award shows, Billie Eilish, CBS, Gary Clark Jr., Grammy Awards, Grammys, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, Los Angeles, music, Recording Academy, TV
January 26, 2020
by Carla Hay
At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, pop singer Billie Eilish made Grammy history by becoming the first female artist to sweep all four of the top general field categories in the same year. The ceremony took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26, 2020. CBS had the U.S. telecast of the show, which was hosted for the second year in a row by Alicia Keys.
Eilish took the prizes for Best New Artist and Album of the Year (for “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”), while her hit “Bad Guy” won the awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. (Christopher Cross is only other artist to accomplish this feat of winning all four of these Grammys in the same year. He did so in 1981.) Eilish’s “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” also won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album, bringing her total to five Grammys—the most Grammys won at the 2020 Grammy ceremony. At 18 years old, Eilish is also the youngest artist to win a Grammy for Album of the Year.
Eilish went into the ceremony with six Grammy nominations. An early indication that Eilish (whose full name is Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell) would win big was when her producer brother, Finneas O’Connell, won the Grammy for Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) for producing “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” Most of the Grammy Awards, including the Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) category, are handed out in a pre-telecast ceremony that is streamed on the Grammy Awards website.
Lizzo, who had the most (eight) Grammy nods going into the ceremony, ended up with three Grammys: Best Pop Solo Performance (for “Truth Hurts”); Best Urban Contemporary Album (for “Cuz I Love You (Deluxe)”); and Best Traditional R&B Performance (for “Jerome”).
Lil Nas X had six nominations and won two Grammys, both for “Old Town Road,” his collaboration with Billy Ray Cyrus: Best Pop Duo/Group Vocal Performance and Best Music Video.
Gary Clark Jr. won three Grammys for his “This Land” song and album: Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song and Best Contemporary Blues Album.
Several people on stage, including Grammy host Keys, acknowledged the shocking death of basketball star Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash earlier that day with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people. The award ceremony had visual images paying tribute to Bryant.
As expected at the Grammy show, there were several all-star collaborations on stage. Old Town Road All-Stars featured Lil Nas X and Cyrus, joined by BTS, Diplo and Mason Ramsey to perform the Grammy-winning song “Old Town Road.”
Additionally, to acknowledge the importance of music education in schools by both the longtime Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich and the Recording Academy, artists associated with Ehrlich’s 40-year career gathered to perform “I Sing the Body Electric” from the film “Fame.” The 2020 Grammy ceremony was the last to be produced by Ehrlich, who is handing over producing duties to “The Late, Late Show” executive producer Ben Winston. The “I Sing the Body Electric” performance featured Camila Cabello, Clark and John Legend, joined by Debbie Allen, Joshua Bell, Common, Misty Copeland, Lang Lang, Cyndi Lauper, Ben Platt and the War and Treaty.
Other performers at the Grammy ceremony included Aerosmith, Brandi Carlile, Eilish, Kirk Franklin, Ariana Grande, H.E.R., Jonas Brothers, DJ Khaled, Lizzo, Demi Lovato, Meek Mill, Roddy Ricch, Rosalía, Run-D.M.C., Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Tanya Tucker, Tyler The Creator, Charlie Wilson and YG.
Here are the nominations and winners of the general field categories at the 2020 Grammy Awards. A complete list of nominations and winners can be found on the official Grammy Awards website.
*=winner
Record of the Year
Award to the Artist and to the Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s) and/or Mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s), if other than the artist.
“Hey Ma”
Bon Iver
BJ Burton, Brad Cook, Chris Messina & Justin Vernon, producers; BJ Burton, Zach Hansen & Chris Messina, engineers/mixers; Greg Calbi, mastering engineer
“Bay Guy”*
Billie Eilish*
Finneas O’Connell, producer; Rob Kinelski & Finneas O’Connell, engineers/mixers; John Greenham, mastering engineer
“7 Rings”
Ariana Grande
Charles Anderson, Tommy Brown, Michael Foster & Victoria Monet, producers; Serban Ghenea, John Hanes, Billy Hickey & Brendan Morawski, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
“Hard Place”
H.E.R.
Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, producer; Joseph Hurtado, Jaycen Joshua, Derek Keota & Miki Tsutsumi, engineers/mixers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer
“Talk”
Khalid
Disclosure & Denis Kosiak, producers; Ingmar Carlson, Jon Castelli, Josh Deguzman, John Kercy, Denis Kosiak, Guy Lawrence & Michael Romero, engineers/mixers; Dale Becker, mastering engineer
“Old Town Road”
Lil Nas X Featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
Andrew “VoxGod” Bolooki & YoungKio, producers; Andrew “VoxGod” Bolooki & Cinco, engineers/mixers; Eric Lagg, mastering engineer
“Truth Hurts”
Lizzo
Ricky Reed & Tele, producers; Chris Galland, Manny Marroquin & Ethan Shumaker, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
“Sunflower”
Post Malone & Swae Lee
Louis Bell & Carter Lang, producers; Louis Bell & Manny Marroquin, engineers/mixers
Album of the Year
Award to Artist(s) and to Featured Artist(s), Songwriter(s) of new material, Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s), Mixer(s) and Mastering Engineer(s) credited with at least 33% playing time of the album, if other than Artist.
“I,I”
Bon Iver
Brad Cook, Chris Messina & Justin Vernon, producers; Zach Hansen & Chris Messina, engineers/mixers; BJ Burton, Brad Cook & Justin Vernon, songwriters; Greg Calbi, mastering engineer
“Norman F**king Rockwell!”
Lana Del Rey
Jack Antonoff & Lana Del Rey, producers; Jack Antonoff & Laura Sisk, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff & Lana Del Rey, songwriters; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
“When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”*
Billie Eilish*
Finneas O’Connell, producer; Rob Kinelski & Finneas O’Connell, engineers/mixers; Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters; John Greenham, mastering engineer
“Thank U, Next”
Ariana Grande
Tommy Brown, Ilya, Max Martin & Victoria Monet, producers; Serban Ghenea & Brendan Morawski, engineers/mixers; Tommy Brown, Ariana Grande, Savan Kotecha, Max Martin, Victoria Monet, Tayla Parx & Ilya Salmanzadeh, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
“I Used to Know Her”
H.E.R.
David “Swagg R’Celious” Harris, H.E.R., Walter Jones & Jeff Robinson, producers; Miki Tsutsumi, engineer/mixer; Sam Ashworth, Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman, David “Swagg R’Celious” Harris & H.E.R., songwriters; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer
“7”
Lil Nas X
Montero Lamar Hill, songwriter; Eric Lagg, mastering engineer
“Cuz I Love You (Deluxe)”
Lizzo
Ricky Reed, producer; Manny Marroquin & Ethan Shumaker, engineers/mixers; Eric Frederic & Melissa Jefferson, songwriters; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
“Father of the Bride”
Vampire Weekend
Ezra Koenig & Ariel Rechtshaid, producers; John DeBold, Chris Kasych, Takemasa Kosaka, Ariel Rechtshaid & Hiroya Takayama, engineers/mixers; Ezra Koenig, songwriter; Emily Lazar, mastering engineer
Song of the Year
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
“Always Remember Us This Way”
Natalie Hemby, Lady Gaga, Hillary Lindsey & Lori McKenna, songwriters (Lady Gaga)
“Bad Guy”*
Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
“Bring My Flowers Now”
Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth & Tanya Tucker, songwriters (Tanya Tucker)
“Hard Place”
Ruby Amanfu, Sam Ashworth, D. Arcelious Harris, H.E.R. & Rodney Jerkins, songwriters (H.E.R.)
“Lover”
Taylor Swift, songwriter (Taylor Swift)
“Norman F**cking Rockwell”
Jack Antonoff & Lana Del Rey, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)
“Someone Yo Loved”
Tom Barnes, Lewis Capaldi, Pete Kelleher, Benjamin Kohn & Sam Roman, songwriters (Lewis Capaldi)
“Truth Hurts”
Steven Cheung, Eric Frederic, Melissa Jefferson & Jesse Saint John, songwriters (Lizzo)
Best New Artist
An artist will be considered for Best New Artist if their eligibility year release/s achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape.
Black Pumas
Billie Eilish*
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
Maggie Rogers
Rosalía
Tank and the Bangas
Yola