DFW artists did very well in the Grammy nominations. But did any of them win awards?
Dallas-Fort Worth artists racked up a lot of Grammy Award nominations when the nominees were announced in December, but didn’t do so well when it came to the actual awards.
Arlington-bred Maren Morris, who was up for five awards, and former Grapevine resident Post Malone, up for four, went home empty-handed, although both were featured in performances during the show
Fort Worth’s Leon Bridges fared better: In a rare tie, Bridges shared a Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance. Bridges’ “Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand” split the award with “How Deep is Your Love” by PJ Morton featuring Yebba. Bridges’ second album, “Good Thing,” was nominated for Best R&B Album, but lost out to H.E.R. and its self-titled album.
Kirk Franklin, whose background includes Fort Worth and Arlington, won Best Gospel Performance/Song for “Never Alone,” a collaboration with Tori Kelly, who shared in the award.
Another winner was Dallas’ Annie Clark, better-known as St. Vincent, and co-writer Jack Antonoff won Best Rock Song for “Masseduction,” the title track from her 2018 album. The album was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album but lost to “Colors” by Beck.
One of the night’s big winners is from East Texas: Kacey Musgraves, who hails from Mineola, about 85 miles east of Dallas, won Album of the Year for her critically acclaimed “Golden Hour,” which also won Best Country Album. Musgraves also won Best Country Solo Performance for “Butterflies,” the lead single from the album; and Best Country Song for “Space Cowboy,” which she co-wrote with Luke Laird and Shane McAnally.
Other artists with North Texas backgrounds, including Demi Lovato (Colleyville) and Kelly Clarkson (Burleson) were nominated for Grammys but didn’t win. The Dallas Winds, which received two nominations for “John Williams at the Movies,” and “Heggie: Great Scott,” by composer Jake Heggie and liberettist Terrence McNally and featuring the Dallas Opera Choruws and Orchestra, which also received two nominations, also wound up without wins.
Morris was featured in a Dolly Parton tribute, during which she performed Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush” with Parton and Miley Cyrus (Parton had previously recorded the song with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris for the “Trio II” album, released in 1999).
Post Malone’s collaboration with the Red Hot Chili Peppers received mixed reviews. Rolling Stone, noting the massive success of Malone’s hits “Rockstar” and “Stay,” wrote: “For some reason, he need to spend most of his performances joining Red Hot Chili Peppers for “Dark Necessities” ... [strapping] on a Telecaster to join the Chilis for a song that few remember. .. it just made you wonder [whether[ 2018 VMAs Aerosmith collaborator Post, now one of the biggest artists in the world, needs to keep performing with tired rock acts during his award-show slots.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2019 at 12:25 PM.
