2008 Grammy Awards

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards were presented at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 9, 2009; the winners are listed below. Eligible recordings were released between Oct. 1, 2007, and Sept. 30, 2008.

Album of the Year: Raising Sand - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Rap Album: Tha Carter III - Lil Wayne

Male Pop Vocal Performance: "Say" - John Mayer

Record of the Year: Please Read the Letter - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

New Artist: Adele

Rock Album: Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends - Coldplay

Pop Collaboration With Vocals: "Rich Woman" - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Song of the Year: "Viva La Vida" - Coldplay

Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: "Stay" - Sugarland

R&B Album: Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Rick Rubin

Producer of the Year, Classical: David Frost

Female Pop Vocal Performance: "Chasing Pavements" - Adele

Pop Vocal Album: Rockferry - Duffy

Pop Instrumental Performance: "I Dreamed There Was No War" - Eagles

Pop Instrumental Album: Jingle All the Way - Béla Fleck & The Flecktones

Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: "Viva La Vida" - Coldplay

Alternative Music Album: In Rainbows - Radiohead

Solo Rock Vocal Performance: "Gravity" - John Mayer

Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: "Sex on Fire" - Kings of Leon

Hard Rock Performance: "Wax Simulacra" - The Mars Volta

Metal Performance: "My Apocalypse" - Metallica

Rock Instrumental Performance: "Peaches En Regalia" - Zappa Plays Zappa

Rock Song: "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" - Bruce Springsteen

Rap Solo Performance: "A Milli" - Lil Wayne

Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Swagga Like Us" - Jay-Z and T.I. featuring Kanye West and Lil Wayne

Rap/Sung Collaboration: "American Boy" - Estelle featuring Kanye West

Rap Song: "Lollipop" - Dwayne Carter, Darius Harrison, James Scheffer, Stephen Garrett and Rex Zamor

Country Song: "Stay" - Sugarland

Female Country Vocal Performance: "Last Name" - Carrie Underwood

Male Country Vocal Performance: "Letter to Me" - Brad Paisley

Country Collaboration with Vocals: "Killing the Blues" - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Country Instrumental Performance: "Cluster Pluck" - Brad Paisley, James Burton, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert and Steve Wariner

R&B Song: "Miss Independent" - Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen and Shaffer Smith

Contemporary R&B Album: Growing Pains - Mary J. Blige

Female R&B Vocal Solo: "Superwoman" - Alicia Keys

Male R&B Vocal Solo: "Miss Independent" - Ne-Yo

R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: "Stay With Me (By the Sea)" - Al Green featuring John Legend

Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: "You've Got the Love I Need" - Al Green featuring Anthony Hamilton

Urban/Alternative Performance: "Be OK" - Chrisette Michele featuring will.i.am

Dance Recording: "Harder Better Faster Stronger" - Daft Punk

Electronic Dance Album: Alive 2007 - Daft Punk

Bluegrass Album: Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947 - Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder

Traditional Blues Album: One Kind Favor - B.B. King

Contemporary Blues Album: City That Care Forgot - Dr. John and The Lower 911

New Age Album: Peace Time - Jack DeJohnette

Contemporary Jazz Album: Randy in Brasil - Randy Brecker

Jazz Vocal Album: Loverly - Cassandra Wilson

Jazz Instrumental Solo: "BE-BOP" - Terence Blanchard

Jazz Instrumental Album Individual or Group: The New Crystal Silence - Chick Corea and Gary Burton

Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard - The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra

Latin Jazz Album: Song for Chico - Arturo O'Farrill and The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra

Latin Pop Album: La Vida ... Es Un Ratico - Juanes

Latin Rock or Alternative Album: 45 - Jaguares

Latin Urban Album: Los Extraterrestres - Wisin y Yandel

Tropical Latin Album: Senor Bachata - Jose Feliciano

Regional Mexican Album: Amor, Dolor y Légrimas: Musica Ranchera – Los Camperos Canciones De Amor – Mariachi Divas

Tejano Album: Viva La Revolucion - Ruben Ramos and The Mexican Revolution

Norteño Album: Raíces - Los Tigres Del Norte

Banda Album: No Es De Madera - Joan Sebástian

Traditional Folk Album: At 89 - Pete Seeger

Contemporary Folk/Americana Album: Raising Sand - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (Rounder)

Native American Music Album: Come to Me Great Mystery: Native American Healing Songs - Various Artists

Hawaiian Music Album: Ikena - Tia Carrere and Daniel Ho

Zydeco or Cajun Music Album: Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival - BeauSoleil and Michael Doucet

Engineering Album, Classical: Traditions and Transformations: Sounds of Silk Road Chicago - David Frost, Tom Lazarus and Christopher Willis

Reggae Album: Jah Is Real - Burning Spear

Traditional World Music Album: Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu - Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Contemporary World Music Album: Global Drum Project - Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidalgo

Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Juno - Various Artists

Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Television or Other Visual Media: The Dark Knight

Polka Album: Let the Whole World Sing - Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra

Gospel Performance: "Get Up" - Mary Mary

Gospel Song: "Help Me Believe" - Kirk Franklin

Rock or Rap Gospel Album: Alive and Transported - TobyMac

Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album: Thy Kingdom Come - CeCe Winans

Southern, Country, Bluegrass Gospel Album: Lovin' Life - Gaither Vocal Band

Traditional Gospel Album: Down in New Orleans - The Blind Boys of Alabama

Contemporary R&B Gospel Album: The Fight of My Life - Kirk Franklin

Classical Album: Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny - James Conlon, conductor

Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Down to Earth from WALL-E - Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman

Musical Show Album: In the Heights - Kurt Deutsch, Alex Lacamoire, Andres Levin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Joel Moss and Bill Sherman, producers; Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer/lyricist

Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Story Telling): An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore) - Beau Bridges, Cynthia Nixon and Blair Underwood

Musical Album for Children: Here Come the 123s - They Might Be Giants

Spoken Word Album Children: Yes to Running! Bill Harley Live - Bill Harley

Comedy Album: It's Bad for Ya - George Carlin

Instrumental Composition: "The Adventures of Mutt" - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - John Williams

Instrumental Arrangement: "Define Dancing" from WALL-E, Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman

Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): "Here's That Rainy Day" - Nan Schwartz

Engineered Album, Non-Classical: Consolers of the Lonely - Joe Chiccarelli, Vance Powell and Jack White III, engineers

Remixed Recording: "Electric Feel" (Justice Remix) - Justice

Surround Sound Album: Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Night on Bald Mountain; Prelude to Khovanshchina - Michael Bishop

Opera Recording: Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny - James Conlon, conductor

Orchestral Performance: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 - Bernard Haitink, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (With Orchestra): "Schoenberg/Sibelius: Violin Concertos" - Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor; Hilary Hahn

Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra): "Piano Music of Salonen, Stucky, and Lutoslawski" - Gloria Cheng

Chamber Music Performance: "Carter, Elliott: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 5" - Pacifica Quartet

Small Ensemble Performance: "Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin Mary" - Charles Bruffy, conductor; Phoenix Chorale

Classical Vocal Performance: "Corigliano: Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan" - Hila Plitmann

Classical Contemporary Composition: Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan - John Corigliano

Classical Crossover Album: Simple Gifts - The King's Singers

Short Form Music Video: Pork and Beans - Weezer, Mathew Cullen

Long Form Music Video: Runnin' Down a Dream - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Recording Package: Death Magnetic - Bruce Duckworth, Sarah Moffat and David Turner

Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package: In Rainbows - Stanley Donwood, Mel Maxwell and Christiaan Munro

Album Notes: Kind of Blue: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition - Francis Davis

Historical Album: Art of Field Recording Volume I: Fifty Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum - Steven Lance Ledbetter and Art Rosenbaum, compilation producers