Mumford & Sons lead Brit gongs at Grammys

By BRIAN FERGUSON
Published on 11/02/2013 23:53

MUMFORD & Sons, Adele and Sir Paul McCartney flew the flag for Britain as they claimed Grammy glory at the annual awards bash in Los Angeles.

The London folk-rockers, one of the headliners at the 20th T in the Park festival this summer, won the coveted best album gong for Babel.

The band, who loooked stunned at their success, picked up the award from last year’s winner Adele, who emerged with a Grammy for best pop solo performance for her live version of Set Fire to the Rain.

Lead singer Marcus Mumford said: “We figured we weren’t going to win anything because The Black Keys have been sweeping up all day, rightfully so.

“One after the other, it was like, `And the Black Keys...,’ so I think we just sort of resigned ourselves to like, last year was Adele’s year and this year would be the Black Keys.”

Adele will hope to add to her trophy haul in two weeks at the Oscars, where she is nominated for best song for Skyfall, from the James Bond film of the same name.

Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, the night’s big winner with four trophies, was one of six acts who received six nominations. He won non-classical producer of the year, while the Black Keys earned the best rock album, song and performance honours.

Paul McCartney won his 15th Grammy when he took home best traditional pop vocal album for Kisses On The Bottom.

It was the former Beatle’s first solo album to win the top honour in its category.

The Beach Boys, who reunited at last year’s show and launched a tour to celebrate their 50th anniversary, won their first-ever Grammy for The Smile Sessions.

The Smile Sessions saw the long-awaited release of recordings from the famously abandoned 1966-67 sessions for the Smile album that was supposed to be the follow-up to the masterpiece, Pet Sounds.

Other early winners included Ravi Shankar, the sitar virtuoso, ambassador of Indian music and friend of The Beatles, who died in December aged 92. He won best world music album for The Living Room Sessions Part 1.

Anoushka Shankar, his daughter, accepted the award on his behalf. The sitarist was also a nominee for her album Traveller.

Other highlights at the ceremony included veteran singer-songwriter Sir Elton John teaming up with an artist from the new crop of British talent, Ed Sheeran, to perform hit song The A Team.

Sir Elton dedicated the performance to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting last December.

Former Police frontman Sting also took to the stage to pay tribute to reggae star Bob Marley and collaborated with American singer Bruno Mars, performing their hits Locked Out Of Heaven and Walking On The Moon together.

Jack White brought both his male and female bands on stage, tearing through Love Interruption and Freedom At 21 before a standing ovation from the crowd.

Another top winner on the night was Belgian-Australian Gotye who picked up three awards, including record of the year for Somebody That I Used to Know. The singer-songwriter said he was surprised by the runaway global success of the song, which was recorded in a barn on his father’s property in Australia.

“I wouldn’t mind if I don’t have another song that has a moment like this. I have written maybe better songs and hopefully will write better songs,”

Emerging American indie-pop act Fun. scooped up two Grammys for best new artist and song of the year.

GRAMMY WINNERS

Record Of The Year

Somebody That I Used to Know, Gotye featuring Kimbra

Album Of The Year

Babel, Mumford & Sons

Song Of The Year

We Are Young, Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe

Best New Artist

Fun.

Best Pop Solo Performance

Set Fire To The Rain [live], Adele

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

Somebody That I Used To Know, Gotye featuring Kimbra

Best Pop Vocal Album

Stronger, Kelly Clarkson

Best Dance Recording

Bangarang, Skrillex featuring Sirah

Best Dance/Electronica Album

Bangarang, Skrillex

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

Kisses On The Bottom, Paul McCartney

Best Rock Performance

Lonely Boy, The Black Keys

Best Rock Album

El Camino, The Black Keys

Best Traditional R&B Performance

Love On Top, Beyoncé

Best Urban Contemporary Album

Channel Orange, Frank Ocean

Best Rap Performance

Paris, Jay-Z & Kanye West