The British singer Sam Smith was the star of the night, with four awards, including record of the year for “Stay With Me.””, Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story Share This Page Continue reading the main story
LOS ANGELES — The 57th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday were a mixture of old songs, new faces and upsets, as Sam Smith, a 22-year-old British singer barely known to American audiences a year ago, won three of the top four prizes, and Beck became the dark-horse victor of album of the year.
Mr. Smith took best new artist as well as both record and song of the year for “Stay With Me,” a moody, lovelorn ballad that became a smash on pop radio stations.
“I want to thank the man who this record is about,” Mr. Smith said when accepting the prize for record of the year. “Thank you so much for breaking my heart, ’cause you got me four Grammys.”
Besides those awards, Mr. Smith also won best vocal album, for “In the Lonely Hour,” one of last year’s biggest hits. The record of the year prize is for the recording of a single song, while song of the year is for songwriters.
Beck’s win, for “Morning Phase,” was a classic Grammy surprise, as the awards’ voters chose a modest-selling but critically admired album in a rock context over bigger pop hits. Among its competitors were Mr. Smith’s “In the Lonely Hour”; Beyoncé’s self-titled, multimedia album; and Ed Sheeran’s “x,” a hit around the world on streaming services like Spotify. Held at the Staples Center here, the show was broadcast by CBS.
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This year, lifetime achievement awards went to the Bee Gees, George Harrison, the classical conductor and composer Pierre Boulez, the blues guitarist Buddy Guy and Flaco Jiménez.
The awards are given for recordings released from Oct. 1, 2013, to Sept. 30, 2014, and voted on by thousands of members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
As the music business has changed, an act’s path from the bedroom studio to the top of the charts has grown shorter and often passes through all kinds of new technologies. The quirky vocal group Pentatonix has reflected that change, starting with YouTube and culminating in one of last year’s top-selling albums, and on Sunday the group won best instrumental or a cappella arrangement for its track “Daft Punk.”
“We recorded this in a bedroom closet; we filmed it in a kitchen,” said Scott Hoying, 23, one of that group’s members, “and now we’re Grammy winners.”
A version of this article appears in print on February 9, 2015, on page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Voices Fresh and Familiar At the Grammy Awards . Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
