Luis Fonsi, left, and Daddy Yankee perform "Despacito" at the 60th annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 Luis Fonsi, left, and Daddy Yankee perform "Despacito" at the 60th annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — Bruno Mars owned the Grammys with his R&B-inspired album "24K Magic," winning all six awards he was nominated for at a show where hip-hop was expected to have a historical night. 
 
 Jay-Z, the leading nominee with eight, walked away empty handed Sunday — a year after his wife lost album of the year to Adele, causing fans and peers to criticize the Recording Academy for not properly rewarding Beyonce's bold "Lemonade" project. 
 
 And though Kendrick Lamar won five awards, he lost in the top categories, marking another year where rappers were restricted to wins in the rap categories, instead of earning coveted prizes like album of the year. 
 
 Mars picked up album of the year for "24K Magic," record of the year for the title track, and song of the year — shared with seven co-writers — for the No. 1 hit, "That's What I Like." 
 
 Jay-Z and Lamar could have become the first rapper to win song or record of the year, and the third rap-based act to win album of the year. 
 
 But Mars' win still marked some growth for the Academy: His is one of the few R&B albums to win the top prize. He dedicated his win to songwriters who have made history in R&B music, including Babyface, Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. 
 
 Lamar's wins at Madison Square Garden in New York City included best rap album, best rap song, best rap performance, best rap/sung performance and best music video. He has a career total of 12 Grammys. 
 
 Lamar also won with his performance: He kicked off the Grammys with a powerful and poignant performance featuring video screens displaying a waving American flag behind him, as background dancers dressed as army soldiers marched and moved behind him. At one point, Lamar's background dancers, dressed in red, were shot down as he rapped lyrics, later coming back to life as fire burst to end the six-minute performance. 
 
 But the night's top performer was Kesha, who was passionate and striking onstage with the help of powerful women behind her, including the Resistance Revival Chorus, Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Julia Michaels, Andra Day and Bebe Rexha. Dressed in white, they won over the audience while singing Kesha's "Praying" and hugged at the song's end as some audience members cried, including Hailee Steinfeld. 
 
 Kesha , who earned her first pair of Grammy nominations this year, has been in a legal war with former producer and mentor Dr. Luke. Janelle Monae introduced the performance with strong words. 
 
 "We come in peace but we mean business. To those who would dare try to silence us, we offer two words: Time's Up," Monae said. "It's not just going on in Hollywood. It's not just going on in Washington. It's here in our industry, too." 
 
 Before the performance, Maren Morris, Eric Church and Brothers Osborne performed an emotional rendition of Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" — written after his son died — in honor of the 58 people who died at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas last year. The names of victims were displayed behind them as they performed. 
 
 The performances were two of the show's serious moments. Dozens of artists and music industry players also sported white roses in support of the Time's Up and #MeToo movements against sexual abuse and harassment. 
 
 "Black is beautiful, hate is ugly," rapper Logic said onstage after performing the suicide prevention anthem "1-800-273-8255." The performance, with best new artist winner Alessia Cara and Khalid, included a group of suicide attempt and loss survivors selected by the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. 
 
 Sting's performance was somewhat political as he sang his 1987 song, "Englishman in New York," which includes the lyrics, "Oh, I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien, I'm an Englishman in New York." 
 
 Chris Stapleton paid tribute to Tom Petty with Emmylou Harris and also won three awards, including best country album, best country song and best country solo performance. 
 
 "We always try to make great records ... and I guess this is a testament to that," Stapleton said. 
 
 Little Big Town, who beautifully sang their Taylor Swift-penned No. 1 hit "Better Man," won best country duo/group performance with the song. 
 
 Others who shined onstage included Lady Gaga, who won over the audience with a rousing performance of the songs "Joanne" and "Million Reasons"; Sam Smith gave a powerful performance of the song "Pray"; and Pink was a vocal powerhouse while she sang "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken." 
 
 During the pre-telecast, The Rolling Stones picked up their third career Grammy — for best traditional blues album for "Blue & Lonesome" — while Ed Sheeran won best pop vocal album. Emmy and Golden Globe winner Childish Gambino, who picked up best traditional R&B performance, gave a smooth and sultry performance of "Terrified" in all-white featuring screeching high notes. Gambino was joined by young singer-actor, JD McCrary, who matched his vocals and sings on the original track. 
 
 The show, hosted by James Corden, also featured some comedy. Hillary Clinton , John Legend, Cher, Snoop Dogg, Cardi B, and DJ Khaled won over the audience in a skit when reading lines from Michael Wolff's book, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House." Corden said the book could compete for the best spoken world album Grammy next year. 
 
 "That's the one," Corden said in the video after Clinton, a 1997 spoken word Grammy winner, spoke. It earned a rousing applause from the crowd. 
 
 Dave Chappelle, who was part of Lamar's opening performance, won best comedy album during the televised show. 
 
 "I am honored to win an award, finally, and I wanted to thank everyone at Netflix, at 'Saturday Night Live,' at 'The Chappelle Show,'" he said. 
 
 Puppies were passed to the losers of best comedy album, including Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman and Jim Gaffigan. 
 
 Posthumous Grammys were awarded to actress Carrie Fisher, singer Leonard Cohen and engineer Tom Coyne, who worked on Mars' "24K Magic" album. 
 
 Double winners included Jason Isbell, Justin Hurwitz and CeCe Winans. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Online: 
 
 http://www.grammy.com 
 
 ____ 
 
 For full coverage of awards season, visit: https://apnews.com/tag/AwardsSeason ||||| FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2018 file photo, rapper Kendrick Lamar accepts the award for best rap album for "Damn" at the 60th annual Grammy Awards in New York. On Monday, April 16, 2018, Lamar won the Pulitzer... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2018 file photo, rapper Kendrick Lamar accepts the award for best rap album for "Damn" at the 60th annual Grammy Awards in New York. On Monday, April 16, 2018, Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize for music for his album "Damn." (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File) (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — Kendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize for music Monday, making history as the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the prestigious prize. 
 
 The revered rapper is also the most commercially successful musician to receive the award, usually reserved for critically acclaimed classical acts who don't live on the pop charts. 
 
 The 30-year-old won the prize for "DAMN.," his raw and powerful Grammy-winning album. The Pulitzer board said Monday the album is "a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life." He will win $15,000. 
 
 Lamar has been lauded for his deep lyrical content, politically charged live performances, and his profound mix of hip-hop, spoken word, jazz, soul, funk, poetry and African sounds. Since emerging on the music scene with the 2011 album "Section.80," he has achieved the perfect mix of commercial appeal and critical respect. 
 
 The Pulitzer board has awarded special honors to Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Hank Williams, but a popular figure like Lamar has never won the prize for music. In 1997, Wynton Marsalis became the first jazz act to win the Pulitzer Prize for music. 
 
 That makes Lamar's win that much more important: His platinum-selling major-label albums — "good kid, m.A.A.d city," ''To Pimp a Butterfly" and "DAMN." — became works of art, with Lamar writing songs about blackness, street life, police brutality, perseverance, survival and self-worth. His piercing and sharp raps helped him become the voice of the generation, and easily ascend as the leader in hip-hop and cross over to audiences outside of rap, from rock to pop to jazz. He's also been a dominator on the charts, having achieved two dozen Top 40 hits, including a No. 1 success with "Humble," and he has even collaborated with the likes of U2, Taylor Swift, Imagine Dragons, Rihanna and Beyonce. 
 
 His music, with songs like "Alright" and "The Blacker the Berry," have become anthems in the wake of high-profile police shootings of minorities as the conversation about race relations dominates news headlines. He brought of dose of seriousness to the 2015 BET Awards, rapping on top of a police car with a large American flag waving behind him. At the 2016 Grammys, during his visual-stunning, show-stopping performance, he appeared beaten, in handcuffs, with chains around his hands and bruises on his eyes as he delivered powerful lyrics to the audience. 
 
 Lamar's musical success helped him win 12 Grammy Awards, though all three of his major-label albums have lost in the top category — album of the year. Each loss has been criticized by the music community, launching the conversation about how the Recording Academy might be out of touch. "DAMN." lost album of the year to Bruno Mars' "24K Magic" in January. 
 
 The rapper, born in Compton, California, was hand-picked by "Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler to curate an album to accompany the ubiquitously successful film, giving Lamar yet again another No. 1 effort and highly praised project. 
 
 "DAMN.," released on April 14, 2017, won five Grammys, including best rap album, and the album topped several year-end lists by critics, including NPR, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, BBC News, Complex and Vulture. 
 
 Finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in music were Michael Gilbertson's "Quartet," which debuted last February at Carnegie Hall, and Ted Hearne's "Sound from the Bench," a 35-minute cantata released last March. ||||| FILE - In this May 20, 2018 file photo, Maren Morris performs "The Middle" at the Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. A list of nominees in the top categories at the 2019... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this May 20, 2018 file photo, Maren Morris performs "The Middle" at the Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. A list of nominees in the top categories at the 2019 Grammys, including Kendrick Lamar, who is the leader with eight nominations, were announced Friday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — The music of "Black Panther," with Kendrick Lamar in its starring role, officially owns the 2019 Grammy Awards, where women are heavily represented in the major four categories following a year where their presence was barely felt. 
 
 The Recording Academy announced Friday that Lamar is the top contender with eight nominations, including seven for his musical companion to the Marvel Studios juggernaut starring Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan. "Black Panther: The Album, Music From and Inspired By" is up for album of the year, a category where women make up five of the eight nominees. Cardi B, Kacey Musgraves, Janelle Monae, H.E.R. and Brandi Carlile also are up for the top prize, along with Drake and Post Malone. 
 
 The upcoming Grammys is the first where the academy extended its top four categories from five nominees to eight. 
 
 The "Panther" nomination would give Lamar a chance to win album of the year after losing three times. His most recently loss was in February when his critically acclaimed "DAMN" fell short to Bruno Mars' "24K Magic," though Lamar's project would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize for music two months later, making him the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the prestigious honor. 
 
 Lamar's Top 10 hit, the SZA-assisted "All the Stars," is nominated for both record and song of the year (a songwriter's award). Five other songs scored nominations in both categories, including Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's "Shallow" from "A Star Is Born"; Childish Gambino's "This Is America"; Drake's "God's Plan"; Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey's "The Middle"; and Carlile's "The Joke." 
 
 Ella Mai's "Boo'd Up" and Shawn Mendes' "In My Blood" earned song of the year nods, while Post Malone's "Rockstar" and Cardi B's "I Like It," featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, round out the nominees for record of the year. 
 
 Following Lamar, Drake — the year's most successful artist — earned seven nominations. Though nominated for album of the year, he was surprisingly shut out of best rap album, where his rival Pusha T earned a nomination. 
 
 Drake's frequent collaborator, producer Boi-1Da, earned six nods, as did Carlile, who also scored nominations in the American Roots category. 
 
 Cardi B, Gaga, H.E.R., Morris, Gambino, producer Sounwave and engineer Mike Bozzi scored five nominations each. 
 
 The nominees for the 2019 Grammys mark a departure from this year's show, where women were underrepresented in the top four categories. Of the eight best new artist nominees, six are women, including H.E.R., Chloe x Halle, Dua Lipa, Margo Price, Bebe Rexha and Jorja Smith. Rock band Greta Van Fleet and country singer Luke Combs also earned nominations. 
 
 Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow was criticized earlier this year at the Grammys when he said women need to "step up" when asked about the lack of women in the top categories, which he later acknowledged was a "poor choice of words." It forced the academy to launch a new task force focused on inclusion and diversity; Portnow also announced he would be leaving the academy in 2019. 
 
 "In any given year there could be more folks from one area or one gender or one genre or one ethnicity that are making recordings and being successful with them than in another year. So, in many ways we're just a reflection of that," Portnow said in an interview with The Associated Press. "This year clearly there were many women not only making music but making great music and making music that resonates with our peer voters in terms of excellence, and so that certainly is at the forefront." 
 
 Another milestone for women is in the non-classical producer of the year category, where songwriting extraordinaire Linda Perry earned a nomination. She's just the seventh woman ever nominated for prize and first since 2004. 
 
 "Linda represents what we hope becomes the norm, which is the elimination of gender bias in producing and engineering in our industry," Portnow said. 
 
 Perry will compete with Pharrell Williams, Boi-1Da, Larry Klein and Kanye West, the only nomination he earned. 
 
 Taylor Swift, a two-time album of the year winner, also only earned one nomination — her "reputation" album is up best pop vocal album. Justin Timberlake, whose "Man of the Woods" albums flopped earlier this year, picked up a nod for "Say Something," his collaboration with Chris Stapleton. 
 
 Beyonce and Jay-Z, billed as The Carters, as well Ariana Grande, didn't earn any of the big nominations. The Carters earned two nods in the R&B category along with best music video, while Grande picked up two nods in pop. 
 
 Artists who were completely snubbed include Carrie Underwood, Sam Smith, Migos, Kane Brown, Nicki Minaj, XXXTentacion and Juice WRLD, whose "Lucid Dreams" was one of the year's biggest hits. 
 
 Some acts scored their first nominations ever, including Florida Georgia Line, whose megahit "Meant to Be" with Rexha is up best country duo/group performance. Camila Cabello, Malone, Mendes, Dan + Shay and DJ Mustard are also first-time nominees. 
 
 Gaga, who earned acting and music Golden Globe nominations Thursday, picked up four Grammy nominations for "Shallow," while "Joanne" is up for best pop solo performance. The soundtrack for "A Star Is Born" was released after Grammy eligibility, though "Shallow" was released in time and also earned Cooper two nominations. 
 
 Other famous faces outside of music to earn nominations include Tiffany Haddish and former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, both up for best spoken word album. Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Fred Armisen, Jim Gaffigan and Patton Oswalt are up for best comedy album. 
 
 Mac Miller, who died in September, earned a nomination for best rap album with "Swimming." Chris Cornell, who died last year, is up for best rock performance with "When Bad Does Good." 
 
 Demi Lovato, who relapsed after six years of sobriety and was hospitalized for an overdose in July, earned a nomination for best pop duo/group performance for "Fall In Line," her duet with Christina Aguilera. 
 
 Those who earned four nominations are Musgraves, Malone, PJ Morton, Dave Cobb, Ludwig Goransson, Noah Shebib and SZA, who earned a Golden Globe nomination alongside Lamar for "All the Stars" on Thursday. 
 
 Lamar has won 12 Grammys throughout his career. Though seven of his eight nominations come from "Black Panther," he also earned a nod for co-writing Jay Rock's "Win," up for best rap song. 
 
 The 2019 Grammys will hand out awards in its 84 categories live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 10, 2019. 
 
 _____ 
 
 Online: 
 
 http://www.grammy.com
– Bruno Mars owned the Grammys with his R&B-inspired album "24K Magic," winning all six awards he was nominated for at a show where hip-hop was expected to have a historical night. Jay-Z, the leading nominee with eight, walked away empty handed Sunday—a year after his wife lost album of the year to Adele, causing fans and peers to criticize the Recording Academy for not properly rewarding Beyonce's bold "Lemonade" project. And though Kendrick Lamar won five awards, he lost in the top categories, marking another year where rappers were restricted to wins in the rap categories, instead of earning coveted prizes like album of the year, the AP reports. Among the major winners: Album of the Year. Bruno Mars, 24K Magic. Record of the Year. Bruno Mars, "24K Magic," the album's title track. Song of the Year. Bruno Mars, "That's What I Like," shared with seven co-writers. Best New Artist. Alessia Cara. Best Pop Album. Ed Sheeran, ÷ . Best Rap Album. Kendrick Lamar, Damn. Best Rap Song. Kendrick Lamar, "Humble." Best Pop Solo Performance. Ed Sheeran,"Shape of You." Best Country Song. Chris Stapleton, "Broken Halos." Best Rock Song. Foo Fighters, "Run." Best Rock Album. The War on Drugs, A Deeper Understanding. Best Metal Performance. Mastodon, "Sultan's Curse." Best Music Video. Kendrick Lamar, "Humble." Best Dance/Electronic Album. Kraftwerk, 3-D The Catalogue. Check out the Grammys website for the full list of 84 winners.