Spotlight on 51st annual Grammy Awards
Photos by Glenda S. Paradee & Glen Forrester

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2009 at the Staples Center in LA, California.

 The Winners List:
Best Female Country Vocal Performance
(For a solo vocal performance. Singles or Tracks only.)
Last Name
Carrie Underwood
Track from: Carnival Ride
[19/Arista/Arista Nashville]

Best Male Country Vocal Performance
(For a solo vocal performance. Singles or Tracks only.)
Letter To Me
Brad Paisley
Track from: 5th Gear
[Arista Nashville]
     
Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
(For established duos or groups with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)
Stay
Sugarland
Track from: Enjoy The Ride
[Mercury Records]   

Best Country Collaboration With Vocals
(For a collaborative performance, with vocals, by artists who do not normally perform together. Singles or Tracks only.)
Killing The Blues
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Track from: Raising Sand
[Rounder]
     
Best Country Instrumental Performance
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, without vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)
Cluster Pluck
Brad Paisley, James Burton, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert & Steve Wariner
[Arista Nashville]   

Best Country Song
(A Songwriter(s) Award. For Song Eligibility Guidelines see Category #3. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)
Stay
Jennifer Nettles, songwriter (Sugarland)
Track from: Enjoy The Ride
[Mercury Records; Publisher: Jennifer Nettles Publishing]

Best Country Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)
Troubadour
George Strait
[MCA Nashville]
     
Best Bluegrass Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)
Honoring The Fathers Of Bluegrass: Tribute To 1946 And 1947
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
[Skaggs Family Records]

Robert Plant And Alison Krauss Win Grammy Album Of The Year.

Raising Sand, from Led Zeppelin vet and bluegrass superstar, wins five Grammys on Sunday night.

The 51st annual Grammy Awards were given out on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009 at the Staples Center in downtown L.A.

The big winners included Coldplay, Lil Wayne, Adele, Brad Paisley, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss.

Performers at the 2009 show included Coldplay, the Jonas Brothers, Kenny Chesney, Lil Wayne, Katy Perry and many more. 

The Grammy Award is the granddaddy of all music awards, dating back over four decades; it is to music what the Oscars are to the movies. (The name "Grammy" is short for "gramophone," since the awards are shaped like those old-fashioned phonographs).

"I'm bewildered," Robert Plant said onstage as he accepted the Grammy Album of the Year award with Alison Krauss on Sunday night. "In the old days we would have called this selling out, but it's a good way to spend a Sunday."

He was probably one of the few who were surprised, because Raising Sand, which won five trophies at Sunday night's show, is in many ways the perfect Grammy album. It features two respected veterans, a critically lauded producer, some sandpaper-and-velvet vocals and a baker's dozen of time-tested standards.

You're probably familiar with Robert Plant from his Led Zeppelin days, and you might be aware of producer T-Bone Burnett's work on the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack (it won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2002). And if you don't know who Alison Krauss is, she possesses a haunting set of pipes and is one of the meanest fiddle players in the world. Oh, and she's won 21 Grammys, more than any other female artist and the seventh-most in history.

Really, she's the key to Sand's success, and not just because of her voice (or her fiddle playing). She and Plant first met in 2004, at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tribute to legendary bluesman Leadbelly, and the former Zeppelin man was amazed by her knowledge of American Roots music - so much so that they began kicking around the idea of recording an album together. Three years later, Sand was released.

And while Plant possesses the more famous voice, the album's finest moments radiate from Krauss. Whether she's getting bluesy on Little Milton's "Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson" or entwining with Plant's husky voice on songs like "Please Read the Letter" and Roly Salley's winsome "Killing the Blues," she more than carries her end of the bargain.

And perhaps that's also due to producer Burnett, who handpicked the 13 songs the duo cover on Sand. His arrangements are sparse - giving the two voices ample room to breathe - yet dense, warm and crackling at the same time. It's a testament to his work that he's often given just as much billing as Plant and Krauss on the project ... and it's certainly justified.

To date, Sand has sold more than 1 million copies, heaped tons of acclaim and actually earned a Grammy last year - "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" took home the award for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.

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Taylor Swift & Glenda S. Paradee on the red carpet	Thanks for the Music's Adulfo, Glenda & Glen in front of the Staples Center where the Grammys were held	Grammy Nominated for her Album Coal, Kathy Mattea & Glenda S. Paradee	Taylor Swift & Glenda S. Paradee on the red carpet
Glenda S. Paradee on the red carpet with the biggest Grammy winners of the night, Alison Krauss & Robert Plant	Sheryl Crow on the red carpet	Kathy Mattea on the Red Carpet	Kathy Mattea, nominated in the Traditional Folk Album Category for her album 'Coal'
Ricky Skaggs, Grammy Winner	Carrie Underwood, Female Country Vocal Grammy Winner	Whitney Houston	Taylor Swift
Glenda S. Paradee & Jordan Sparks	Glenda S. Paradee & Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) on the red carpet	Stevie Wonder & The Jonas Brothers	Jennifer Hudson
Herbie Hancock, Natalie Cole, & Sean "Diddy" Combs	Kenny Chesney	LeAnn Rimes & Sheryl Crow	Justin Timberlake
Coldplay	Grammy winners Sugarland	Robert Plant, Alison Krauss & T-Bone Burnett	Katy Perry
Sir Paul McCartney	Sir Paul McCartney	Glen Forrester & Sir Paul McCartney	Glenda S. Paradee & Sir Paul McCartney
Neal Diamond	Four Tops Tribute with Duke Fakin, Jamie Foxx, Ne-Yo & Smokey Robinson	Tribute to Bo Diddley with Keith Urban, BB King, Buddy Guy & John Mayer	Glenda S. Paradee & Grammy Winners, The Mariachi Divas
	End of the Grammy night with Thanks for the Music's Adulfo, Glenda & Glen at the Grammy Celebration Party	Glenda S. Paradee & Glen Forester

 Thanks For The Music!