While the 61st annual Grammy Awards honored many prominent celebrities, some notable Michiganders also left the Grammy Awards victorious on Sunday.
Michigan band Greta Van Fleet won Best Rock Album for “From the Fires,” despite being nominated in a competitive field. The nominees for Best Rock Album included heavyweights Alice in Chains, Fall Out Boy and Weezer. Members Josh Kiszka, Jake Kiszka, Sam Kiszka and drummer Danny Wagner formed the band in Frankenmuth, Michigan in 2012.
A singer for Mack Avenue Records, a record label based in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., also won a Grammy. Mack’s artist, Cecile McLorin Salvant, won Best Jazz Vocal Album for “The Window.” This is fitting, as Mack Avenue Records specializes in jazz and similar music and is a sponsor of the Detroit Jazz Festival, to which Mack Avenue Records founder Gretchen Carhartt Valade donated $15 million in 2006.
While this is Greta Van Fleet’s first Grammy award, Mack Avenue Records has boasted previous awards from its slate of recording artists, including Stanley Clarke, Alfredo Rodríguez, Jimmy Greene, Kirk Whalum and Christian McBride.
Other notable award recipients at this year’s Grammy Awards include Childish Gambino, who won record and song of the year for “This is America,” despite not attending the awards show; Dua Lipa, who won Best New Artist; and Kacey Musgraves, who won Album of the Year for “Golden Hour.”
Critics have said this year’s Grammy Awards highlighted female artists, with wins by Cardi B, who is the first woman to win Best Rap Album, Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa and Kacey Musgraves. This comes after the past few years in which the Grammy Awards received harsh criticism over its lack of diversity.