Hill Makes History With 5 Wins

From The Times: Thursday, February 25, 1999

On a Grammy night when the female voice reigned, none was stronger or more honored than that of Lauryn Hill, who took album of the year and best new artist honors for her celebrated alchemy of old-school R&B and hip-hop.

Hill's triumphant showing at the 41st annual Grammys, the music industry's top honor, saw her win five awards, a record for a female artist, and capture the first album of the year honors for a hip-hop project, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."

"This is so amazing," she mused from the stage at the Shrine Auditorium. "This is crazy because this is hip-hop music."

The 23-year-old New Jersey singer performed "To Zion," a heartfelt ode to her son, and stole the show on a night that also featured subplots of redemption for Madonna and the continuing dominance of music from the film "Titanic."

Madonna came into the night with 16 years of hits and only one Grammy--the 1991 award for best video--but left with three more. The 40-year-old's audacious explorations of sexuality in her music and image had never won over the traditionally staid voters in the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

That changed this year, however, with "Ray of Light," her biggest commercial and critical success of the 1990s. She won best pop album for "Ray of Light," and best dance recording and short form music video for the title track. For "Titanic," however, it was business as usual. The song "My Heart Will Go On" from the blockbuster soundtrack, an Oscar winner last year, was named record of the year, song of the year and won the best female vocal award for Canadian diva Celine Dion. It also won for song written for motion picture or television.

This year's nominations were dominated by women in unprecedented fashion, including a complete sweep of the album of the year category and four of five nominees for record of the year.

Alanis Morissette won two awards, best rock song and female rock vocal for "Uninvited," while Sheryl Crow's "The Globe Sessions" took the Grammy for best rock album. The Dixie Chicks won two awards in the country categories, a total matched by country phenom Shania Twain.

Even Vince Gill, who won for best male country vocal, commented on the woman power at the event. "In my whole career and life, I have to say that most of my heroes have always been women," Gill said backstage. "All of my favorite singers have been women." Among those heroes? Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. "Women are getting their due now because they're making great records."

For Crow, accepting the award for best rock album also provided an opportunity for a brief industry eulogy: She noted the passing of A&M Records, the famed Los Angeles-based label that was gutted last month in a massive corporate downsizing. She thanked A&M executives Al Cafaro and David Anderle and, in a cracking voice, praised the pioneering independent label for its history of guiding careers.

"I was at a party last night and I overheard someone say, 'God, she's gotten so much better,' " Crow said, "and I have to look at the label as letting me develop as an artist from the ground up."

The upset of the night seemed to come in the country album category: Twain's glossy, rock-inflected "Come On Over" was passed over by Grammy voters in favor of the more tradition-bound Dixie Chicks and their "Wide Open Spaces."

That loss early in the show was telling: Twain, whose sexy image and pop stylings have at times put her at odds with the Nashville establishment, was nominated in six categories but settled for just two awards, best country song and best female country vocal performance.

Twain said the true victory was her success with fans and the more than 6.8 million copies sold of the smash album. "I'm happy with my record sales," she said to the press backstage. "I'm the biggest seller. Every one of those records [sold] is the award for me."