Big victory for Ray Charles

The swan song of the late Ray Charles, an album of duets called "Genius Loves Company," brought him a posthumous bounty at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night, including the first trophies for album and record of the year in his long and illustrious career.

The album not only will send six Grammys to the estate of Charles but also had wins in two technical fields and an instrumental arrangement award, bringing its total to a record nine Grammys. That surpassed Santana's "Supernatural" in 1999 and Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in 1983, which each scored eight trophies.

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FOR THE RECORD:
Grammy facts —An article in Monday's Section A about the Grammy Awards said Ray Charles' album "Genius Loves Company" had generated a record nine awards, beating the eight won in previous years by two other albums. A correction Tuesday said the album had tied the record, equaling the nine won by Santana's "Supernatural" in 1999. In fact, "Genius Loves Company" won eight Grammys, so "Supernatural" still holds the record.

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Charles, who died in June in Los Angeles at age 73, devoted the final months of his life to two projects that have become powerful career signatures: the album honored at the Staples Center ceremony, and the film "Ray," the biopic that is nominated for best picture honors at the coming Academy Awards.

"I'll simply say it again, humbly, we accept this wonderful, wonderful award, and we offer humongous thanks to you individually and collectively from the bottom of our hearts," Joe Adams, the singer's longtime manager, said in accepting the album of the year award at the conclusion of the Grammy ceremonies, broadcast nationally on CBS.

Charles joined John Lennon as a posthumous winner of the best album Grammy. The former Beatle's name was called for "Double Fantasy," his 1980 collection with Yoko Ono.

"Genius Loves Company" features Charles performing with Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Johnny Mathis, Willie Nelson and a gallery of other stars who trekked to his Los Angeles studio to record the platinum-selling collection that is peppered with standards and familiar hits.

One of those classics, a rendition of "Here We Go Again" by Charles and young chanteuse Norah Jones, won in the prestigious best record category, which names the best single recording of the year. As she walked to the stage to accept the gramophone statuette, the voice of her late collaborator was piped into the arena. "Ah, listen to that," Jones said.

For Jones, it was the second record of the year award in three years — she won for the ubiquitous gossamer hit "Don't Know Why" two years ago.

Other top winners of the awards handed out by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences included Alicia Keys, who followed up on the powerful showing for her 2001 debut album (she won five Grammys that year) by taking four trophies this time. Her "The Diary of Alicia Keys" won best R&B album and "You Don't Know My Name" took honors as best R&B song.

Friends and fellow stars of the urban music renaissance, Kanye West and Usher, each won three awards. West, who won best rap album for his CD "The College Dropout," had perhaps the most dramatic microphone moments as he intensely charted his path from a serious car crash in October 2002 to the present day.

"When I had my accident, I found out at that moment that nothing in life is promised except death," West said. He went on to give "thanks to the fans, thanks to the accident, thanks to God."

Poking fun at his own reputation for intense competitiveness and recent reports of backstage grousing at other award shows, West told the crowd he knew some people were wondering if he would be "wilding out" if he went home empty-handed. He held aloft his new gleaming piece of celebrity hardware and said, "I guess we'll never know."

The story line of the night, though, was soul man Charles. He added six Grammys to his previous lifetime total of 12. (His album and music from it also won three other awards Sunday that will not be engraved with his name; the victories were in categories that awarded supporting musicians and technical crew.)