Lauryn Hill Breaks Grammy Record
LOS ANGELES (AP) _ First came the ``Miseducation,″ then the coronation.
In a night of victories for women and hip hop, Lauryn Hill won five Grammys _ a record for a woman _ on the strength of ``The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,″ her solo debut album that crossed musical lines and established her as a force in the recording industry.
Hill’s five wins in one night _ album of the year, best new artist, female rhythm and blues vocal, R&B song for ``Doo Wop (That Thing)″ and R&B album _ topped the four Grammys won by Carole King in 1971 for ``Tapestry.″
``This is crazy because this is hip-hop music,″ Hill said in accepting the first best-album Grammy for a hip-hop artist as the usually staid awards show took its biggest step out of the mainstream.
Rap has been eclipsing rock as the dominant musical form for young people, and routinely produces best sellers. Much of the credit goes to Hill, a 23-year-old mother of two whose music mixes rap and R&B and touches on family and political issues. She had won two earlier Grammys with the Fugees.
Shania Twain, Stevie Wonder, the Dixie Chicks and the Brian Setzer Orchestra each were double winners Wednesday night.
Sheryl Crow won for best rock album, and Madonna also picked up her first musical Grammys, including best pop album for her excursion into electronica, ``Ray of Light.″ She also won best dance recording and best short form music video.
``I’ve been in the music business 16 years. It was worth the wait,″ Madonna said backstage.
After 51 years of performing, Patti Page won her first Grammy, for traditional pop vocal performance for ``Live at Carnegie Hall _ The 50th Anniversary Concert.″ She joked backstage that family members once asked what her grandchildren should call her.
``Grammy. Because I’ll never get one,″ she recalled telling them. ``Now they can call me grandma.″
Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks didn’t have to wait quite as long. They won a comedy album Grammy for ``The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000″ _ 39 years after losing in the same category to Bob Newhart.
``Titanic″ sailed on as the ballad ``My Heart Will Go On″ won four Grammys, including best female pop vocal for Celine Dion and best song written for a motion picture or television. James Horner and Will Jennings picked up the writing trophies.
The Academy Award for best song was one of 11 Oscars for ``Titanic,″ and while the movie’s soundtrack was the top-selling album of 1998, with more than 9 million units sold.
Horner told the Shrine Auditorium and national television audiences he initially considered the song just a movie theme.
``It spoke to a lot of people,″ Horner said backstage. ``It obviously was very romantic in a wistful, timeless way.″ He admitted he no longer listens to the song.
Actor-rapper Will Smith won best rap song for his good-natured ``Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.″ He paid tribute to God, ``the jiggiest wife in the world″ (actress Jada Pinkett Smith) and his son, about whom he received bad news in his first parent-teacher conference Wednesday.
``His rhyming skills are down,″ Smith said. ``I swear _ that’s what the teacher told me.″
Jay-Z’s ``Vol. 2 ... Hard Knock Life″ won best rap album, though he skipped the show because he doesn’t like the way the Grammys treat rap. The Beastie Boys won duo or group performance for ``Intergalactic.″
In his 12th Grammy victory of the 1990s, Eric Clapton won male pop vocal for ``My Father’s Eyes.″
Crow won for ``The Globe Sessions″ and paid tribute to A&M Records, just swallowed up in a corporate merger.
``This is a really nice thing for me,″ she said, adding, ``I want Lauryn Hill to produce my next record.″
The Dixie Chicks’ ``Wide Open Spaces″ was an upset winner for best country album over the better-known Garth Brooks and Twain. ``We’re freaking out,″ the tearful trio said in accepting the award.
``You’re Still the One″ won best country song for Twain and husband Robert John ``Mutt″ Lange and female country vocal performance for Twain. Vince Gill won best male country vocal performance for ``If You Ever Have Forever in Mind.″
The best female rock vocal performance went to Alanis Morissette for ``Uninvited.″ Brandy & Monica won the R&B duo or group performance trophy for ``The Boy Is Mine.″
The male R&B vocal Grammy went to Wonder for ``St. Louis Blues,″ which also earned him and two colleagues the award for instrumental arrangement with vocals. The two Grammys brought Wonder’s career total to 21.
That ties him with Pierre Boulez, who also won two Wednesday night _ orchestral performance and opera recording. Only Sir Georg Solti, Quincy Jones and Vladimir Horowitz have won more.
Burt Bacharach had his first win since 1986, giving him Grammys in three different decades. He and Elvis Costello won for pop collaboration with vocals on ``I Still Have That Other Girl.″ It was Costello’s first Grammy.
Johnny Cash, Mel Torme, Smokey Robinson and the late Sam Cooke and Otis Redding each received lifetime achievement awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences at the 41st annual Grammy Awards. Rosie O’Donnell served as master of ceremonies.