Gimme a 'G', gimme an 'R', gimme an 'A', 'M', 'M', 'Y'.. WHAT’S THAT SPELL? GRAMMY!

Well, the Super Bowl is over for another year.  Congrats to the Ravens.  Next up are the 2013 Grammy Awards on Sunday.  Will Taylor Swift snag a new boyfriend at this years’ ceremony?  Will the ultimate break up of that relationship result in a Grammy nominated song next year?  Of course, it will.  Will Chris Brown try and thump Frank Ocean again like Frank says he did at an LA recording studio last week?  Will Will. I. Am. even be there?  You’ll have to tune in on Sunday to find out.  But for now, let’s see how many Grammy Award questions you can answer correctly.  Since not everyone’s into awards, we’ve made these questions multiple choice, so you have a one in three shot at getting it right.   

QUESTIONS:

1.  Prior to the 1983 Grammy Awards, held in Los Angeles on February 28^th, 1984, Michael Jackson had only ever won one Grammy.  That was an R&B statue for 1979’s “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough”, but the ‘83 awards came after “Thriller’ had been released, so the question is: How many Grammy Awards did Michael Jackson personally win that night: a. six b. seven or c. eight? 

                                                                                                                        

2.  Directors Mel Brooks (“The Producers”, “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein”) and Mike Nichols (“The Graduate”, “The Bird Cage” and “Charlie Wilson’s War”) have both won ‘Spoken Word’ Grammy Awards.  Which CBS newsman has also won a Grammy? Is it: a. Walter Cronkite b. Charles Kuralt or c. Eric Sevareid?  

         

3.  This year, Bruce Springsteen is nominated in the ‘Best Rock Album’ category along with Coldplay, The Black Keys, Muse and Jack White.  He’s also nominated in the ‘Best Rock Song’ category for “We Can Take Care of Our Own”.  How many Grammy Awards has Bruce Springsteen won over the years?  Is it: a. sixteen b. eighteen or c. twenty?

4.  Music sensation Taylor Swift, who hooks up with boyfriends, then breaks up rather quickly, then writes a hit song about the break up, has won 6, count ‘em 6, Grammy Awards so far.  This year, she’s nominated in 3 categories.  In what year did Taylor Swift receive her first Grammy?    a. 2008 b. 2009 or c. 2010?   

5.  Kim Kardashian’s baby daddy (and current boyfriend) Kanye West is nominated this year for 6 Grammy Awards.  He’s also done pretty well for himself at previous Grammy ceremonies.  So exactly how many Grammy Awards has Kanye previously won?  Is it:  a. twelve b. fifteen or c. eighteen?

ANSWERS

1.  That would be c. eight.  Michael won for ‘Album of the Year’ (“Thriller”); ‘Record of the Year’ (“Beat It”); ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male’ (“Thriller”); ‘Best Rock Performance, Male’ (“Beat It”);HH ‘Best Rhythm & Blues Song’ (“Billie Jean”); ‘Best Best Rhythm & Blues Performance, Male’ (“Billie Jean”); ‘Best Recording For Children’ (“ET: The Extra-Terrestrial” that Michael narrated; ‘Producer of the Year, Non Classical’.  Michael shared that award with Quincy Jones, James Anthony Carmichael and Lionel Richie.  “Thriller” also won ‘Best Engineered Recording, Non Classical’ for Bruce Swedien.  
                               

2.  Charles Kuralt won a Grammy for “Charles Kuralt’s Spring” in 1998 (for recordings released in 1997) so the correct answer was b. although both Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid were nominated, Cronkie for 1971 and Sevareid for ’74.  Charles Kuralt hosted “CBS News Sunday Mornings” for fifteen years.  Prior to that, he was a featured reporter on the “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite” with ‘On The Road’ stories of human interest from across America.  Kuralt died in 1997 at the age of 62.        

3.  Bruce has walked to the winners’ podium many times.  So far, he’s won 20 Grammy Awards, so if you guessed c. you are correct.  Bruce’s first Grammy came in 1984 for “Dancing In The Dark”.  That won ‘Best Rock Performance, Male’.  His last one (at least until maybe this weekend) was in 2009 when Bruce won ‘Best Solo Rock Performance’ for “Working On A Dream”.    

4.  The correct answer is a. 2009.  Taylor Swift won her first Grammy Award in 2009.  In fact, that year, she won four awards, ‘ Best Country Album’ and ‘Album of the Year’ for “Fearless”, plus ‘Best Country Song’ and ‘Best Female Country Vocal Performance’ for the song “White Horse”.  In 2001, Taylor won 2 more – ‘Best Country Song’ and ‘Best Country Solo Performance for the song “Mean”.  This year, she’s nominated for 3 Grammy Awards – ‘Record of the Year’ for “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” as well as ‘Best Country Duo/Group Performance’ along with ‘Best Song Written For Visual Media’ for “Safe & Sound” from “The Hunger Games”.              

5.  Boy, that Kanye’s been a busy boy.  In total, his Grammy award collection totals 18, so c. would be correct.  In 2004, his first win year, he took home 3 Grammy statues for ‘Best Rap Album’, ‘Best Rap Song’ and ‘Best R&B Song’.  The following year, 2005, he won 3 more.  In 2007, 4 more Grammy statues went into the trunk of his ride.  There were 2 more in 2008, an additional 2 in 2009, then in 2011, 4 more Grammy Awards went the way of Kanye.