We’re just over an hour away until showtime, but we’ve already got plenty of news from this year’s Grammy Awards thanks to the pre-show. Winners have already been announced in many categories, including Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (A Great Big World featuring Christina Aguilera for “Say Something”), Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album (Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, Cheek to Cheek), Best Dance/Electronic Album (Aphex Twin, Syro), Best Country Solo Performance (Carrie Underwood, “Something in the Water”), Best Country Song (Glen Campbell, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”), Best Music Video (Pharrell Williams, “Happy”) and Best Music Film (20 Feet From Stardom).
Paste writer Roman Gokhman is on the ground at the Staples Center, where he’ll be providing live updates from the press room. Be sure to check back here throughout the ceremony for real-time results and reactions from the winners.
11:58 p.m.: Sam Smith, backstage, when asked how his wins will affect his future work: “It’s going to affect it in the most wonderful ways possible! I will be able to look at my awards as I write and remember this happiness.”
11:24 p.m.: Tonight Juanes became the first musician to perform in Spanish at the Grammys. “It was such a big moment. It proves the Academy gives respect to our culture. I feel so blessed that I performed. That’s my award.”
11:07 p.m.: Record of the Year goes to Sam Smith for “Stay With Me.”
11:03 p.m.: Dwight Yoakam in the press room on how Brandy Clark’s music fits into country landscape: “Her music fits perfectly in the landscape. It’s born of traditional structure and melody. It’s not retro but stays in corners of tradition and melodic structure.”
10:53 p.m.: “Stay With Me” wins Song of the Year.
10:40 p.m.: Album of the Year goes to Beck for Morning Phase.
10:07 p.m.: Paste’s Roman Gokhman attended rehearsals yesterday and says that Stevie Wonder cameo was not rehearsed and was a surprise.
9:32 p.m.: Best Country Album goes to Miranda Lambert for Platinum.
9:21 p.m.: Back in the press room, A Great Big World (who won Best Pop Performance by a Duo/Group for “Say Something”) reveal Christina Aguilera only needed three takes to record her part.
9:03 p.m.: Beyonce and Jay Z take home Best R&B Performance for “Drunk in Love”
8:54 p.m.: Best Rock Album goes to Beck for Morning Phase.
8:45 p.m.: Kanye West hits the stage to perform “Only One.”
8:37 p.m.: Best Pop Vocal Album goes to Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour.
8:25 p.m.: Best Pop Solo Performance goes to Pharrell Williams for “Happy.”
8:21 p.m.: Tom Jones and Jessie J duet on “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” for some reason.
8:13 p.m.: Weird Al telling the press room about his songwriting: “99 percent of my ideas are really bad! But if I can find one that works, I’m happy.”
8:09: Best New Artist goes to Sam Smith.
8:00 p.m.: And it’s showtime! AC/DC opens the telecast.
7:59 p.m.: Hunter Hayes, who hosted the pre-ceremony, says he was terrified of this, his first hosting gig of any kind, but would do it again tomorrow and hopes to do it again.
7:38 p.m.: Rosanne Cash tells the press room visiting Robert Johnson’s grave and William Faulkner’s house helped her with inspiration for her album.
7:35 p.m.: Pentatonix on their success in recent months and their win: “It’s been a snowball ever since ‘Daft Punk.’”
7:07 p.m.: Best Folk Album goes to Old Crow Medicine Show for Remedy. Best Spoken Word Album goes to Joan Rivers for Diary of a Mad Diva, and Weird Al’s Mandatory Fun wins Best Comedy Album. Max Martin wins Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.
7:05 p.m.: Rosanne Cash has won Best Americana Album for The River & The Thread as well as Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song for “A Feather’s Not A Bird.”
6:55 pm.: A few more winners to update you with: Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer take home Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Bass & Mandolin, Jack White wins Best Rock Performance for “Lazaretto,” Tenacious D takes home Best Metal Performance for “The Last in Line,” Paramore’s “Ain’t It Fun” takes home Best Rock Song, St. Vincent’s self-titled album wins Best Alternative Music Album, Best R&B Song goes to Beyonce’s “Drunk in Love,” Best Urban Contemporary Album goes to Pharrell Williams for Girl, Kendrick Lamar wins Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for “I” and Eminem takes home Best Rap Album for The Marshall Mathers LP2.
6:45 p.m.: “Let It Go” songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez: “”We were just trying to make the movie work.” “We were solving a puzzle. We wanted to get a character from point a to point b.” “We called it ‘Elsa’s Badass Song.’” They also revealed the song was based on their own fears from childhood about having to be perfect.
6:07 p.m.: Clean Bandit (winner of Best Dance Recording): “We were hoping for Best Tropical Latin Album, but this is fine.”
5:02 p.m.: Tiesto (who won for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical) in the press room: “EDM is getting more popular, but it’s not as popular on the radio yet. It’s going to stay that way for a while.”
4:54 p.m.: Best World Music Album winner Angelique Kidjo on whether she is interested in crossing over into pop, like other western African artists: “For me it’s about inspiration. For some people the stage is hell on earth, and for me it’s heaven. There are certain sounds in American pop that are unusual for African musicians, but it is possible.”
4:38 p.m.: Best Regional Roots Music Album winner Jo-el Sonnier sings for the press pool. “Winning is life itself, music itself. I was born in the South, the heart and soul of French Cajun.”
4:34 p.m.: Best New Age Album winner Ricky Kej, in the press room: “No matter how old [new age music] is, there’s always new ways to interpret it.”
3:08 p.m.: We caught up with Eric Church (nominated for Best Country Album, Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance) before the ceremony.
On being nominated:
“For me, it’s always the album [category] that means the most because that is what I take the most pride in. That being said, any Grammy Award is the holy grail for a musician. If you are one, you want one. So do I.”
On the future of country music:
“I see country music becoming more roots-oriented over the next cycle. I know everyone thinks it’s gonna be EDM or urban influences that drive us, but I doubt that’s true. The heart of country music beats in Americana today anyway.”
On Metallica:
“Their music was dangerous. When you are a teenager, that is so appealing. What I learned as I matured as a musician though was just how talented they were as a band. They were the pioneers of an entire genre of music and changed a lot…I do believe I am not chained right now to any specific style or genre. That’s the ultimate freedom as an artist and is frankly something I’m most proud of in our career. I have no clue where we go next and that is very exciting to me.”