1991 Grammy Award Winners

Winners Announced: February 20, 1991
Held at: Radio City Music Hall, New York, New York
Host: Garry Shandling
Eligibility Year: October 1, 1989 – September 30, 1990

Trivia

Garry Returns: This was the second consecutive year that Garry Shandling hosted the Grammy Awards.
Rap’s Big Moment: MC Hammer’s Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em was a commercial success and received nominations, signaling the mainstream acceptance of rap.
Vocal Chops: Mariah Carey won Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, making a huge splash in her debut year.
Classic Acts: The legendary rock band The Byrds received a Lifetime Achievement Award, acknowledging their impact on the music industry.
Jazzy Night: Miles Davis posthumously received a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance for his album Aura.
British Invasion: Phil Collins took home the award for Record of the Year for Another Day in Paradise, highlighting the ongoing British influence on American music charts.
Crossing Genres: Unforgettable… with Love by Natalie Cole was a significant winner, blending R&B, jazz, and pop to create a multi-generational appeal.

1991 Grammy Winners

Record of the Year:
Another Day in Paradise – Phil Collins

Album of the Year:
Back on the Block, Quincy Jones (Qwest/Warner Bros.)

Song of the Year:
From a Distance – Julie Gold, songwriter

Best New Artist:
Mariah Carey

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male:
Oh Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female:
Vision of Love – Mariah Carey

Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal:
All My Life – Linda Ronstadt with Aaron Neville

Best Pop Instrumental Performance:
Twin Peaks Theme – Angelo Badalamenti

Best Rock/Contemporary Gospel Album:
Beyond Belief, Petra (Dayspring/Word)

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male:
Bad Love – Eric Clapton

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female:
Black Velvet – Alannah Myles

Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal:
Janie’s Got a Gun – Aerosmith

Best Rock Instrumental Performance:
D/FW – Vaughan Brothers

Best Hard Rock Performance:
Time’s Up, Living Colour

Best Metal Performance:
Stone Cold Crazy – Metallica

Best Alternative Music Performance:
I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, Sinead O’Connor

Best Rhythm and Blues Song:
U Can’t Touch This – Rick James, Alonzo Miller and M.C. Hammer, songwriters

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Male:
Here and Now – Luther Vandross

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Female:
Compositions, Anita Baker

Best Rhythm and Blues Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal:
I’ll Be Good to You – Ray Charles and Chaka Khan

Best Rap Solo Performance:
U Can’t Touch This – M.C. Hammer

Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group:
Back on the Block – Ice T, Melle Mel, Big Daddy Kane, Kool Moe Dee, Quincy D. III and Quincy Jones

Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Male:
We Are in Love, Harry Connick, Jr.

Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female:
All That Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist:
The Legendary Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Blue Note, Oscar Peterson

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group:
The Legendary Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Blue Note, Oscar Peterson Trio

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band:
Basie’s Bag – George Benson featuring the Count Basie Orchestra

Best Jazz Fusion Performance:
Birdland – Quincy Jones

Best Country Song:
Where’ve You Been – Jon Vezner and Don Henry, songwriters

Best Country Vocal Performance, Male:
When I Call Your Name – Vince Gill

Best Country Vocal Performance, Female:
Where’ve You Been – Kathy Mattea

Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal:
Pickin’ on Nashville, Kentucky Headhunters

Best Country Vocal Collaboration:
Poor Boy Blues – Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler

Best Country Instrumental Performance:
So Soft, Your Goodbye – Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler

Best Bluegrass Recording:
I’ve Got That Old Feeling, Alison Krauss (Rounder)

Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album:
Tramaine Hawkins Live, Tramaine Hawkins (Sparrow Corp.)

Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album:
So Much 2 Say, Take 6 (Reprise/Warner/Alliance)

Best Pop Gospel Album:
Another Time… Another Place, Sandi Patti (A&M/Word)

Best Southern Gospel Album:
The Great Exchange, Bruce Carroll (Word)

Best Gospel Album By a Choir or Chorus:
Having Church, Rev. James Cleveland (Savoy)

Best Latin Pop Performance:
Por Que Te Tengo Que Olvidar? – José Feliciano

Best Tropical Latin Performance:
Lambada Timbales – Tito Puento

Best Mexican/American Performance:
Soy de San Luis – Texas Tornados

Best Traditional Blues Recording:
Live at San Quentin, B.B. King (MCA)

Best Contemporary Blues Recording:
Family Style, Vaughan Brothers (Epic Associated)

Best Traditional Folk Recording:
On Praying Ground, Doc Watson (Sugar Hill)

Best Contemporary Folk Recording:
Steady On, Shawn Colvin (Columbia/CBS)

Best Reggae Recording Time:
Will Tell?A Tribute to Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer (Shanachie)

Best New Age Performance:
Mark Isham, Mark Isham

Best Polka Recording:
When It’s Polka Time at Your House, Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra (Starr)

Best Arrangement on an Instrumental:
Birdland – Quincy Jones, Ian Prince, Rod Temperton and Jerry Hey, arrangers

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s):
The Places You Find Love – Jerry Hey, Glen Ballard, Clif Magness and Quincy Jones, arrangers

Best Instrumental Composition:
Change of Heart Pat Metheny, composer

Best Musical Cast Show Album:
Les Misèrables, The Complete Symphonic Recording (Relativity)

Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television:
Glory, James Horner, composer (Virgin)

Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television:
Under the Sea (From The Little Mermaid), Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, composers

Best Contemporary Composition:
Arias and Barcarolles, Leonard Bernstein, composer

Best Classical Album:
Ives, Symphony No. 2 and Three Short Works, Leonard Bernstein conducting New York Philharmonic (Deutsche Grammophon)

Best Chamber Music or Other Small Ensemble Performance:
Brahms, The Three Violin Sonatas, Itzhak Perlman, violinist; Daniel Barenboim, pianist

Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (With Orchestra):
Shostakovich, Violin Concerto No. 1; Glazunov, Violin Concerto, Itzhak Perlman, violinist; Zubin Mehta conducting Israel Philharmonic

Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (Without Orchestra):
The Last Recording (Chopin, Haydn, Liszt and Wagner), Vladimir Horowitz

Best Opera Recording:
Wagner, Das Rheingold, James Levine conducting The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; solos: Morris, Ludwig, Jerusalem, Wlaschiha, Moll, Zednik and Rootering (Deutsche Grammophon)

Best Choral Performance (Other Than Opera):
Walton, Belshazzar’s Feast; Bernstein, Chichester Psalms, Missa Brevis, Robert Shaw conducting Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

Best Classical Vocal Performance:
Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti in Concert, José Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, tenors; Zubin Mehta conducting Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Orchestra del teatro dell’Opera di Roma

Best Comedy Recording:
P.D.Q. Bach, Oedipus Tex and Other Choral Calamities, Professor Peter Shickele (Telarc)

Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording:
Gracie: A Love Story, George Burns (Simon and Schuster Audio)

Best Recording for Children:
The Little Mermaid?Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, composers (Disneyland Records)

Best Album Package:
Days of Open Hand (Special Edition Hologram Digapack), Len Peltier, Jeffrey Gold and Suzanne Vega, art directors (A&M)

Best Album Notes:
Brownie: The Complete Emarcy Recordings of Clifford Brown, Dan Morgenstern, annotator (Emarcy)

Best Historical Album:
Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings, Robert Johnson (Columbia/CBS)

Best Music Video, Short Form:
Opposites Attract – Paula Abdul

Best Music Video, Long Form:
Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em the Movie – M.C. Hammer

Producer of the Year (Non-Classical):
Quincy Jones

Classical Producer of the Year:
Adam Stern