Border officials may be capable of barring her entry into the country, but despite her physical absence, there was no stopping Amy Winehouse last night at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony as her 2007 breakout album Back to Black, and its notorious single “Rehab,” snagged five statues and emerged as the evening’s biggest winner. Winehouse, who performed quirky yet flawless renditions of “You Know I’m No Good” and “Rehab” via satellite from London, walked with awards for Record of the Year, Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Pop Vocal Album, and Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Spin Entertainer of the Year Kanye West, who led the pack with eight noms, won four awards, including Best Rap Album with Graduation, and offered a spot-on performance of “Stronger” alongside collaborators Daft Punk. Elsewhere, cover boys Foo Fighters snagged the Best Rock Album award with Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace and performed single “The Pretender” with a backing orchestra, while the White Stripes won the Best Alternative Music Album with Icky Thump. Mark Ronson, the man chiefly behind the knobs on records such as Winehouse’s Back to Black, won for Producer of the Year, and the Beastie Boys took Best Instrumental Album with The Mix-Up. Bruce Springsteen also walked with a handful of awards including Best Rock Song with “Radio Nowhere.”
For the Album of the Year award, the winner was the odd one out: Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters took the most sought-after award, leaving fellow noms like Winehouse, Foo Fighters, and West in the dust. Congrats — but did anyone know the guy even had a record out?
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For a complete list of nominees and winners of the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, head over to grammy.com.
