U2 dominates Grammy music awards

Feb 9, 2006, 12:42 GMT

Los Angeles - Irish supergroup U2 picked up a leading five Grammy awards Thursday night including album of the year for How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

U2's other trophies included song of the year and best rock performance for Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, best rock album for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and best rock song for City of Blinding Lights.

'Being in a rock band is like running away with the circus except you always think you're gonna be the ringmaster,' said U2 frontman Bono. 'You don't expect that on more than a few occasions you may look like the clown, the freak.'

Punk group Green Day walked off with the coveted record of the year prize for their song Boulevard of Broken Dreams while John Legend, who had eight nominations, was named best new artist of the year and also snagged best R&B album for his platinum debut, Get Lifted.

Soul diva Mariah Carey set the early pace at Thursday's Grammy awards as she picked up three honours, her first win in the prestigious award in 16 years. In the pre-telecast ceremony Carey won best contemporary R&B album for The Emancipation of Mimi, best R&B song for We Belong Together and best female R&B vocal performance for the same tune.

Soul legend Stevie Wonder won the award for best male pop vocalist, with Kelly Clarkson winning the corresponding female category and best pop vocal album.

Kanye West won two prizes in the rap categories, for Diamonds from Sierra Leone and Gold Digger; and Alison Krauss & Union Station won for country collaboration with vocals and for country instrumental.

Other winners included Damian Marley, the son of reggae legend Bob, who won best reggae album and best urban/alternative performance for Welcome to Jamrock, his breakout album and hit of the same name.

Bruce Springsteen won for best rock vocal performance for Devils and Dust and 90-year-old guitar legend Les Paul won the Grammy for best pop instrumental performance. Other veterans in the limelight were Burt Bacharach who won a Grammy for best pop instrumental album and Tony Bennett who won best traditional pop album.

The Grammy's are regarded as the most prestigious music awards in the US music world and winning one of the major categories can significantly boost record sales.

The ceremony also contained political references. At the end of his performance Bruce Springsteen said 'Bring 'em home' in reference to the troops in Iraq. Bacharach also talked about the motivation for his political album At This Time.

'I never like to be lied to by a girlfriend or agent and certainly not the president of the United States,' he said.

The ceremony at Los Angeles' Staples Center also honoured seminal British rockers David Bowie and Eric Clapton with Lifetime Achievement Awards along with country icon Merle Haggard, late bluesman Robert Johnson and late comedy innovator Richard Pryor.

The lineup featured a joint performance by Madonna and the virtual band the Gorillaz and intriguing collaborations matching Mary J. Blige with U2, Keith Urban with Faith Hill, Jamie Foxx and Kanye West, and Christina Aguilera and Herbie Hancock.

Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Sugarland and Ciara were also on the show-bill, while the list of presenters included Destiny's Child, James Taylor, seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, Matt Dillon, Tom Hanks, Terrence Howard, Queen Latifah, and Ludacris.