UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP’S FAMILY OF ARTISTS, SONGWRITERS, LABELS AND DISTRIBUTED PARTNERS WIDELY RECOGNIZED ACROSS GENRES AT THE 65TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS
Kendrick Lamar Won Best Rap Album for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers and Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for “The Heart Part 5”
Samara Joy Named Best New Artist
Universal Music Publishing artist Tobias Jesso Jr. wins first-ever Grammy for Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical
Santa Monica, Feb. 5, 2023 — Universal Music Group, the world leader in music-based entertainment, and its family of artists, labels and distributed partners were widely recognized at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, with Samara Joy named Best New Artist and Kendrick Lamar winning three Grammys including Best Rap Album for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.
Kendrick Lamar (pgLang/TDE/Aftermath/Interscope) additionally won Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for “The Heart Part 5” and Samara Joy (Verve) also won Best Jazz Vocal Album for Linger Awhile. Sam Smith (Capitol) and Kim Petras (Republic) won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Unholy.” Petras made history as the first female transgender artist to win the category.
Universal Music Publishing Group songwriters won the Best Rock Song, Best Rap Song, Best R&B Song categories, among others, and Tobias Jesso Jr. won the first-ever Grammy for Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical.
Dr. Dre (Interscope/Aftermath) was awarded The Recording Academy Global Impact Award, which going forward will be named after the pioneering artist, producer, founder, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment.
Drake (Republic) won Best Melodic Rap Performance for his role in Future’s “WAIT FOR U,” featuring Tems. Robert Glasper (Concord) won Best R&B Album for Black Radio III and Muni Long (Def Jam Recordings) won Best R&B Performance for “HRS & HRS.”
Madison Cunningham (Verve Forecast) won Best Folk Album for Revealer. Brandi Carlile’s “Broken Horses” won Best Rock Song and “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” by Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde (BMLG) won Best Country Duo/Group Performance. “Bayethe” by Wouter Kellerman, Zakes Bantwini and Nomcebo Zikode (Universal Music South Africa) won Best Global Music Performance
Disney’s Encanto won Grammys for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media and Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Includes Film and Television), and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” by Lin-Manuel Miranda, won Best Song Written for Visual Media. In addition, Into The Woods (2022 Broadway Cast Recording) (Craft Recordings) won Best Musical Theater Album. Taylor Swift (Republic) won Best Music Video for “All Too Well: The Short Film.”
In the Gospel category, “Kingdom” by Maverick City Music and Kirk Franklin, won Best Gospel Performance/Song and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for “Fear is Not My Future.”
In the classical field, Letters For The Future by Time for Three, Xian Zhang, conductor, The Philadelphia Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon) won Best Classical Instrumental Solo. Voice of Nature – The Anthropocene, Renée Fleming, soloist, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, pianist (Decca Classics) won Best Classical Solo Vocal Album and Contact by Kevin Puts, composer (Deutsche Grammophon), won Best Contemporary Classical Composition.
About Universal Music Group
At Universal Music Group, we exist to shape culture through the power of artistry. UMG is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audiovisual content. Featuring the most comprehensive catalogue of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms, and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. For more information, visit www.universalmusic.com.