Grammys Give Posthumous Paean to the Genius of Ray Charles

The old won out over the new at the annual Grammy awards, billed as the music industry's equivalent of the Oscars

Genius Loves Company, the final, posthumous recording by Ray Charles won the album of the year title, while a duet with Nora Jones from the album won the award for record of the year. It beat competition from Alicia Keys, Usher, Kanye West and Green Day for the evening's top accolade.

Other oldies performing oldies also won awards: Rod Stewart received the first Grammy in his career, in the traditional pop vocal category, for his Stardust ... the Great American Songbook: Vol 3, which reinvents him as a crooner acting his age.

Brian Wilson, the key member of the Beach Boys, also won his first Grammy, for best rock instrumental, for his reworking of an old song, Mrs O'Leary's Cow on last year's Brian Wilson Presents Smile album. "I waited 42 years for this Grammy and it was well worth the wait," said Wilson.

Young stars did get a look in, but mainly in the specialised categories. Alicia Keys won four awards, including best R&B album, while Kanye West and Usher both won three awards, West for best rap album for The College Dropout, Usher for contemporary R&B album.

Green Day's politically charged American Idiot won best rock album, while the other rock categories were dominated by established artists, including U2 and Bruce Springsteen.

But the night belonged to the late Charles, whose album scooped a record nine awards, more than any other recording. "Humbly, we accept this wonderful, wonderful award, and we offer humungous thanks to you individually and collectively from the bottom of our hearts," Joe Adams, the singer and pianist's manager said as he accepted the award at the televised ceremony in Los Angeles which was hosted by Queen Latifah.

The album, a series of duets with artists including Elton John, Johnny Mathis, Van Morrison and Gladys Knight, was recorded between July 2003 and last March, shortly before Charles died at the age of 73.

The album was produced and released by the small jazz label Concord in partnership with Hear Music, a label set up by the coffee chain Starbucks.

The late singer's presence was felt throughout the ceremony, with live tributes performed by Bonnie Rait and Billy Preston, while Alicia Keys joined actor Jamie Foxx, who portrays Charles in the biopic Ray, for a rendition of Georgia on My Mind.

The other big winner of the night was the former president, Bill Clinton. His reading of his lengthy autobiography My Life won the Grammy for best spoken word recording. He also won a Grammy last year as one of the narrators of Peter and the Wolf, while Hillary Rodham Clinton received a Grammy for her rendition of her book It Takes a Village in 1996.