Are you going to stand for this? Am I sincerely proposing that we kick off this accursed project by declaring The Slim Shady LP the true Album of the Year?Ĭharles Holmes: “Smooth” is more of a jam than anything on The Slim Shady LP. ( Sheryl Crow, accepting her Best Female Vocalist award: “First, I want to say thanks to Carlos Santana for not being in this category.”) Old-guard rock star + spry young hitmakers (the Rob Thomas jam “Smooth” won both Song and Record of the Year) = one of the Grammy-est albums that ever Grammy’d. Santana’s Supernatural won eight awards during the first Grammys of the 21st century, tying the one-night record set by Michael Jackson with Thriller. Rob Harvilla: Wow, Charles, what a blessing that we get to kick off this accursed project with one of the most Grammy-feted albums of all time. 30, 1999 Winner/Nomineesĭiana Krall, When I Look in Your Eyes Should’ve Won I will have my revenge.) Good luck to all the nominees, and better luck next year to us all. Make it just the normal calendar year like normal people, you absolute dinguses. (Side note from Rob at least: I hate the Grammy eligibility window.
To prove this, and to right these various baffling wrongs, join us now as we relitigate the past 20 years of AOTY victors, from 2000 to our harrowing present, and name new victors in all but two cases, one of which happens immediately, because Santana is still a pretty rad guy all things considered. This year’s Album of the Year slate is pretty bonkers, which is only appropriate, as the Grammys historically screw up Album of the Year every year. We’re sorry you had to find out like this. In 2011, he was given a Freedom Award by the National Civil Rights Museum.The Grammys are Sunday night. Additionally, Usher has also acted (in television, in movies, on Broadway), taken an ownership stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers, mentored a young Justin Bieber, and worked on both American Idol and The Voice, all while maintaining a steady presence in a variety of philanthropic causes. In late 2018, he celebrated his 40th birthday by releasing “A”, his ninth studio album. 1 singles in three consecutive decades-behind, among others, Michael Jackson. His 2004 album, Confessions, reportedly inspired by his breakup with TLC star Chilli, went not just Platinum but Diamond his 2010 single “OMG” made him only the fifth artist in history to have No. He went on to become one of the most bulletproof figures in pop, capable of straddling club music (2004’s “Yeah!”), ballads (2004’s “Confessions Part II”), boundary-pushing R&B (2012’s “Climax”), and the kind of borderless, big-tent anthems everyone seems to agree on (2008's “Love in This Club”).
That performance led almost instantaneously to a deal with LaFace Records, then home to TLC and Toni Braxton, with Usher releasing his self-titled debut album when he was just 15. See him on Star Search, circa 1991, singing Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road,” wading through a sea of admirers (“I was a ham,” he joked later). A pop star who’s hovered in the spotlight for three decades running, with little sign of slowing down.Born Usher Raymond IV in 1978, and raised in Chattanooga and Atlanta, Usher started his career at age 10, making the rounds and honing his craft on Atlanta-area talent shows. It turns out, Usher might be the closest thing we have to Jackson since Jackson himself-a singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and consummate performer whose appeal seems to transcend genre and demographics. “I love you!” Usher replied, pointing back. Usher juked, Jackson followed suit, the two traded moves. Few moments define Usher's career quite like that night in September 2001, when he stood opposite Michael Jackson at a sold-out Madison Square Garden and shared a dance.