1989 Grammy Award Winners

1989 Grammy Winners

Winners Announced: February 22, 1989
Held at: Radio City Music Hall, New York
Host: Billy Crystal
Eligibility Year: October 1, 1987 – September 30, 1988

Trivia

Billy’s Back: Billy Crystal returned as host, adding his comedic flavor to the music industry’s biggest night.
Jazzy Jodie: Jodie Watley was awarded Best New Artist, marking a successful transition from her dance career to the music world.
George Michael Dominates: Faith by George Michael won Album of the Year and solidified George Michael as a solo artist apart from his Wham! days.
Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car: The hit Fast Car helped Tracy Chapman earn three Grammys, including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Eclectic Mix: The night featured a variety of musical genres, from U2’s rock album The Joshua Tree winning Best Rock Performance to Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry, Be Happy snagging Song of the Year.
Metallica’s Recognition: In a surprising turn, Metallica’s And Justice For All was nominated for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, although it didn’t win. It did mark a mainstream acceptance of heavy metal.
Classical Highlights: Leonard Bernstein won for Best Classical Album, proving that classical music still had a significant presence at the Grammys.
Unforgettable Performances: The night was studded with performances from artists like Anita Baker, who won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Michael Jackson, who took home the award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Bad.

Record of the Year:
Don’t Worry Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin

Album of the Year:
Faith, George Michael (Columbia/CBS)

Song of the Year:
Don’t Worry Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin, songwriter

Best New Artist:
Tracy Chapman

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male:
Don’t Worry Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female:
Fast Car – Tracy Chapman

Best Pop Vocal Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal:
Brasil, Manhattan Transfer

Best Pop Instrumental Performance (Orchestra, Group or Soloist):
Close-up, David Sanborn

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male:
Simply Irresistible – Robert Palmer

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female:
Tina Live in Europe, Tina Turner

Best Rock Instrumental Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal:
Desire – U2

Best Rock Instrumental Performance (Orchestra, Group or Soloist):
Blues for Salvador, Carlos Santana

Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, Vocal or Instrumental:
Crest of a Knave, Jethro Tull

Best Rhythm and Blues Song:
Giving You the Best That I Got – Anita Baker, Skip Scarborough and Randy Holland, songwriters

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Male:
Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby, Terence Trent D’Arby

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Female:
Giving You the Best That I Got – Anita Baker

Best Rhythm and Blues Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal:
Love Overboard – Gladys Knight and the Pips

Best Rhythm and Blues Instrumental Performance (Orchestra, Group or Soloist):
Light Years – Chick Corea

Best Rap Performance:
Parents Just Don’t Understand – D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Male:
Brothers, Bobby McFerrin

Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female:
Look What I Got!, Betty Carter

Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group:
Spread Love – Take 6

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist on a Jazz Recording:
Don’t Try This at Home, Michael Brecker

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group:
Blues for Coltrane, A Tribute to John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, David Murray, Cecil McBee and Roy Haynes

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band:
Bud and Bird, Gil Evans and the Monday Night Orchestra

Best Jazz Fusion Performance:
Politics, Yellowjackets

Best Country Song:
Hold Me – K.T. Oslin, songwriter

Best Country Vocal Performance, Male:
Old 8 × 10, Randy Travis

Best Country Vocal Performance, Female:
Hold Me – K.T. Oslin

Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal:
Give a Little Love – Judds

Best Country Vocal Collaboration:
Crying – Roy Orbison and k.d. lang

Best Country Instrumental Performance (Orchestra, Group or Soloists):
Sugarfoot Rag – Asleep at the Wheel

Best Bluegrass Recording (Vocal or Instrumental):
Southern Flavor, Bill Monroe (MCA)

Best Gospel Performance, Male:
Christmas, Larnelle Harris

Best Gospel Performance, Female:
Lead Me On, Amy Grant

Best Gospel Performance By a Duo or Group, Choir or Chorus:
The Winans Live at Carnegie Hall, Winans

Best Soul Gospel Performance, Male:
Abundant Life – BeBe Winans

Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female:
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, Aretha Franklin

Best Soul Gospel Performance By a Duo or Group, Choir or Chorus:
Take Six, Take 6

Best Latin Pop Performance:
Roberto Carlos, Roberto Carlos

Best Tropical Latin Performance:
Antecedente, Rubén Blades

Best Mexican/American Performance:
Canciones de Mi Padre, Linda Ronstadt

Best Traditional Blues Recording:
Hidden Charms, Willie Dixon (Bug/Capitol)

Best Contemporary Blues Recording:
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark – Robert Cray Band (Mercury)

Best Traditional Folk Recording:
Folkways: A Vision Shared?A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly, various artists (Columbia/CBS)

Best Contemporary Folk Recording:
Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman (Elektra)

Best Reggae Recording:
Conscious Party, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers (Virgin)

Best New Age Performance:
Folksongs for a Nuclear Village, Shadowfax

Best Polka Recording:
Born to Polka, Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra (Starr)

Best Arrangement on an Instrumental:
Memos From Paradise – Roger Kellaway, arranger

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s):
No One Is Alone – Jonathan Tunick, arranger

Best Instrumental Composition:
The Theme From L.A. Law – Mike Post, composer

Best Musical Cast Show Album:
Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim, composer and lyricist (RCA)

Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television:
The Last Emperor, Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne and Cong Su, composers (Virgin)

Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television:
Two Hearts (From the motion picture Buster), Phil Collins and Lamont Dozier, songwriters (Atlantic)

Best Contemporary Composition:
Nixon in China, John Adams, composer

Best Classical Album:
Verdi, Requiem and Operatic Choruses, Robert Shaw conducting Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (Telarc)

Best Orchestral Recording:
Rorem, String Symphony; Sunday Morning, Eagles; Robert Shaw conducting Atlanta Symphony Orchestra: String Symphony, Louis Lane conducting Atlanta Symphony Orchestra: Sunday Morning and Eagles (New World)

Best Chamber Music Performance (Instrumental or Vocal):
Bartók, Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion; Brahms, Variation on a Theme by Joseph Haydn for Two Pianos, Murray Perahia and Sir Georg Solti, pianos; David Corkhill and Evelyn Glennie, percussion

Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (With Orchestra):
Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, Vladimir Horowitz, piano; Giulini conducting LaScala Opera Orchestra

Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (Without Orchestra):
Albéniz, Iberia; Navarra; Suite Espagnola, Alicia de Larrocha

Best Opera Recording:
Wagner, Lohengrin, Sir Georg Solti conducting Vienna State Opera Choir and Vienna Philharmonic; solos: Domingo, Norman, Randova, Nimsgern, Sotin and Fischer-Dieskau (London)

Best Choral Performance (Other Than Opera):
Verdi, Requiem and Operatic Choruses, Robert Shaw conducting Atlanta Symphony Chorus and Orchestra

Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance:
Luciano Pavarotti in Concert, Luciano Pavarotti

Best Comedy Recording:
Good Morning Vietnam, Robin Williams (A&M)

Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording:
Speech by Rev. Jesse Jackson (July 27) – Rev. Jesse Jackson (Arista)

Best Recording for Children:
Pecos Bill, Robin Williams, narrator; Ry Cooder, music (Windham Hill)

Best Album Package:
Tired of Runnin’, Bill Johnson, art director (Columbia/CBS)

Best Album Notes:
Crossroads, Anthony DeCurtis, annotator (Polydor)

Best Historical Album:
Crossroads, Eric Clapton (Polydor)

Best Performance Music Video:
Where the Streets Have No Name – U2

Best Concept Music Video:
Fat – Weird Al Yankovic

Producer of the Year (Non-Classical):
Neil Dorfsman

Classical Producer of the Year:
Robert Woods