Jon Batiste Crowned Grammys King with Five Wins Including Best Album

Industry watchers had tipped pop superstars as the likely big winners at Sunday's Grammys -- but jazzman Jon Batiste instead was crowned king, taking home five awards including the prestigious Album of the Year prize.

At the star-studded gala, held for the first time in Las Vegas, Silk Sonic -- the 70s revival project of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak -- won all four of their potential prizes, including both Record and Song of The Year for their single "Leave The Door Open."

Olivia Rodrigo didn't win as many awards as predicted -- but the Filipino-American pop phenom did scoop the coveted prize for Best New Artist, and two trophies in the pop category, AFP said.

That meant the winners of all four top Grammys were people of color -- a milestone for the Recording Academy, which for years has faced criticism that it disproportionately honored white men.

The night was heavy on performances but also held a number of somber moments -- most notably when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a pre-taped plea for support.

Zelensky's message led into a performance by John Legend of the song "Free," with the help of Ukrainian singer Mika Newton, musician Siuzanna Iglidan and poet Lyuba Yakimchuk.

"On our land, we are fighting Russia, which brings horrible silence with its bombs. The dead silence," Zelensky said.

"Fill the silence with your music, fill it today to tell our story."

- Bieber, Eilish, Lil Nas X shut out -
Despite being among the night's most nominated artists, pop juggernauts Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber and Lil Nas X were shut out completely.

But they all staged impressive performances: Eilish belted out "Happier Than Ever" in a lightning-backed downpour, Bieber delivered a crooned-up version of "Peaches," and Lil Nas X hosted an unabashed celebration of sexuality and queerness set to a medley of his songs including "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)."

Rodrigo also gave an impressive rendition of her viral teen breakup hit "drivers license," showcasing her impressive vocals against a set mimicking a gloomy night in suburbia.

"This is my biggest dream come true," the 19-year-old said as she accepted the gramophone for Best New Artist.

Big winner Batiste also performed, showcasing his elasticity as an artist by starting at the piano for a classical piece before transitioning to a rhythmic dance number.

The night's leading nominee with 11 nods, Batiste had already scooped four ahead of his big sleeper win for the year's best album.

But he looked shocked when presenter Lenny Kravitz declared him the night's big hit.

"I really don't do it for the awards," the 35-year-old Batiste told journalists backstage. "Music is something that's so subjective."

Earlier onstage, the artist born into a prominent New Orleans musical dynasty told a cheering audience: "I believe this to my core: there is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor."

"I just put my head down and work on the craft every day," he continued. "It's more than entertainment for me -- it's a spiritual practice."

- Diverse field -
The timing of the Grammys just one week after Will Smith stunned the world by slapping Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars added an extra layer of unpredictability to what is already usually one of the edgier nights on the showbiz awards circuit.

That fiasco prompted some gentle zings over the course of the night Sunday, but antics were virtually non-existent at what ultimately proved to be a heavily scripted show.

Music's chaos agent Kanye West stayed home even as he won two Grammys, one of which he shared with Jay Z.

Among the diverse crop of winners was Doja Cat, who took home her first ever Grammy in the pop category -- which she had to sprint back to accept after dipping out of the gala for a bathroom break.

The Brooklyn-based Pakistani vocalist Arooj Aftab, who won her first Grammy for Best Global Music Performance for "Mohabbat," and had also been in the running for Best New Artist, told journalists the win left her "beyond thrilled."

And it was a special night for folk icon Joni Mitchell, who won the prize for Best Historical Album days after being honored at a moving tribute gala Friday.

She made a rare public appearance onstage, looking fly in a red leather beret, sunglasses and floral pants, her long blonde hair in pigtails.

Songwriter and singer Charles Dumont, who composed the song "Non, je ne regrette rien" ("No, I do not regret anything") made world famous by Edith Piaf, has died aged 95, his partner told AFP Monday.
Dumont, who had also collaborated with American singer Barbra Streisand and French-Italian 1960s star Dalida, died at home after a long illness.
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati called Dumont "a towering figure of French chanson".
A trumpeter by training, Dumont saw his career transformed at the turn of the 1960s when he convinced the star singer Piaf to perform one of his compositions, after having been forcefully refused several times.
"We turned up at her home, and she let us in," Dumont told AFP in 2018 about the day in 1960 when he managed to see Piaf together with his lyricist, Michel Vaucaire.
"I played the piece on the piano, and ... we became inseparable," he said, adding that the song -- which he had written in 1956 aged 27 -- revived Piaf's career that he said had been flagging.
"Non, je ne regrette rien" has since become an unforgettable classic of Piaf, who died in 1963.
"My mother gave birth to me, but Edith Piaf brought me into the world," Dumont told AFP in a 2015 interview.
"Without her, I would never have done everything I did, neither as a composer nor as a singer," he added.
For Dumont, this meeting marked the beginning of a fruitful working relationship with Piaf, resulting in his writing more than 30 songs for her.
'Goodbye young man'
On occasion she straightened him out, like one night after a concert when he complained to her that the audience had not been good.
"She looked me straight in the eye and said: 'It's not them who are bad. It's you who was no good'," he remembered.
The collaboration with Piaf gave Dumont the confidence to approach Streisand, who was already a star in the 1960s and well on her way to becoming one of the biggest-selling recording artists ever.
A music publisher suggested he should offer her his services, advice he later described as "destiny" giving him "a kick in the behind".
He went to New York, and played for her on a piano in her dressing room in a Broadway theater. "She said to me 'I like this very much. I'll make the record. Goodbye young man'," he said.
Streisand released a single with Dumont's "Le Mur" sung in French on the A side, and its English version "I've Been Here" on the B side, in 1966.
Dumont's last appearance on stage was in 2019 in Paris.
"When you come back in front of an audience, who come to see you as they came 20, 30 or 40 years ago and give you the same welcome, then they give you back your 20s," he said.

Jon Batiste Crowned Grammys King with Five Wins Including Best Album