The Complete List of 2016 GRAMMY Winners

Another year has come and gone and we now find ourselves in that familiar position of either feeling validated in our belief that the GRAMMYs – a campaign of essentially awarding artists for record sales – is either a bunch of bullshit, or that our opinions on the best music of the year are "correct," in tandem with a bunch of industry insiders.

Personally, I feel like letting someone else decide what the best album or song is throughout an entire year is just ridiculous. And for obvious reasons. I think that Protomartyr put out one of the best records of the year. However, I now see that that was wrong. That based on the all-knowing choosiness of the National Recording Academy of Arts and Sciences and the collective democracy of their members, that in actuality, Muse have the best rock album of the year. Silly me, my foolish tastes and uncouth preferences.



Anyway, here's the list of this year's winners, and in the spirit of full disclosure, I do think that To Pimp a Butterfly was the best of the two or three hip-hop albums that I listened to all the way through in 2015. I must be a master of taste, ordained by the GRAMMY gods.

Record of the Year
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk"

Album of the Year
Taylor Swift 1989

Best New Artist
Meghan Trainor

Best Rock Performance
Alabama Shakes "Don't Wanna Fight"

Best Musical Theater Album
Hamilton

Song of the Year
Ed Sheeran "Thinking Out Loud"

Best Country Album
Chris Stapleton Traveller 

Best Rap Album
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk"

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern

Best Pop Solo Performance
Ed Sheeran "Thinking Out Loud"

Best Rap Song
Kendrick Lamar "Alright"

Best Rap Performance 
Kendrick Lamar "Alright"

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration 
Kendrick Lamar feat. Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat "These Walls"

Best Alternative Music Album
Alabama Shakes Sound & Color

Best Rock Album
Muse Drones

Best Rock Song
Alabama Shakes "Don't Wanna Fight"

Best R&B Album
D'Angelo and The Vanguard Black Messiah

Best Urban Contemporary  Album
The Weeknd Beauty Behind the Madness

Best R&B Performance
The Weeknd "Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)"

Best R&B Song
D'Angelo and The Vanguard "Really Love"

Best Traditional R&B Performance
Lalah Hathaway "Little Ghetto Boy"

Best Dance/Electronic Album
Skrillex and Diplo Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü

Best Dance Recording
Skrillex and Diplo With Justin Bieber "Where Are Ü Now"

Best Music Video 
Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar "Bad Blood"

Best Country Duo/Group Performance
Little Big Town "Girl Crush"

Best Country Song
Little Big Town "Girl Crush"

Best Music Film
Amy Winehouse Amy

Best Rap/Song Collaboration
Common & John Legend "Glory"

Best Pop Vocal Album
Taylor Swift 1989

Best Country Solo Performance 
Chris Stapleton "Traveller"

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
Tobymac This is Not a Test

Best Roots Gospel Album
The Fairfield Four Still Rockin' My Soul

Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
Pitbull Dale

Best Latin Pop Album
Ricky Martin A Quien Quiera Escuchar (Deluxe Edition)

Best Comedy Album
Louis C.K. Live at Madison Square Garden

Best Spoken Word Album
Jimmy Carter A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety

Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
Birdman

Best Gospel Album
Israel & Newbreed Covered: Alive is Asia [Live]  (Deluxe)

Best Gospel Performance/Song
Kirk Franklin "Wanna Be Happy?"

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
Francesca Battistella "Holy Spirit"

Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Stephen Paulus Paulus: Prayers and Remembrances

Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Augustin Hadelich, "Dutilleux: Violin Concerto, L'Arbre Des Songes"

Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Joyce DiDonato and Antonio Pappano Joyce & Tony - Live from Wigmore Hall

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
Eighth Blackbird "Filament"

Best Choral Performance
Charles Bruffy "Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil"

Best Opera Recording
Saito Kinen Orchestra; SKF Matsumoto Chorus & SKF Matsumoto Children's Chorus "Ravel: L'Enfant Les Sortilèges; Shéhérazade"

Producer of the Year, Classical
Judith Sherman

Best New Age Album
Paul Avgerinos Grace

Best Regional Roots Music Album
Jon Cleary Go Go Juice

Best Folk Album
Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn

Best Blues Album
Buddy Guy Born to Play Guitar

Best Bluegrass Album
The Steeldrivers The Muscle Shoals Recordings

Best Americana Album
Jason Isbell Something More Than Free

Best Americana Roots Song
Jason Isbell "24 Frames"

Best Americana Roots Performance
Mavis Staples "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean"

Best Tropical Latin Album
Rubén Blades with Roberto Delgado & Orchestra Son De Panamá

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)
Los Tigres Del Norte Realidades - Deluxe Edition

Best Children's Album
Tim Kubart Home

Best World Album
Angélique Kidjo Sings

Best Reggae Album
Morgan Heritage Strictly Roots

Best Latin Jazz Album
Eliane Elias Made in Brazil

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
Maria Schneider The Thompson Fields

Best Jazz Instrumental Album
John Scofield Past Present 

Best Jazz Vocal Album
Cécile McLorin Salvant For One to Love

Best Surround Sound Album
Roger Waters Amused to Death 

Best Orchestral Performance
Boston Symphony Orchestra "Shostakovitch: Under Stalin's Shadow - Symphony No. 10"

Best Classical Compendium
Giancarlo Guerrero Paulus: Three Places of Enlightenment; Veil of Tears & Grand Concerto

Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk (Dave Audé Remix)"

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Alabama Shakes Sound & Color

Best Historical Album
Various Artists The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11

Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
Various Artists The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Vol. 2 (1928-32)

Best Album Notes
Joni Mitchell Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting To Be Danced

Best Recording Package
Sarah Dodds, Shauna Dodds & Dick Reeves Asleep at the Wheel, Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys

Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals 
Maria Schneider "Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)"

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
Avi Kaplin, Kristin Taylor, Kevin K.O. Olusola "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy"

Best Instrumental Composition
Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra "The Afro Latin Jazz Suite"

MusiCares Person of the Year
Lionel Richie