UMPG world-class songwriters take top honors: Adele, Bad Bunny, Blake Slatkin, Brandi Carlile, Drake, Future, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Puts, Kid Harpoon, Kirk Franklin, Mitch Rowland, Natalia Lafourcade, Phil Hanseroth, Raphael Saadiq, Rosalía, Steve Lacy, Taylor Swift and Tim Hanseroth
Tobias Jesso Jr. named inaugural Songwriter of the Year for his work with Harry Styles, Adele, Diplo, FKA Twigs, Daniel Caesar, King Princess and others
Unprecedented 22 category wins include Songwriter of the Year, Record of The Year, Album of the Year, Best Rap Song, Best Rock Song, Best R&B Song, Best Gospel Performance/Song, Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song, Best Album awards across multiple genres, and more
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), Universal Music Group’s leading global music publishing division, celebrated an unprecedented evening of wins at the 65th annual GRAMMY Awards. The premier music publisher’s family of world-class songwriters, artists and producers swept major awards including Songwriter of the Year, Best Rap Song, Best Rock Song, Best R&B Song, Best Gospel Performance/Song, Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song, a spectrum of Best Album awards, and more.
Making music history, early UMPG career signing Tobias Jesso Jr. won the GRAMMY Awards’ inaugural Songwriter of the Year honor. The extraordinary songwriter was awarded for his contributions on “Boyfriends” (Harry Styles), “Can I Get It” (Adele), “Careless” (FKA Twigs featuring Daniel Caesar),“C'mon Baby Cry” (Orville Peck), “Dotted Lines” (King Princess), “Let You Go” (Diplo & TSHA), “No Good Reason” (Omar Apollo), “Thank You Song” (FKA Twigs) & “To Be Loved” (Adele).
Album of the Year winner Harry’s House saw UMPG wins for global superstar Harry Styles, Kid Harpoon, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Mitch Rowland. In the Record of the Year category, UMPG songwriter Blake Slatkin took home a GRAMMY for co-writing winning hit “About Damn Time.”
Additionally, UMPG writers took home up the majority of top song awards across genres including: Best Rap Song (“The Heart Part 5” - Kendrick Lamar); Best Rock Song (“Broken Horses” - Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth); Best R&B Song (“CUFF IT” – Raphael Saadiq); Best Gospel Performance/Song (“Kingdom” – Kirk Franklin/Capitol Christian Music Group); and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song (“Fear Is Not My Future” – Kirk Franklin/Capitol Christian Music Group). UMPG composer Kevin Puts was awarded Best Contemporary Classical Composition (“Puts: Contact”).
Jody Gerson, Chairman and CEO, Universal Music Publishing Group said, “UMPG is thrilled to be celebrating an outstanding year of GRAMMY Award wins for our songwriters and artists. Whether identifying and believing in a songwriter early-on and working closely to develop their careers, or proactively promoting and marketing the catalogues the world’s biggest superstars, our UMPG global family is privileged to support our songwriters every day. Congratulations and thank you for sharing your songs with the world.”
In Best Album categories, UMPG stars continued their cross-genre winning streak with awards for Pop Vocal Album (Harry’s House - Harry Styles), Best Rap Album (Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – Kendrick Lamar), Best Americana Album (In These Silent Days - Brandi Carlile), Best Progressive R&B Album (Gemini Rights - Steve Lacy), Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album (Motomami - Rosalia), Best Música Urbana Album (Un Verano Sin Ti - Bad Bunny), and Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano) (Un Canto Por Mexico – El Musical - Natalia Lafourcade).
In audiovisual categories, Best Music Video was awarded to global icon Taylor Swift (‘All Too Well: The Short Film’), while Disney’s ‘Encanto’ was awarded Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media (administered by UMPG, ex-North America and Argentina).
Across performance categories, UMPG artists won Best Pop Solo Performance (“Easy On Me” - Adele Atkins), Best Rock Performance (“Broken Horses” – Brandi Carlile), Best Rap Performance (“The Heart Part 5” – Kendrick Lamar) and Best Melodic Rap Performance ("WAIT FOR U” – Drake & Future).
The biggest night in music also featured numerous performances from UMPG stars Bad Bunny, Brandi Carlile, Future, Harry Styles, Lil Baby, Luke Combs, Mary J. Blige, Quavo, Questlove, Steve Lacy, Swizz Beatz, Thundercat and more.
