1990 Grammy Award Winners

Winners Announced: February 21, 1990
Held at: Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Host: Garry Shandling
Eligibility Year: October 1, 1988 – September 30, 1989

Trivia

Bette’s Big Win: Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings” won both Record of the Year and Song of the Year, becoming one of the most iconic songs of her career.
Rap Debut: This was the first year that the Grammys introduced the Best Rap Performance category, won by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince for “Parents Just Don’t Understand.”
Elevating Jazz: Miles Davis won a Lifetime Achievement Award, further cementing his status as a jazz legend.
Operatic Excellence: The Best Classical Album went to an operatic recording, Wagner: Die Walküre, conducted by James Levine with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
International Flavor: The Gipsy Kings, a Franco-Spanish flamenco group, won Best World Music Album, a nod to the increasing diversity of the Grammys.
Bonnie’s Blues: Bonnie Raitt had a stellar night, taking home four awards including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her song “Nick of Time.”
Posthumous Honor: Composer Leonard Bernstein, who passed away in 1990, was honored with a posthumous Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

1990 Grammy Winners

Record of the Year:
Wind Beneath My Wings – Bette Midler

Album of the Year:
Nick of Time, Bonnie Raitt (Capitol)

Song of the Year:
Wind Beneath My Wings – Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar, songwriters

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male:
How Am I Supposed to Live Without You – Michael Bolton

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female:
Nick of Time – Bonnie Raitt

Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal:
Don’t Know Much – Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville

Best Pop Instrumental Performance:
Healing Chant – Neville Brothers

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male:
The End of the Innocence, Don Henley

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female:
Nick of Time, Bonnie Raitt

Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal:
Traveling Wilburys Volume One, Traveling Wilburys

Best Rock Instrumental Performance:
Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop With Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas, Jeff Beck, Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas

Best Hard Rock Performance:
Cult of Personality – Living Colour

Best Metal Performance:
One – Metallica

Best Rhythm and Blues Song:
If You Don’t Know Me by Now – Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, songwriters

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Male:
Every Little Step – Bobby Brown

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:
Back to Life – Soul II Soul featuring Caron Wheeler

Best Rhythm and Blues Instrumental Performance:
African Dance – Soul II Soul

Best Rap Performance:
Bust a Move – Young MC

Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Male:
When Harry Met Sally, Harry Connick, Jr.

Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female:
Blues on Broadway, Ruth Brown

Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group:
Makin’ Whoopee – Dr. John and Rickie Lee Jones

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist:
on a Jazz Recording Aura, Miles Davis (Columbia/CBS)

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group:
Chick Corea Akoustic Band, Chick Corea Akoustic Band

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band:
Aura, Miles Davis

Best Jazz Fusion Performance:
Letter From Home, Pat Metheny Group

Best Country Song:
After All This Time – Rodney Crowell, songwriter

Best Country Vocal Performance, Male:
Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, Lyle Lovett

Best Country Vocal Performance, Female:
Absolute Torch and Twang, k.d. lang

Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal:
Will the Circle Be Unbroken Volume Two, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Best Country Vocal Collaboration:
There’s a Tear in My Beer – Hank Williams, Jr. and Hank Williams, Sr.

Best Country Instrumental Performance:
Amazing Grace – Randy Scruggs

Best Bluegrass Recording:
The Valley Road – Bruce Hornsby and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (Universal)

Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male:
Meantime – BeBe Winans

Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Female:
Don’t Cry – CeCe Winans

Best Gospel Vocal Performance By a Duo or Group, Choir or Chorus:
The Savior Is Waiting – Take 6

Best Soul Gospel Vocal Performance, Male or Female:
As Long as We’re Together – Al Green

Best Soul Gospel Vocal Performance By a Duo or Group, Choir or Chorus:
Let Brotherly Love Continue – Daniel Winans and Choir

Best Latin Pop Performance:
Cielito Lindo – José Feliciano

Best Tropical Latin Performance:
Ritmo en el Corazon, Celia Cruz and Ray Barretto

Best Mexican/American Performance:
La Pistola y el Corazon, Los Lobos

Best Traditional Blues Recording:
I’m in the Mood – John Lee Hooker and Bonnie Raitt (Chameleon Music Group)

Best Contemporary Blues Recording:
In Step, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (Epic)

Best Traditional Folk Recording:
Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Vol. II, Bulgarian State Female Vocal Choir (Elektra/Nonesuch)

Best Contemporary Folk Recording:
Indigo Girls, Indigo Girls (Epic)

Best Reggae Recording:
One Bright Day, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers (Virgin)

Best New Age Performance:
Passion (Music from The Last Temptation of Christ), Peter Gabriel

Best Polka Recording:
All in My Love for You, Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra (Starr)

Best Arrangement on an Instrumental:
Suite From The Milagro Beanfield War – Dave Grusin, arranger

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s):
My Funny Valentine – Dave Grusin, arranger

Best Instrumental Composition:
The Batman Theme – Danny Elfman, composer

Best Musical Cast Show Album:
Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Jason Alexander, Debbie Shapiro and Robert La Fasse (RCA Victor)

Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television:
The Fabulous Baker Boys, Dave Grusin, composer (GRP)

Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television:
Let the River Run (From the motion picture Working Girl), Carly Simon, composer (Arista)

Best Contemporary Composition:
Different Trains, Steve Reich, composer

Best Classical Album:
Bartók, 6 String Quartets, Emerson String Quartet (Deutsche Grammophon)

Best Orchestral Performance:
Mahler, Symphony No. 3 in D Minor, Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic

Best Chamber Music Performance:
Bartók, 6 String Quartets, Emerson String Quartet

Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (With Orchestra):
Barber, Cello Concerto, Op. 22; Britten, Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68, Yo-Yo Ma, cellist; David Zinman conducting Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (Without Orchestra):
Bach, English Suites, BMV 806-11, Andras Schiff, pianist

Best Opera Recording:
Wagner, Die Walkuere, James Levine conducting Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; solos: Lakes, Moll, Morris, Norman, Behrens and Ludwig (Deutsche Grammophon)

Best Choral Performance (Other Than Opera):
Britten, War Requiem, Robert Shaw conducting Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and Atlanta Boys Choir

Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance:
Knoxville, Summer of 1915 (Music of Barber, Menott, Harbison and Stravinsky), Dawn Upshaw, soprano; David Zinman conducting Orchestra of St. Luke’s

Best Comedy Recording:
P.D.Q. Bach, 1712 Overture and Other Musical Assaults, Professor Peter Schickele (Telarc)

Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording:
It’s Always Something, Gilda Radner (Simon and Schuster Audio)

Best Recording for Children:
The Rock-a-Bye Collection Vol. I, Tanya Goodman (Jaba)

Best Album Package:
Sound + Vision, Roger Gorman, art director (Rykodisc)

Best Album Notes:
Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve, Phil Schaap, annotator (Verve)

Best Historical Album:
Chuck Berry – The Chess Box, Chuck Berry (Chess/MCA)

Best Music Video, Short Form:
Leave Me Alone – Michael Jackson

Best Music Video, Long Form:
Rhythm Nation 1814 – Janet Jackson

Producer of the Year (Non-Classical):
Peter Asher

Classical Producer of the Year:
Robert Woods