Jon Batiste, the New Orleans jazz musician and bandleader of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” won four Grammy Awards at the nontelevised preshow ceremony this afternoon in Las Vegas, leading the field heading into the main event.
The most nominated artist overall, with 11 chances to win, Batiste also lost in four categories, but is up for three more during the show, including record of the year (“Freedom”), best R&B album and album of the year for “We Are.”
“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 while accepting the award for best music video, for “Freedom,” alongside the director Alan Ferguson.
Olivia Rodrigo, the 19-year-old pop star whose song “Drivers License” was a blockbuster last year, won best pop vocal performance, her first career Grammy. She is up for all four major awards at the main show — album, record and song of the year, plus best new artist — and could become only the third act to pull off such a sweep.
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s album “Love for Sale,” a collection of Cole Porter songs, won best traditional pop vocal album, a category that Bennett, 95, has now won 14 times. “Love for Sale” also took best engineered album, nonclassical, with the prize going in part to Dave Bennett, one of the singer’s sons. “Love for Sale” will also be up for album of the year, and its title track for record of the year.
In the rap categories, Kanye West, who was banned from performing at the show, won twice: for best melodic rap performance (“Hurricane,” featuring Lil Baby and the Weeknd, who announced a Grammys boycott last year) and best rap song (“Jail,” featuring Jay-Z). For the second time in three years, Tyler, the Creator won best rap album, for “Call Me if You Get Lost.”
Speeches from early winners and presenters highlighted personal triumphs, social ills and the power of music to serve as a balm in troubled times.
Accepting the award for best country duo/group performance, T.J. Osborne, of the group Brothers Osborne, discussed their song “Younger Me,” which he said was written about his coming out as gay — a risk given Nashville’s largely conservative music business.
“I never thought that I’d be able to do this professionally because of my sexuality,” he said, “and I certainly never thought I would be here on this stage accepting a Grammy after having done something I felt like was going to be life-changing, potentially in a very negative way.”
Joni Mitchell, the iconic singer-songwriter, who was set to appear as a presenter during the show, won for best historical album, for her “Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967),” sharing the award with Patrick Mulligan, her fellow compilation producer.
Foo Fighters, whose longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins died on March 25, won all three awards they were nominated for: rock performance (“Making a Fire”), rock song (“Waiting on a War”) and rock album (“Medicine at Midnight”). Voting by Recording Academy members ended in January, before Hawkins’s death.
The outlaw country star Chris Stapleton won two awards, as did the jazz keyboardist Chick Corea, who died last year. The comedian Louis C.K., who has faced accusations of sexual misconduct, won for best comedy album (“Sincerely Louis C.K.”).
In a nod to the controversy that marred last week’s Academy Awards, when the actor Will Smith slapped the comedian Chris Rock onstage, the comedian Nate Bargatze came out to present awards in the classical categories wearing a thick helmet.
“This is what comedians at awards shows have to wear now,” Bargatze said.
Read More: Grammys 2022 Live Updates: Silk Sonic Win Song of the Year