The 2011 Grammy winners had a clear frontrunner. However, the 2011 Grammy winners leader wasn’t Eminem, or Lady Gaga. It was another group of ladies that came out ahead, just as they have on the country music scene all year. Lady Antebellum has already cleaned up on the country music award circuit, with “Need You Now.” But their power transcended their genre last night, as they easily led the 2011 Grammy winners with five trophies – although they fell short of a sixth.
Lady Antebellum predictably won the major country prizes, as “Need You Now” was the Best Country Album, and the title track was the Best Country Song and the Best Country Duo/Group Performance. But their two biggest victories would come near the end of the night.
Most thought that the winners list would be capped off with big wins for either Eminem, Lady Gaga, Miranda Lambert or Cee Lo Green. Instead, “Need You Now” snuck up on “Love The Way You Lie” and “F*** You” to win Song of the Year. For good measure, it beat them again for Record Of The Year as well.
With these two victories, Lady Antebellum set the bar for the night with five trophies. They have topped a few country music award shows before, but this performance raised more eyebrows. Artists and groups from other genres had more buzz going in, yet Lady Antebellum won out over them all.
But although they led the 2011 Grammy winners, their lead could have been more decisive. In between their victories for Song and Record of the Year, they were among the upset victims for Album of the Year. In that case, Arcade Fire surprised everyone with their triumph for “The Suburbs.”
However, it didn’t take away from Lady Antebellum’s victories, as they hailed it as a triumph for country music. Eminem, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and more were expected to be the headliners, but they and their seemingly hotter genres played second fiddle.
The group’s place as the big winners mainly came from the “Need You Now” title track. Yet afterward, they confessed backstage that it seemed like nothing special when they wrote it. But to the voters, it was certainly special enough – and set the bar high for the group’s next record, which they said was halfway done.
While Lady Gaga may have been the headlining Lady to start the night, a whole collection of ladies defined the 2011 Grammy winners – and they didn’t need to come in with a giant egg first.
Sources
Grammy.com- “Nominees And Winners”
Access Hollywood- “Lady Antebellum Feels ‘Blessed’ Over Five Grammy Wins”
