Batiste wins big at Grammys, Zelenskiy makes surprise appeal

Las Vegas

MULTI-GENRE artist Jon Batiste won the Album of the Year award and R&B duo Silk Sonic took two of the top honours on Sunday (Apr 4) at a Grammy awards ceremony that featured a surprise appeal for support from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Batiste, who leads the band on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, landed 5 awards overall, including the night's biggest prize for We Are, a jazz album inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

"I believe this to my core - there is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor. The creative arts are subjective," he said. "I just put my head down and I work on the craft every day." His other wins included Best Music Video for Freedom, a vibrantly coloured tribute to New Orleans, and an award for composing and arranging of songs for animated Pixar movie Soul.

Silk Sonic, comprising Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, claimed the Song and Record of the Year awards for their 1970s-inspired hit Leave the Door Open. The pair rose from their seats and danced slowly before making their way to the stage. "We are really trying our hardest to remain humble at this point," joked .Paak as the pair accepted the second honour.

Olivia Rodrigo, the 19-year-old singer of heartbreak ballad drivers license, scored 3 awards, including Best New Artist.

Midway through the ceremony, host Trevor Noah introduced a video message from Zelenskiy, who contrasted the joy found through music to the devastation caused by Russia's invasion of his country.

"What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people," he said in a hoarse voice. "Fill the silence with your music. Support us in any way you can. Any, but not silence." The remarks preceded a John Legend performance that featured 2 Ukrainian musicians and a Ukrainian poet.

The highest honours in music were postponed from January during a spike in Covid-19 cases and moved from Los Angeles to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

South Korean pop band BTS left empty-handed again - but not without delivering a high-octane performance of their hit Butter.

Rock band Foo Fighters, whose drummer Taylor Hawkins died a little over a week ago, won 3 awards, including Best Rock Album for Medicine at Midnight. No one from the band appeared to accept the trophies.

Winners were chosen by some 11,000 voting members of the Recording Academy. REUTERS