Grace Finds a Place at This Year's Grammys
Although the show closed with a presentation of "Gospel music," with performances by legends like Al Green, Michael W. Smith, CeCe Winans and Andrae Crouch, the truly amazing story of the evening was the explosion of people of faith into all genres of the Grammy awards, a clear indication that they refuse to be sequestered in the "Gospel" category and are instead choosing to be heard and awarded in multiple genres of music.
The most obvious case was that of U2, which collected several awards for the band's record All That You Can't Leave Behind. Lead singer Bono graced the nationwide viewing audience with these words: "We depend on God walking through the room, more than most. And God has walked through the room on our record and I want to give thanks. Amen."
T-Bone Burnett, whose faith has burned brightly mostly on the fringes of popular music, had multiple wins with his O Brother, Where Art Thou? project, which also won him acclaim as producer of the year.
Lenny Kravitz won a Grammy for best male Rock performance for his song Dig In which included this line:
"When the mountain is high
Just look up to the sky
Ask God to teach you
Then persevere with a smile"
Best Rock performance by a female went to another spiritually themed song and artist, Lucinda Williams, for her song Get Right With God, which contains these lines:
"I want to get right with God,
Yes you know you got to get right with God.
I would burn soles of my feet,
burn the palms of both my hands,
If I could learn and be complete,
If I could walk righteously again.
I asked God about his plan,
to save us all from Satan's slaughter."
Allison Krauss, another devout artist, tied a record by taking home five Grammys for her work both on the "O Brother" soundtrack and for work with her band Union Station.
Destiny's Child earned a Grammy as well for their song Survivor, which includes the line, "I'm not going to compromise my Christianity."
And then there was bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, who, thanks to the support of Bob Dylan and T-Bone Burnett, has finally enjoyed the acclaim he has long deserved, winning an award in the country category for his classic song O Death.
Hard-charging rockers P.O.D. were nominated for their song Alive but lost out to Linkin Park.
One of the most poignant moments of the evening was country superstar Alan Jackson's rendition of his hit song Where Were You, written in honor of the Sept. 11 tragedy. The song includes the lines:
"But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love."
All in all, not a bad evening for those who take their faith and their rock and roll seriously. Awards were also given out in the traditional Gospel category, with dc Talk, CeCe Winans and others taking the honors. But the lesson from this year's Grammys is clear: Strong and clear expressions of faith do not disqualify artists from being taken seriously by the culture, and even, on occasion, winning awards.
Originally published March 04, 2002.
