Los Angeles, CA (February 11, 2019)—The Recording Academy announced the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards, recognizing production, engineering, mixing, remixing and mastering live on CBS from the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, February 10.
It was a historic year, with the awards’ winners reflecting the increasingly diverse artists and genres driving the music business today. Cardi B made history as the first solo woman to win Best Rap Album, while the single, “This Is America,” by Childish Gambino (a no-show at the ceremony) took both Song of the Year and Record of the Year, marking the first time a rap track won both categories.
Also, for the first time, there were eight nominees in each of the General Field categories: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. This year’s nominees were reportedly selected from more than 21,000 submissions across 84 categories.
The Best Immersive Audio Album category had an unusual story to it—this year’s win went to Alan Parsons, Dave Donnelly and P.J. Olsson for their work on Eye In The Sky – 35th Anniversary Edition. That meant that Oslo-based producer Morten Lindberg, nominated in the category for both Sommerro: Ujamaa & the Iceberg and Folketoner, continued his record losing streak of 26 nominations and zero wins since his first Grammy nomination in 2004.
This year’s production winners are:
Record of The Year
“This Is America”
Childish Gambino
Donald Glover & Ludwig Göransson, producers; Derek “MixedByAli” Ali & Riley Mackin, engineers/mixers; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer
Album of The Year
Golden Hour
Kacey Musgraves
Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves & Daniel Tashian, producers; Craig Alvin & Shawn Everett, engineers/mixers; Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves & Daniel Tashian, songwriters; Greg Calbi & Steve Fallone, mastering engineers
Best Dance Recording
Electricity
Silk City & Dua Lipa Featuring Diplo & Mark Ronson; Silk City, producers; Josh Gudwin, mixer
Best Historical Album
Voices of Mississippi: Artists And Musicians Documented By William Ferris
William Ferris, April Ledbetter & Steven Lance Ledbetter, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer. (Various Artists)
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Colors
Julian Burg, Serban Ghenea, David “Elevator” Greenbaum, John Hanes, Beck Hansen, Greg Kurstin, Florian Lagatta, Cole M.G.N., Alex Pasco, Jesse Shatkin, Darrell Thorp & Cassidy Turbin, engineers; Chris Bellman, Tom Coyne, Emily Lazar & Randy Merrill, mastering engineers. (Beck)
Producer of The Year, Non-Classical
Pharrell Williams
Best Remixed Recording
“Walking Away” (Mura Masa Remix) Alex Crossan, remixer (Haim)
Best Immersive Audio Album
Eye In The Sky – 35th Anniversary Edition
Alan Parsons, surround mix engineer; Dave Donnelly, PJ Olsson & Alan Parsons, surround mastering engineers; Alan Parsons, surround producer. (The Alan Parsons Project)
Best Engineered Album, Classical
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11
Shawn Murphy & Nick Squire, engineers; Tim Martyn, mastering engineer. (Andris Nelsons & Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Producer of The Year, Classical
Blanton Alspaugh
Best Opera Recording
Bates: The (R)evolution Of Steve Jobs
Michael Christie, conductor; Sasha Cooke, Jessica E. Jones, Edward Parks, Garrett Sorenson & Wei Wu; Elizabeth Ostrow, producer (The Santa Fe Opera Orchestra)
Recording Academy GRAMMY Awards • www.grammy.com