This year's leading Grammy nominee Jon Batiste soared past his heavyweight competition to win the coveted Album of the Year award for "We Are" -- a triumph for the jazz and R&B artist with less global name recognition than his pop star peers.
Batiste -- a bandleader and television personality, whose previous prizes include an Oscar for his soundtrack to the Pixar animated movie "Soul" -- surprised Grammy watchers by scoring 11 nominations this year, the most of any artist.
He cleaned up with five awards, the most of any artist this year.
Batiste won for best American roots performance, best American roots song, best music video and tied with Carlos Rafael Rivera for best score soundtrack for visual media. His song “Freedom” in the music video category beat out several other tough competitors, including Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X and Billie Eilish. All the honours were handed out during a pre-telecast ceremony.
“I am so grateful for the gifts that God has given me and the ability to share that for the love of humankind,” Batiste said. “We just wanted everyone to see it. Any depression, any bondage or any darkness that was over your life is completely removed by just the love and the joy of the video."
It's the first tie since 2019 when Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future and James Blake tied with Anderson .Paak to win best rap performance.
Batiste entered the Grammys as the leading nominee with 11 nominations. The losses halted the multi-talented performer from making history for most wins in one night.
