AGL 38.54 Increased By ▲ 0.97 (2.58%)
AIRLINK 129.50 Decreased By ▼ -3.00 (-2.26%)
BOP 5.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.53%)
CNERGY 3.86 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (2.39%)
DCL 8.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-1.58%)
DFML 41.76 Increased By ▲ 0.76 (1.85%)
DGKC 88.30 Decreased By ▼ -1.86 (-2.06%)
FCCL 35.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.23%)
FFBL 67.35 Increased By ▲ 0.85 (1.28%)
FFL 10.61 Increased By ▲ 0.46 (4.53%)
HUBC 108.76 Increased By ▲ 2.36 (2.22%)
HUMNL 14.66 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (9.4%)
KEL 4.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-2.26%)
KOSM 6.95 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1.46%)
MLCF 41.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-0.36%)
NBP 59.60 Increased By ▲ 1.02 (1.74%)
OGDC 183.00 Increased By ▲ 1.75 (0.97%)
PAEL 26.25 Increased By ▲ 0.55 (2.14%)
PIBTL 5.97 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (2.4%)
PPL 146.70 Decreased By ▼ -1.70 (-1.15%)
PRL 23.61 Increased By ▲ 0.39 (1.68%)
PTC 16.56 Increased By ▲ 1.32 (8.66%)
SEARL 68.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.49 (-0.71%)
TELE 7.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.14%)
TOMCL 35.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.14%)
TPLP 7.85 Increased By ▲ 0.45 (6.08%)
TREET 14.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.28%)
TRG 50.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.40 (-0.79%)
UNITY 26.75 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (1.33%)
WTL 1.21 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 9,806 Increased By 37.8 (0.39%)
BR30 29,678 Increased By 278.1 (0.95%)
KSE100 92,304 Increased By 366.3 (0.4%)
KSE30 28,840 Increased By 96.6 (0.34%)

LAS VEGAS: Multi-genre artist Jon Batiste won album of the year and R&B duo Silk Sonic took two of the top honors at a Grammy awards ceremony that featured a surprise appeal for support from wartime President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine.

Batiste landed the night’s biggest prize for “We Are,” an 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,” Batiste said.

“The creative arts are subjective I just put my head down and I work on the craft every day.”

Silk Sonic, featuring Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak, claimed the song and record of the year awards for their 1970s inspired hit “Leave the Door Open.”

“We are really trying our hardest to remain humble at this point,” joked Paak as the pair accepted the second honor. Olivia Rodrigo, the 19-year-old singer of heartbreak ballad “drivers license,” was crowned best new artist. “This is my biggest dream come true. Thank you so much!” Rodrigo said as she held her trophy.

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 more than a month ago.

“What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people,” Zelenskiy, wearing a green t-shirt, said in a hoarse voice.

Stars roll dice for Grammys gold as Vegas hosts music’s best

“Fill the silence with your music,” he added. “Support us in any way you can. Any, but not silence.”

The remarks preceded a John Legend performance that featured two Ukrainian musicians and a Ukrainian poet.

The highest honors 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.

Thousands of spectators packed the venue, a contrast to last year’s scaled-down outdoor event. Winners were chosen by some 11,000 voting members of the Recording Academy. Noah urged the audience to think of the evening as “a concert where we are handing out awards.”

“We are going to be keeping people’s names out of our mouths,” Noah added, a jab about last Sunday’s Oscars slap by actor Will Smith, who told comedian Chris Rock not to mention his wife’s name.

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

Comments

Comments are closed.