporary Folk Album

;Best Native American Music Album

  • Totemic Flute Chants – Johnny Whitehorse
  • Oklahoma Style – Walter Ahhaitty & Friends
  • Watch This Dancer!Black Lodge
  • The Ballad of Old Times – Davis Mitchell
  • Reconnections – R. Carlos Nakai, Cliff Sarde, William Eaton & Randy Wood

;Best Hawaiian Music Album

  • Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar – Various Artists
  • Ka Hikina O Ka Hau (The Coming of the Snow)Keola Beamer
  • HawaiianaTia Carrere
  • He'eia – Cyril Pahinui
  • Hawaiian Blossom – Raiatea Helm

;Best Zydeco Or Cajun Music Album

=Reggae=

;Best Reggae Album

=World Music=

;Best Traditional World Music Album

  • African SpiritSoweto Gospel Choir
  • When the Soul Is Settled: Music of IraqRahim Al Haj With Souhail Kaspa
  • From Mali to America – Cheick Hamala Diabat & Bob Carlin
  • Live at Couleur CaféKonono Nº1
  • Singing for Life: Songs of Hope, Healing, and HIV/AIDS in Uganda – Various Artists

;Best Contemporary World Music Album

;Best Polka Album

=Children's=

;Best Children's Music Album

;Best Children's Spoken Word Album

=Spoken Word=

;Best Spoken Word Album

=Comedy=

=Musical Show=

;Best Musical Show Album

=Film, Television and Other Visual Media=

=Composing/Arranging=

;Best Instrumental Composition

;Best Instrumental Arrangement

;Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)

= Package =

;Best Recording Package

;Best Boxed/Special Limited Edition

= Album Notes =

;Best Album Notes

=Historical=

;Best Historical Album

=Production, Non Classical=

;Best Engineered Album, Non Classical

;Producer of the Year, Non Classical

;Best Remixed Recording

=Production, Surround Sound=

;Best Surround Sound Album

=Production, Classical=

;Best Engineered Album, Classical

;Producer of the Year, Classical

  • Blanton Alspaugh
  • Eternal Rest: Mäntyjärvi, Ticheli, Martin, Clausen (Charles Bruffy, Phoenix Bach Choir & Kansas City Chorale)
  • Grechaninov: Passion Week (Charles Bruffy, Phoenix Bach Choir & Kansas City Chorale)
  • The Harrington String Quartet: Daniel McCarthy (The Harrington String Quartet)
  • Hartke: The Greater Good (Stewart Robertson & Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra)
  • Rider On The Plains: Cello Concertos By Virgil Thomson And Charles Fussell (Emmanuel Feldman)
  • John Fraser
  • Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2, Scherzos (Simon Trpceski)
  • Great Handel (Ian Bostridge)
  • Kate Royal (Kate Royal)
  • Krommer/Spohr: Clarinet Concertos (Julian Bliss, Sabine Meyer & Kenneth Sillito)
  • Schubert: Piano Sonata D958, Lieder, Fragments (Leif Ove Andsnes & Ian Bostridge)
  • Marina A. Ledin
  • Balakirev And Russian Folksong (Joseph Banowetz)
  • Louisiana - A Pianist's Journey (Kenneth Boulton)
  • Piano Impromptus (Jungran Kim Khwarg)
  • 20th Century Piano Sonatas (Allison Brewster Franzetti)
  • Judith Sherman
  • American Virtuosa: Tribute To Maud Powell (Rachel Barton Pine & Matthew Hagle)
  • From Barrelhouse To Broadway: The Musical Odyssey Of Joe Jordan (Rick Benjamin & The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra)
  • Górecki: String Quartet No. 3 '...Songs Are Sung' (Kronos Quartet)
  • Strange Imaginary Animals (Eighth Blackbird)
  • Tchaikovsky: Three String Quartets, Souvenir De Florence (Ying Quartet)
  • Robina G. Young
  • As Steals The Morn...Handel Arias & Scenes For Tenor (Mark Padmore, Andrew Manze & The English Concert)
  • Bach, CPE: Symphonies 1–4, Cello Concerto (Andrew Manze & The English Concert)
  • Brahms: Variations (Olga Kern)
  • Music For Compline (Stile Antico)
  • Stockhausen: Stimmung (Paul Hillier & Theatre Of Voices)

=Classical=

;Best Classical Album

;Best Orchestra Performance

;Best Opera Recording

;Best Choral Performance

;Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra)

;Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra)

;Best Chamber Music Performance

;Best Small Ensemble Performance

  • "Bach: Brandenburg Concertos" – Swiss Baroque Soloists
  • "Bridges: Eddie Daniels Plays the Music of Frank Proto" – Frank Proto, conductor; Eddie Daniels; Ensemble Sans Frontière
  • "Mahler: Das Lied Von Der Erde" – Kenneth Slowik, conductor; The Smithsonian Chamber Players & Santa Fe Pro Musica
  • "Music for Compline" – Stile Antico
  • "Stravinsky: Apollo, Concerto in D; Prokofiev: 20 Visions Fugitives" – Yuri Bashmet, conductor; Moscow Soloists

;Best Classical Vocal Performance

  • "Gitano: Zarzuela Arias"
  • Rolando Villazón (Plácido Domingo; Orquesta De La Comunidad De Madrid)
  • "Homage: The Age of the Diva"
  • Renée Fleming (Valery Gergiev; Orchestra Of The Mariinsky Theatre)
  • "Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Sings Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs"
  • Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (James Levine; Boston Symphony Orchestra)
  • "Russian Album"
  • Anna Netrebko (Valery Gergiev; Orchestra Of The Mariinsky Theatre)
  • "Sea Pictures, Op. 37"
  • Sarah Connolly (Simon Wright; Bournemouth Symphony Chorus; Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra)

;Best Classical Contemporary Composition

;Best Classical Crossover Album

=Music Video=

;Best Short Form Music Video

;Best Long Form Music Video

In Memoriam

References

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