LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on the 61st annual Grammy Awards, which are being presented Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles (all times local):
3:40 p.m.
Chris Cornell has won a posthumous Grammy Award, which two of his young children accepted Sunday.
Cornell’s daughter Toni and son Christopher accepted the award for best rock performance for “When Bad Does Good.”
The song was released as part of a posthumous album of unreleased music that Cornell’s estate put out last year.
Toni Cornell held the award while her brother spoke at the Grammys pre-telecast ceremony, telling the audience “His voice was his vision and his music was his peace.”
Cornell died in May 2017 at age 52.
Toni Cornell ended the speech by saying, “This is for you daddy, and we love you so much.”
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3:05 p.m.
Best new artist nominee Margo Price is rocking her baby bump on the Grammy carpet.
Price says her baby was kicking on her way to Staples Center and she thinks it’s because “babies can kind of feel your adrenaline.”
The 35-year-old country singer says it’s interesting and exciting to be 6 ½ months pregnant with her daughter at the same time as music’s biggest awards show.
Price says she needed to be regularly measured to ensure her red gown fit her changing body. She was wearing heels, too.
She says her appearance makes “a powerful statement” because often society doesn’t believe pregnant women are sexy. Price thinks it’s the opposite.
— Beth Harris (@bethharrisap) on the Grammy red carpet.
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2:45 p.m.
Ariana Grande, who this week publicly clashed with a Grammys producer, has won her first Grammy Award.
Grande won Sunday for best pop vocal album for her song “Sweetener.” She was not in attendance at a pre-telecast ceremony to accept the honor.
The superstar accused Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich of lying about discussions with Grande about performing at Sunday’s ceremony. Ehrlich told The Associated Press on Thursday that Grande had told producers that she said she didn’t have adequate time to prepare.
Grande blasted the comments in a social media post, saying she could have prepared a performance overnight.
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2:30 p.m.
A week ago, PJ Morton was playing the Super Bowl halftime show with Maroon 5. Now, he’s at the Grammys and nominated for four awards.
Maroon 5 caught plenty of flack online about its Super Bowl show.
Morton says the band knew going in that “we had a lot stacked up against us in general. We knew it would be hard to please everybody.” Still, he says Maroon 5 is proud of the show it put on.
The keyboardist has three nods in the R&B categories and one for pop duo/group performance for “Girls Like You.”
— Beth Harris (@bethharrisap) on the Grammy red carpet.
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2:20 p.m.
“Weird Al” Yankovic says winning his fifth Grammy is one of his most standout moments in his career.
The comedic musician’s box set “Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic” won Sunday for best boxed or special limited edition package. The award recognizes the art direction of the project.
Yankovic says: “In my entire career, and it’s been like 40 years, I would have to say this one right now stands out to me the most.”
He adds that he always wanted to be an art director and “this is special to me.”
The retrospective box set includes all 14 of his studio albums along with an additional disc. It’s packaged inside a replica of Yankovic’s accordion.
Yankovic won his first career Grammy in 1984 for best comedy recording. He won best comedy album in 2014 and 2003, and best concept music video in 1988.
— Jonathan Landrum Jr. (@MrLandrum31 on Twitter) backstage at the Grammy Awards
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2:05 p.m.
Former president Jimmy Carter is now a three-time Grammy winner.
The 39th president won the best spoken word album honor at Sunday’s Grammy Awards for his work, “Faith — A Journey for All.”
It is Carter’s third win, all in the spoken word category. He won in 2016 for “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety” and his first Grammy in 2007 for “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis.”
Carter did not attend the Grammys’ pre-telecast ceremony, where dozens of awards are handed out before the main show starts at 8 p.m. Eastern. The early awards are being livestreamed on www.grammy.com and the main show is airing on CBS.
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This story has been corrected to show that Carter has now won three Grammy Awards, not two.
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1:40 p.m.
Lady Gaga has won a Grammy Award for her song “Shallow” from “A Star is Born.”
The superstar was not in attendance to accept the award for best song written for visual media, which she shares with Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt.
Gaga beat out “All the Stars” from the “Black Panther” soundtrack, as well as songs from “Coco” and “The Greatest Showman.”
Hugh Jackman also became a Grammy winner Sunday when he was among the winners for the best compilation soundtrack for visual media for “The Greatest Showman.” Jackman wasn’t present to accept the honor.
“Black Panther” composer Ludwig Goransson won the best score soundtrack Sunday during the Grammys premiere ceremony. The ceremony, where dozens of Grammy Awards are handed out, is being livestreamed on www.grammy.com.
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1:15 p.m
At no other awards show is fashion more all over the place than the Grammys.
Faux fur, leather, lace, velvet, rubber, studs and sequins are all at home on the red carpet.
And no one exemplifies the individual aesthetic more than nominee Fantastic Negrito, the Oakland, California-born blues artist.
He wore a red suit with colorful swatches of fabric making up the pockets. A large silver necklace in the form of two fish hung from his neck.
Negrito says it used to be a belt buckle.
He says his sartorial choices are inspired by upcycling, which is using discarded objects or material to create something of higher quality than the original.
— Beth Harris (@bethharrisap) on the Grammy red carpet.
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12:45 p.m.
Dave Chappelle has won a Grammy Award for best comedy album, the first honor handed out Sunday.
Chappelle won for “Equanimity & the Bird Revelation,” which was turned into a two-part Netflix special.
The comedian’s win came during the premiere ceremony, where dozens of Grammy Awards are handed out before the main telecast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern. The ceremony is being livestreamed at www.grammy.com .
Chappelle was not in attendance to accept the award Sunday.
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12:40 p.m.
Grammy nominees and performers are making their way to the red carpet under gray skies and rain drops in downtown Los Angeles.
Some attendees are toting furry coats to ward off temperatures in the lower 50s.
The forecast calls for a chance of rain over the next three hours when the carpet reaches its apex and awards are being handed out before the telecast begins at Staples Center.
The red carpet is tented with black chandeliers hung from the ceiling so once under cover attendees need not worry about the weather.
Shaggy, who is hosting the premiere ceremony where dozens of awards will be presented ahead of the telecast, noted the cool weather in his opening remarks, noting his efforts to bring warm Jamaican weather weren’t successful.
— Beth Harris (@bethharrisap) on the Grammy red carpet.
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3 a.m.
Janelle Monae remembers being frustrated at last year’s Grammy Awards, where male acts dominated in nominations and the only woman competing for the night’s top award, Lorde, didn’t get a chance to perform onstage.
But this year, Monae is looking forward to the show, where women are now leading in nominations for big categories like album of the year and best new artist.
Monae’s “Dirty Computer” is one of five albums by women nominated for the top prize at Sunday’s show. Cardi B, Kacey Musgraves, Brandi Carlile and H.E.R. also in contention.
Women also have a strong presence in song and record of the year, including Lady Gaga, SZA, Maren Morris and Ella Mai.
H.E.R., Chloe x Halle, Margo Price, Dua Lipa, Bebe Rexha and Jorja Smith are also up for best new artist.
