Grammys go retro as crafty pros steal the show from Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish

The usual complaints about the Grammy Awards didn't apply Sunday. It wasn't #Grammys2white, #2old, #2male or #2casual. No, the issue with the 64th annual awards was #2retro.

Silk Sonic, the new duo featuring Grammy perennial Bruno Mars and drummer Anderson .Paak, dominated the major awards with material that sounds like reconstituted 1970s soul. Their "Leave the Door Open" captured both record and song of the year.

"We're trying our hardest to remain humble right now," Paak said when accepting record of the year. "But in the industry, we call that a clean sweep. Drinks on Silk Sonic tonight. We know the Internet is going to get upset."

Well, not a clean sweep. Jon Batiste's "We Are" — a diverse collection of jazz, funk, gospel and R&B with a heavy New Orleans flavor — was named album of the year, giving him five trophies, the most on Sunday. He had led the nominations with 11.

"There is no best musician, no best artist, no best actor — the creative arts are subjective," said the singer/piano man, best known as bandleader for "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert."

To Batiste, music is "more than entertainment. It's a spiritual practice."

His triumph was probably as a big a surprise as Silk Sonic's high-profile prizes.

While their skills can't be denied, music lovers — and critics — were pulling for acclaimed newcomer Olivia Rodrigo, 19, or Billie Eilish, 20, who swept the Grammys in 2020. Their 2021 albums were widely popular and lauded projects.

The victories of Batiste and Silk Sonic are reminiscent of the 2001 Grammys, when Steely Dan — long respected for its quirky craftmanship but hardly at its peak — won album of the year over such adventurous voices as Radiohead, Beck, Eminem and Paul Simon.

Are the 14,000 voters in the Recording Academy preoccupied with craft rather than artistry? Let social media debate.

Rodrigo, the overnight teen sensation and breakout star of 2021, collected three Grammys, including best new artist.

"This is my biggest dream come true," Rodrigo told the audience at MGM Arena in Las Vegas.

Nashville star Chris Stapleton also snared three awards, including best country album, as did gospel star CeCe Winans and the hard rocking Foo Fighters, whose drummer Taylor Hawkins died March 25, forcing them to cancel their Grammy performance and a tour that included a Aug. 3 date at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Many shining moments

Unlike last week's Oscars, there was no shocking behavior by an irate superstar on live television.

Unlike the current NCAA basketball tournaments, there wasn't one shining moment on Music's Biggest Night. But there were plenty of highlights in the 3½-hour telecast.

The Grammys had been transplanted from Los Angeles to Las Vegas after a COVID-forced postponement, so the showrunners went with a Vegas-y opening. Not a big production number like Beyoncé and a cast of hundreds at the Oscars, but a flashy, dizzying, twirling-lights staging of Silk Sonic's "777" — a blast of old-school horn-flavored funk that conveyed a Vegas-appropriate message about luck.

Next up was Rodrigo, who delivered her slow-burn post-breakup teen trauma "Drivers License" with palpable pain as she climbed out of a Mercedes. Her voice was breaking, her eyes filled with tears as she got lost in a perfect pop song.

Leave it to another young phenom to trump that performance. Eilish gave a riveting reading of "Happier Than Ever," the title track of her second album. It started as a hushed croon with Eilish, dressed in an oversized Taylor Hawkins T-shirt, standing in water in an upside-down living room. Eventually she made her way to the roof as the song shifted into an electrifying rock salvo, with her brother Finneas pummeling a guitar and Eilish shaking her hair and waving her fists with abandon.

Stapleton pumped deeply felt soul into "Cold," a downtempo blues about heartbreak with an aching guitar solo. BTS, the massively popular K-pop group from South Korea, did a slickly choreographed version of "Butter" complete with unison moves and sleight-of-hand trickery with sport jackets and playing cards. Also noteworthy was the vocal work of Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr. and Rachel Zegler on a tribute to the late songwriter Stephen Sondheim.

Perhaps the most poignant performance came after an impassioned speech in English by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ("our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos"). Singer/pianist John Legend performed "Free" as he was joined by three Ukrainians: a string instrumentalist, a singer and a poet who read "The Lord's Prayer" in English.

Touches of levity

The Grammys couldn't resist poking fun at last week's Oscars, where Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock for a comment about Smith's wife.

When Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson took the stage to present the song of the year trophy, he told the audience: "I trust you people will stay 500 feet away from me."

Before the telecast, Thompson had won a Grammy for best music film for his Oscar-winning documentary "Summer of Soul." After having had his Oscar moment ruined by the most famous slap not seen in a movie, the first-time director thanked every artist featured in the film about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, from Stevie Wonder to Nina Simone.

All but nine of the night's 86 trophies were presented during the pre-show. (As host Trevor Noah explained, the Grammys are a big concert where they happen to give out a few awards between performances.)

The pre-show's host, LeVar Burton, warned at one point: "Our next presenter is a comedian. Remain in your seats and keep your hands to yourself." Nate Bargatze, a nominee for best comedy album, then took the stage wearing a helmet.

Another moment of levity in the pre-telecast came when Stewart Copeland, best known as the drummer for the rock trio Police, captured his first Grammy in 38 years, this time for best New Age album with Ricky Kej, for "Divine Tides."

"This has gotta be a first," he said of the category known for its mellow sounds. "I'm a rock drummer. Don't let anyone tell you drums can't love."

Minnesota nominees BJ Burton (for his engineering work on Low's album "Hey What") and Kirk Johnson (co-producer of Prince's "Sign o' the Times Super Deluxe" reissue) didn't take home awards. But the Minneapolis Sound briefly took center stage late in Sunday's show when producers/songwriters Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis accompanied H.E.R. on "Damage" just before she segued into the night's biggest rock explosion, "Are You Gonna Go My Way" with Lenny Kravitz.

POP
Record of the year: "Leave the Door Open," Silk Sonic. Song of the year: "Leave the Door Open." Album of the year: "We Are," Jon Batiste. Best new artist: Olivia Rodrigo. Solo performance: "Drivers License," Rodrigo. Duo/group performance: "Kiss Me More," Doja Cat featuring Sza. Pop vocal album: "Sour," Rodrigo. Traditional pop vocal album: "Love for Sale," Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga. Dance recording: "Alive," Rüfüs Du Sol. Dance/electronic album: "Subconsciously," Black Coffee. Remixed recording: "Passenger," Mike Shinoda/Deftones. Contemporary instrumental album: "Tree Falls," Taylor Eigsti. Best engineered album: "Love for Sale." Producer of the year: Jack Antonoff.

HIP-HOP/R&B
Rap album: "Call Me If You Get Lost," Tyler, The Creator. Rap song: "Jail," Kanye West. R&B album: "Heaux Tales," Jazmine Sullivan. Progressive R&B album: "Table for Two," Lucky Daye. Rap performance: "Family Ties," Baby Keem featuring Kendrick Lamar. Melodic rap performance: "Hurricane," Kanye West featuring The Weeknd & Lil Baby. R&B song: "Leave the Door Open." R&B performance: (tie) "Leave the Door Open" and "Pick Up Your Feelings," Jazmine Sullivan. Traditional R&B performance: "Fight for You," H.E.R.

ROCK
Album: "Medicine at Midnight," Foo Fighters. Song: "Waiting on a War," Foo Fighters. Alternative album: "Daddy's Home," St. Vincent. Rock performance: "Making a Fire," Foo Fighters. Metal: "The Alien," Dream Theater.

COUNTRY/ROOTS
Country album: "Starting Over," Chris Stapleton. Song: "Cold," Stapleton. Solo performance: "You Should Probably Leave," Stapleton. Duo/group: "Younger Me," Brothers Osborne. Americana album: "Native Sons," Los Lobos. Roots performance: "Cry," Jon Batiste. Roots song: "Cry." Traditional blues album: "I Be Trying," Cedric Burnside. Contemporary blues: "662," Christone "Kingfish" Ingram. Bluegrass album: "My Bluegrass Heart," Béla Fleck. Folk: "They're Calling Me Home," Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi. Regional roots: "Kau Ka Pe'a," Kalani Pe'a. Reggae: "Beauty in the Silence," Soja. Global music album: "Mother Nature," Angelique Kidjo. Global music performance: "Mohabbat," Arooj Aftab.

LATIN
Pop album: "Mendó," Alex Cuba. Música Urbana album: "El Último Tour del Mundo," Bad Bunny. Rock/alternative album: "Origen," Juanes. Regional Mexican album: "A Mis 80's," Vicente Fernández. Tropical Latin album: "Salswing!" Rubén Blades y Roberto Delgado & Orquesta.

CLASSICAL
Orchestral performance: "Florence Price: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3," Philadelphia Orchestra. Opera recording: "Akhnaten," Philip Glass. Choral: "Mahler: Symphony of a Thousand," conductor Gustavo Dudamel. Chamber: "Hope Amid Tears," Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax. Solo vocal: "Mythologies," Sangeeta Kaur & Hila Plitmann. Instrumental solo: "Alone Together," Jennifer Koh. Composition: "Narrow Sea," Caroline Shaw. Classical compendium: "Women Warriors: The Voices of Change." Best engineered album: "Chanticleer Sings Christmas." Producer of the year: Judith Sherman.

JAZZ
Vocal album: "Songwrights Apothecary Lab," Esperanza Spalding. Instrumental album: "Skyline," Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette & Gonzalo Rubalcaba. Large ensemble album: "For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver," Christian McBride Big Band. Latin jazz album: "Mirror Mirror," Eliane Elias with Chick Corea and Chucho Valdés. Improvised solo: "Humpty Dumpty (Set 2)," Chick Corea. Instrumental composition: "Eberhard," Lyle Mays.

GOSPEL
Album: "Believe for It," CeCe Winans. Song: "Never Lost," CeCe Winans. Contemporary Christian album: "Old Church Basement," Elevation Worship & Maverick City Music. Contemporary Christian song: "Believe for It." Roots gospel album: "My Savior," Carrie Underwood.

MISC.
Children's music album: "A Colorful World," Falu. New Age: "Divine Tides," Stewart Copeland & Ricky Kej. Musical theater: "The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical." Comedy: "Sincerely Louis CK." Music video: "Freedom," Jon Batiste. Music film: "Summer of Soul." Spoken word: "Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation From John Lewis." Score soundtrack: (tie) "The Queen's Gambit" and "Soul." Compilation soundtrack: "The United States vs. Billie Holiday." Song for visual media: "All Eyes on Me," Bo Burnham. Boxed set: "All Things Must Pass," George Harrison. Historical album: "Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 1: The Early Years." Recording package: "Pakelang."