40th Annual Grammy Awards Coverage

The 40th Annual Grammy Awards® were given out on February 25th, 1998. Here's our step by step account:

Show opener Will Smith won for Rap Solo Performance for Men in Black. The Award was presented by Chris Rock and Vanessa Williams. That was followed by Trisha Yearwood winning Best Female Country Vocal Performance for How Do I Live, a song that had just been performed by LeAnn Rimes, a nominee for the same song. The Best R&B Album went to Erykah Badu's Baduizm. Mike Myers joked that he and Jewel, from Canada and Alaska, were natural choices to present the R&B award.

This was followed by a tribute to the Lilith Fair female artists tour, with rousing performances by Paula Cole, Shawn Colvin, and Sarah McLachlan. Erykah Badu and Wyclef Jean followed with a great acoustic piece. These two then presented the award for Song of the Year to Shawn Colvin and John Leventhal for Sunny Came Home. Their acceptance was briefly interrupted by a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, who felt it was necessary to boost his band and put down Puff Daddy.

Hanson then followed with a rendition of their ever-present MMMBop, which gave yours truly a chance to get away from the computer for a few minutes and leave the room. At least they got to perform, because they didn't win Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal, an award that went instead to Jamiroquai for Virtual Insanity.

With his performance R. Kelly told us "I Believe I Can Fly", but as the night unfolds we'll see if he believes he can win. Well, seconds later he did, getting the award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

Anyone else think that the show is pretty lame so far?

Vince Gill didn't have time to make it back to his seat after his performance as he won the Best Male Country Vocal Performance for his song Pretty Little Adriana.

Celine Dion was on next. She didn't get to perform Tell Him with her pal Babs, but she did get a chance to belt out the chart-topping My Heart Will Go On from Titanic, which is a better song anyway. And as it turned out, it was a good night for Barbra Striesand to stay home ill, as she and Celine did not win the Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. That instead went to Don't Look Back by John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison. Later on, Bob Dylan, older than all of Hanson combined, kicked their butts with a soulful performance. And keeping a trend of winning after a performance, Bobby took home the Album of the Year for Time Out Of Mind.

Now, Fiona Apple just gave a soulful performance of her hit Criminal, but hey, she was just opening for the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, though I could've done without the Blues Brothers backing her. After a tired bit of schtick, we finally found out that Paula Cole won for Best New Artist.

Whoa Baby! Okay, so old Luciano was at home resting and was unable to get his Legend award. But his pal Aretha brought the house to its feet with her stand-in operatic performance. Man, that woman has a set of pipes!

Speaking of pipes, Lindsey Buckingham's were completely blown for Fleetwood Mac's set. The instrumental part was great but it was painful to watch him sing. He didn't have to worry about straining it any further as they didn't win for Best Pop Album. James Taylor won that for Hourglass.

Finally after a great lil' jazz break intro'd by Bill Cosby, Bette Midler gave out the Record of the Year to Shawn Colvin and John Leventhal for Sunny Came Home. And that's it!

And now the full list of winners:

Record Of The Year

  • Sunny Came Home - Shawn Colvin (John Leventhal, producer)

Album Of The Year

  • Time Out Of Mind - Bob Dylan (Daniel Lanois, producer)

Song Of The Year

  • Sunny Came Home - Shawn Colvin & John Leventhal, songwriters (Shawn Colvin)

Best New Artist

  • Paula Cole

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

  • Building A Mystery - Sarah McLachlan

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance

  • Candle In The Wind 1997 - Elton John

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal

  • Virtual Insanity - Jamiroquai

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals

  • Don't Look Back - John Lee Hooker With Van Morrison

Best Pop Instrumental Performance

  • Last Dance - Sarah McLachlan

Best Dance Recording

  • Carry On - Donna Summer & Giorgio Moroder

Best Pop Album

  • Hourglass - James Taylor

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance

  • Tony Bennett On Holiday - Tony Bennett

Best Female Rock Vocal Performance

  • Criminal - Fiona Apple

Best Male Rock Vocal Performance

  • Cold Irons Bound - Bob Dylan

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal

  • One Headlight - The Wallflowers

Best Hard Rock Performance

  • The End Is The Beginning Is The End - The Smashing Pumpkins

Best Metal Performance

  • Aenema - Tool

Best Rock Instrumental Performance

  • Block Rockin' Beats - The Chemical Brothers

Best Rock Song

  • One Headlight - Jakob Dylan, songwriter (The Wallflowers)

Best Rock Album

  • Blue Moon Swamp - John Fogerty (John Fogerty, producer)

Best Alternative Music Performance

  • OK Computer - Radiohead

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance

  • On & On - Erykah Badu

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

  • I Believe I Can Fly - R. Kelly

Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal

  • No Diggity - Blackstreet

Best R&B Song

  • I Believe I Can Fly - R. Kelly, songwriter (R. Kelly)

Best R&B Album

  • Baduizm - Erykah Badu

Best Rap Solo Performance

Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group

  • I'll Be Missing You - Puff Daddy & Faith Evans Featuring 112

Best Rap Album

  • No Way Out - Puff Daddy & The Family (Sean "Puffy" Combs & Stevie J., producers)

Best Female Country Vocal Performance

  • How Do I Live - Trisha Yearwood

Best Male Country Vocal Performance

  • Pretty Little Adriana - Vince Gill

Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal

  • Looking In The Eyes Of Love - Alison Krauss & Union Station

Best Country Collaboration With Vocals

  • In Another's Eyes - Trisha Yearwood & Garth Brooks

Best Country Instrumental Performance

  • Little Liza Jane - Alison Krauss & Union Station

Best Country Song

  • Butterfly Kisses - Bob Carlisle & Randy Thomas, songwriters ((Bob Carlisle) AND (Jeff Carson) AND (Raybon Bros.))

Best Country Album

  • Unchained - Johnny Cash (Rick Rubin, producer)

Best Bluegrass Album

  • So Long So Wrong - Alison Krauss & Union Station

Best New Age Album

  • Oracle - Michael Hedges

Best Contemporary Jazz Performance

  • Into The Sun - Randy Brecker

Best Jazz Vocal Performance

  • Dear Ella - Dee Dee Bridgewater

Best Jazz Instrumental Solo

  • Stardust - Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group

  • Beyond The Missouri Sky - Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance

  • Joe Henderson Big Band - Joe Henderson Big Band

Best Latin Jazz Performance

  • Habana - Roy Hargrove's Crisol

Best Rock Gospel Album

  • Welcome To The Freak Show: dc Talk Live In Concert - dc Talk

Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album

  • Much Afraid - Jars Of Clay

Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album

  • Amazing Grace 2: A Country Salute To Gospel - Various Artists (David Corlew & Peter York, compilation producers)

Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album

  • I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray - The Fairfield Four

Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album

  • Brothers - Take 6

Best Gospel Choir Or Chorus Album

  • God's Property From Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation - God's Property; Myron Butler, Kirk Franklin & Robert Searight II, Choir Directors

Best Latin Pop Performance

  • Romances - Luis Miguel

Best Latin Rock/Alternative Performance

  • Fabulosos Calavera - Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

Best Tropical Latin Performance

  • Buena Vista Social Club - Ry Cooder

Best Mexican-American/Tejano Music Performance

  • En Tus Manos - La Mafia

Best Traditional Blues Album

  • Don't Look Back - John Lee Hooker

Best Contemporary Blues Album

  • Senor Blues - Taj Mahal

Best Traditional Folk Album

  • L'Amour Ou La Folie - BeauSoleil

Best Contemporary Folk Album

  • Time Out Of Mind - Bob Dylan

Best Reggae Album

  • Fallen Is Babylon - Ziggy Marley And The Melody Makers

Best World Music Album

  • Nascimento - Milton Nascimento

Best Polka Album

  • Living On Polka Time - Jimmy Sturr

Best Musical Album For Children

  • All Aboard! - John Denver (John Denver, Roger Nichols & Kris O'Connor, producers)

Best Spoken Word Album For Children

  • Winnie-The-Pooh (A.A. Milne) - Charles Kuralt (John McElroy, producer)

Best Spoken Word Album

  • Charles Kuralt's Spring (Charles Kuralt) - Charles Kuralt

Best Spoken Comedy Album

  • Roll With The New - Chris Rock

Best Musical Show Album

  • Chicago The Musical - Jay David Saks, producer; (Fred Ebb, lyricist; John Kander, composer) (Various Artists Featuring Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth, James Naughton & Joel Grey)

Best Instrumental Composition

  • Aung San Suu Kyi - Wayne Shorter, composer (Herbie Hancock & Wayne Shorter)

Best Instrumental Composition Written For A Motion Picture Or For Television

  • The English Patient - Gabriel Yared, composer

Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or For Television

  • I Believe I Can Fly (From Space Jam) - R. Kelly, songwriter (R. Kelly)

Best Instrumental Arrangement

  • Straight, No Chaser - Bill Holman, arranger (The Bill Holman Band)

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s)

  • Cotton Tail - Slide Hampton, arranger (Dee Dee Bridgewater)

Best Recording Package

  • Titanic - Music As Heard On The Fateful Voyage - Hugh Brown, Al Q Uattrocchi & Jeff Smith, art directors (Various Artists)

Best Boxed Recording Package

  • Beg Scream & Shout! The Big Ol' Box Of '60s Soul - Hugh Brown, David Gorman & Rachel Gutek, art directors (Various Artists)

Best Album Notes

  • Anthology Of American Folk Music (1997 Edition Expanded) - John Fahey, Luis Kemnitzer, Jon Pankake, Chuck Pirtle, Jeff Place, Neil V. Rosenberg, Luc Sante, Peter Stampfel & Eric Von Schmidt, album notes writers (Various Artists)

Best Historical Album

  • Anthology Of American Folk Music (1997 Edition Expanded) - Jeff Place & Pete Reiniger, compilation producers; David Glasser & Charlie Pilzer, mastering engineers (Various Artists)

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

  • Hourglass - Frank Filipetti, engineer (James Taylor)

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical

  • Babyface

Remixer of the Year

  • Frankie Knuckles

Best Engineered Album, Classical

  • Copland: The Music Of America (Fanfare For The Common Man; Rodeo, Etc.) - Michael Bishop & Jack Renner, engineers (Erich Kunzel, conductor)

Producer Of The Year, Classical

  • Steven Epstein

Best Classical Album

  • Premieres - Cello Concertos (Works Of Danielpour, Kirchner, Rouse) - Yo-Yo Ma, violoncello; David Zinman, conductor; Steven Epstein, producer (Philadelphia Orch.)

Best Orchestral Performance

  • Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Tristia - Pierre Boulez, conductor (The Cleveland Orch. Cho.; The Cleveland Orch.)

Best Opera Recording

  • Wagner: Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg - Sir Georg Solti, conductor; Ben Heppner; Herbert Lippert; Karita Mattila; Alan Opie; Rene Pape; Jose van Dam; Iris Vermillion; Michael Woolcock, producer (Chicago Sym. Cho.; Chicago Sym. Orch.)

Best Choral Performance

  • Adams: Harmonium/Rachmaninoff: The Bells - Robert Shaw, conductor (Karl Dent, tenor; Renee Fleming, soprano; Victor Ledbetter, baritone; Atlanta Sym. Orch. Cho.; Atlanta Sym. Orch.)

Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra)

  • Premieres - Cello Concertos (Works Of Danielpour, Kirchner, Rouse) - Yo-Yo Ma, violoncello; David Zinman, conductor (Philadelphia Orch.)

Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra)

  • Bach: Suites For Solo Cello Nos. 1 - 6 - Janos Starker, cello

Best Chamber Music Performance

  • Beethoven: The String Quartets - Emerson String Quartet

Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without Conductor)

  • Hindemith: Kammermusik No. 1 With Finale 1921, Op. 24 No. 1 - Claudio Abbado, conductor; Mbrs. Of The Berliner Phil.

Best Classical Vocal Performance

  • An Italian Songbook (Works Of Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini) - Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo soprano (James Levine, piano)

Best Classical Contemporary Composition

  • Adams: El Dorado - John Adams, composer (Kent Nagano, conductor; The Halle Orch.)

Best Short Form Music Video

  • Got 'Till It's Gone - Janet Jackson (Mark Romanek, video director; Aris McGarry, video producer)

Best Long Form Music Video

  • Jagged Little Pill, Live - Alanis Morissette (Alanis Morissette & Steve Purcell, video directors; Glen Ballard, David May, Alanis Morissette & Steve Purcell,video producers)