Hawai‘i musicians may not have gotten airtime on national television, but at least they were there, as members of the recording industry honored music’s finest at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, Wednesday in Los Angeles. This was the second year
Hawai‘i musicians may not have gotten airtime on national television, but at least they were there, as members of the recording industry honored music’s finest at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, Wednesday in Los Angeles.
This was the second year Hawaiian music was recognized in its own category, with the Grammy for best Hawaiian album going to producers Daniel Ho and Wayne Wong and performers George Kahumoku, Led Kaapana, Keoki Kahumoku, Peter de Aquino and Garret Probst for “Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Vol. 1.”
Last year, a slack-key-guitar-compilation album also won the Grammy.
Musician George Kahumoku got behind the microphone to share his aloha, inviting everyone to “come to Maui.”
Another win for a Hawai‘i local went to Punahou School graduate and current Democratic U.S. Senator of Illinois, Barack Obama, who won the Grammy in the best-spoken-word category for his readings of “Dreams From My Father.”
O‘ahu North Shore musician Jack Johnson, who was nominated for best pop male performance and best pop collaboration with vocals category, lost out to Stevie Wonder in the individual category, and to the Gorillaz with De La Soul for the collaboration.
Recent Kaua‘i visitors, members of the band U2, had a big night, taking home five Grammys, including album of the year for “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb,” and song of the year for “Sometimes You Can’t Make it on Your Own.” Their wins brought their grand total of Grammys to 20.
The band will make another visit to Hawai‘i in April for a concert at Aloha Stadium.
Mariah Carey, John Legend and Kanye West were each nominated for eight Grammys, and each walked away with three.
Kelly Clarkson beat out industry bigwigs Carey, Gwen Stefani and Sheryl Crow for best female vocal and best pop album.
Collaboration performances included: Paul McCartney with rockers Linkin Park and rap mogul Jay-Z on “Numb/Encore” and “Yesterday;” U2 and Mary J. Blige on U2’s hit “One;” and Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Maroon 5, Joss Stone and Ciara on a tribute to Sly and the Family Stone. Stone surprised the performers by showing up and joining them on stage.
Lanaly Cabalo, lifestyle writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com.
