The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony took place this weekend, and turned out to be a successful evening for many guitar-based artists, with the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Bonnie Raitt and Edgar Winter all scooping awards.
In an evening dominated by chart-topping pop superstars – including Beyoncé, Harry Styles, Adele, Kendrick Lamar and Lizzo – the guitar got a fair share of high-profile attention from the academy, with Bonnie Raitt beating those previously mentioned to scoop Song of the Year for Just Like That.
Having won one of the most prestigious awards of the night, Raitt then added to her collection with wins in the Best Americana Performance and Best American Roots Song camps for Made Up Mind and Just Like That, respectively.
In response to winning Best Song, Raitt told the crowd, “I’m so surprised I don’t know what to say. This is just an unreal moment. Thank you for honoring me.
“This story was so simple and so beautiful for these times,” she went on, “and people have been responding to the song partly because of how much I loved and we all loved [the late country legend] John Prine, and that was the inspiration for the music for this song. Thank you so much, I’m totally humbled.”
Other heavy hitters from the guitar world to scoop awards at the ceremony include Ozzy Osbourne, whose star-studded, Andrew Watt-produced album Patient Number 9 and single Degradation Rules – which featured his Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi – received wins in the Best Rock Album and Best Metal Performance categories, respectively.
To obtain these two awards, Osbourne managed to fend off competition from Megadeth, Muse, Ghost, Turnstile, Idles, Machine Gun Kelly, The Black Keys and Spoon.
In the rock department, Osbourne was joined by Brandi Carlile, who scooped awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance for Broken Horses. Again, the competition in this camp was fierce, with Carlile – who performed during the night wielding a Gibson Les Paul – beating Beck, The Black Keys, Bryan Adams, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ozzy Osbourne himself.
Carlile also received a win in the Best Americana Album category with In These Silent Days.
Elsewhere, indie rock sensation Wet Leg – whose smash hit single Chaise Longue and viral eponymous album skyrocketed them to stardom over the past two years – followed up their early successes with their first-ever Grammy wins for Best Alternative Music Performance and Best Alternative Music Album with those two efforts.
Wet Leg’s wins were joined in the up-and-coming artist department by a win for Madison Cunningham, who beat Judy Collins, Janis Ian and the Punch Brothers to win Best Folk Album with Revealer.
Other notable guitar-driven acts to win awards at the Grammys 2023 include session favorites Snarky Puppy – whose record Empire Central scooped Best Contemporary Instrumental Album – and blues legend Edgar Winter, who won Best Contemporary Blues Album with Brother Johnny: a tribute album for the late Johnny Winter, for which he recruited a boatload of guitar stars.
Taj Mahal, meanwhile, won Best Traditional Blues Album for Get On Board – his first studio album with Ry Cooder for 57 years – while acoustic guitar virtuoso Molly Tuttle won Best Bluegrass Album for Crooked Tree.
To see a full list of winners, head over to the Grammys website.
