The 2nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on November 29, 1959, at
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and
New York. They recognized musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1959. Hosted by Meredith Willson, this marked the first televised
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
ceremony, and it was aired in episodes as special ''
Sunday Showcase''. It was held in the same year as the
first Grammy Awards in 1959, and no award ceremony was held in 1960. These awards recognized musical accomplishments by performers for that particular year.
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
and
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life.
Born and raised in Washington, D ...
each won three awards.
Award winners
The following awards were given at the 1959 ceremony:
*
Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...
**
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor who performed Pop music, pop, Swing music, swing, Folk music, folk, rock and roll, and country music.
Darin started ...
for "
Mack the Knife
"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" () is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama ''The Threepenny Opera'' (). The song tells of a knife-wielding criminal of the London underworld n ...
"
**
The Browns for "
The Three Bells"
**
Andre Previn for "Like Young (Single)"
**
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
for "
High Hopes (Single)"
**
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
for "
A Fool Such As I (Single)"
*
Album of the Year
**
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
for ''
Come Dance with Me!''
**
Robert Russell Bennett
Robert Russell Bennett (June 15, 1894 – August 18, 1981) was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershw ...
for ''Victory At Sea, Vol. I''
**
Kiril Kondrashin &
Van Cliburn
Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. (July 12, 1934February 27, 2013) was an American pianist. At the age of 23, Cliburn achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 during the Cold ...
for ''
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3''
**
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...
for ''
More Music From Peter Gunn''
**
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...
for ''
Belafonte At Carnegie Hall''
*
Song of the Year
**
Jimmy Driftwood
James Corbitt Morris (June 20, 1907 – July 12, 1998), known professionally as Jimmy Driftwood or Jimmie Driftwood, was an American folk music, folk-style songwriter and musician, most famous for his songs "The Battle of New Orleans (song), ...
for "
The Battle of New Orleans"
**
Stephen Sondeim &
Jule Styne
Jule Styne ( ; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer widely known for a series of Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musicals, including several famous frequ ...
, songwriters (
Johnny Mathis
John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...
) for "Small World"
**Andre Previn &
Paul Francis Webster
Paul Francis Webster (December 20, 1907 – March 18, 1984) was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and was nominated sixteen times for the award.
Life and career
Webster was born in New York City, United S ...
, songwriters (Andre Previn) for "
Like Young"
**
Edith Lindeman & Karl Stutz, songwriters (
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...
) for "I Know (Single)"
**
Sammy Cahn
Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premie ...
&
Jimmy Van Heusen
James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television, and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Award for Best Original Song, Academy Awards for ...
, songwriters (Frank Sinatra) for "High Hopes (Single)"
*
Best New Artist
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since the 2nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1960 (except in 1967) "for a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that ar ...
**
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor who performed Pop music, pop, Swing music, swing, Folk music, folk, rock and roll, and country music.
Darin started ...
**
Edd Byrnes
Edward Byrne Breitenberger (July 30, 1932 – January 8, 2020), known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the television series '' 77 Sunset Strip.'' He also was featured in the 1978 film '' Gr ...
**
Mavis Rivers
**
Johnny Restivo
**
Mark Murphy
Children's
*
Best Recording for Children
**
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...
for ''
Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
:
Peter and the Wolf
''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и волк, Pétya i volk, p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk) Op. 67, a "symphonic tale for children", is a Program music , programmatic musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a ...
'' performed by
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...
& the
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...
conducted by
Herbert von Karajan
**
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles on stage over her career, including Nellie Forbush in ''South Pacific (musica ...
&
Thomas Scherman for "Three To Make Music/Cinderella"
**Marla Ray for "The Arabian Nights (Album)"
**
Allen Swift for "Popeye's Favorite Sea Chanties (Album)"
**
Franz Allers for "
Hansel And Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15).
Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...
- Original Soundtrack (Album)"
Classical
*
Best Classical Performance - Orchestra
**
Charles Münch (conductor) & the
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...
for ''
Debussy
Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...
: Images for Orchestra''
*
Best Classical Performance - Vocal Soloist (with or without orchestra)
**
Jussi Björling for ''Bjoerling in Opera''
*
Best Classical Performance - Opera Cast or Choral
**
Erich Leinsdorf (conductor),
Lisa Della Casa,
Rosalind Elias,
George London,
Roberta Peters,
Giorgio Tozzi & the
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world.
The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...
for ''
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
:
The Marriage of Figaro
''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienn ...
''
*
Best Classical Performance - Concerto or Instrumental Soloist (with full orchestral accompaniment)
**
Kiril Kondrashin (conductor),
Van Cliburn
Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. (July 12, 1934February 27, 2013) was an American pianist. At the age of 23, Cliburn achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 during the Cold ...
& the Symphony of the Air Orchestra for ''
Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...
:
Piano Concerto No. 3''
*
Best Classical Performance - Concerto or Instrumental Soloist (other than full orchestral accompaniment)
**
Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist. for ''
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
: Sonatas
No. 21 in C (Waldstein) and
No. 18 in E Flat''
*
Best Classical Performance - Chamber Music (including chamber orchestra)
**
Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist. for ''
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
:
Sonatas No. 21 in C (Waldstein) and
No. 18 in E Flat''
Comedy
*
Best Comedy Performance - Spoken
**
Shelley Berman for ''Inside Shelley Berman''
**''
Stan Freberg'' for ''Stan Freberg With Original Cast''
**
Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of come ...
for ''Sick Humor''
**
Mort Sahl
Morton Lyon Sahl (May 11, 1927 – October 26, 2021) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actor, and social Satire, satirist, considered the first modern comedian. He pioneered a style of social satire that pokes fun at political and current e ...
for ''Look Forward In Anger''
**
Andy Griffith for ''Hamlet''
*
Best Comedy Performance - Musical
**
Homer and Jethro for ''The Battle of Kookamonga''
**Bernie Green And The Stereo Madmen for ''Musically Mad''
**
Alice Pearce &
Hans Conreid for ''Monster Rally''
**
Cliff Arquette for ''Charlie Weaver Sings For His People''
**
Adolph Green &
Betty Comden for ''
A Party With Betty Comden And Adolph Green''
Composing and arranging
*
Best Musical Composition First Recorded and Released in 1959 (more than 5 minutes duration)
**
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life.
Born and raised in Washington, D ...
for ''
Anatomy of a Murder
''Anatomy of a Murder'' is a 1959 American legal drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Wendell Mayes was based on the 1958 novel of the same name written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker under ...
Soundtrack''
**
Morton Gould, composer (Morton Gould, conductor) for "St. Lawrence Suite"
**
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer.
Shostak ...
, comopser (
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...
, conductor) for ''Shostakovich: Concerto #2 For Piano And Orchestra, Op. 101'' performed by
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
**
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
, composer (
Jean Martinon, conductor) for ''Prokoviev: The Overture Russe Op. 72'' performed by
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra
**
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...
, composer (Henry Mancini, conductor) for ''
More Music From Peter Gunn''
*
Best Sound Track Album - Background Score from a Motion Picture or Television
**
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life.
Born and raised in Washington, D ...
(composer) for ''
Anatomy of a Murder
''Anatomy of a Murder'' is a 1959 American legal drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Wendell Mayes was based on the 1958 novel of the same name written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker under ...
''
**
Franz Waxman
Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include ''Bride of Frankenstein'', ''Rebecca (194 ...
, composer for ''The Nun's Story (Motion Picture Album)''
**
Stanley Wilson, composer for ''The Music From M Squad (TV Show)'' performed by Stanley Wilson
**
Dick Cathcart, composer for ''Pete Kelly's Blues'' ''(TV Show)''
**Henry Mancini, composer for ''
More Music From Peter Gunn (TV Show)'' performed by Henry Mancini
*
Best Arrangement
**
Billy May
Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet (TV series), The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad (TV series), T ...
(arranger) for "
Come Dance with Me" performed by
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
**
Robert Russell Bennett
Robert Russell Bennett (June 15, 1894 – August 18, 1981) was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershw ...
(arranger) for ''Victory At Sea, Vol. I'' performed by Robert Russell Bennett
**
Esquivel (arranger) for "Strings Aflame" performed by Esquivel
**Henry Mancini (arranger) for ''
More Music From Peter Gunn (TV Show)'' performed by Henry Mancini
**Richard Wess (arranger) for "Mack The Knife" performed by
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor who performed Pop music, pop, Swing music, swing, Folk music, folk, rock and roll, and country music.
Darin started ...
**
John Green
John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author and YouTuber. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is one of the List of best-selling books#Bet ...
(arranger) for ''An Evening With Lerner And Lowe'' performed by John Green
Country
*
Best Country & Western Performance
**
Johnny Horton
John LaGale Horton (April 30, 1925 – November 5, 1960) was an American country, honky tonk, and rockabilly musician during the 1950s. He is best known for a series of history-inspired narrative country saga songs that became international ...
for "
The Battle of New Orleans"
**
Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' country music charts, second onl ...
for "
Tennessee Stud"
**
Skeeter Davis for "
Set Him Free"
**
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves (August 20, 1923July 31, 1964) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. One of the earliest pioneers and practitioners of the Nashville sound, he played a central role in the sonic development of country music in th ...
for "Home"
**
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene Gibson (April 3, 1928 – November 17, 2003) was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson wrote such country standards as " Sweet Dreams" and " I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjo ...
for "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles"
Folk
*
Best Performance - Folk
**
The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...
for ''The Kingston Trio at Large''
**
Jimmy Driftwood
James Corbitt Morris (June 20, 1907 – July 12, 1998), known professionally as Jimmy Driftwood or Jimmie Driftwood, was an American folk music, folk-style songwriter and musician, most famous for his songs "The Battle of New Orleans (song), ...
for ''The Wilderness Road''
**
Ralph Hunter for ''The Wild Wild West''
**Eddy Arnold for ''Tennessee Stud''
**
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...
for ''
Belafonte At Carnegie Hall''
Jazz
*
Best Jazz Performance - Soloist
**
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...
for ''
Ella Swings Lightly''
**
Red Norvo
Red Norvo (born Kenneth Norville; March 31, 1908 – April 6, 1999) was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His recor ...
for ''Red Norvo In Hi-Fi''
**
Andre Previn for ''Like Young''
**
Ruby Braff
Reuben "Ruby" Braff (March 16, 1927 – February 9, 2003) was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist. Jack Teagarden was once asked about him on the Garry Moore television show and described Ruby as "the Ivy League Louis Armstrong".
Bra ...
for ''Easy Now''
**
Bobby Troup for ''Bobby Troup And His Stars Of Jazz''
**
Urbie Green for ''Best Of New Broadway Show Hits''
*
Best Jazz Performance - Group
**
Jonah Jones for ''I Dig Chicks''
**Red Norvo for ''Red Norvo In Hi-Fi''
**Henry Mancini ''More Music From Peter Gunn''
**
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life.
Born and raised in Washington, D ...
for ''Ellington Jazz Party''
**
Shorty Rogers for ''
Chances Are It Swings''
Musical show
*
Best Broadway Show Album (a tie)
**
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theatre, musical theater,Obituary ''Variety Obitua ...
& the original cast for ''
Gypsy
{{Infobox ethnic group
, group = Romani people
, image =
, image_caption =
, flag = Roma flag.svg
, flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress
, po ...
''
**The original cast with
Gwen Verdon
Gwyneth Evelyn "Gwen" Verdon (January 13, 1925October 18, 2000) was an American actress and dancer. She won four Tony Awards for her musical comedy performances, and she served as an uncredited choreographer's assistant and specialty dance coach ...
,
Richard Kiley,
Leonard Stone
Leonard Stone ( Steinbock; November 3, 1923 – November 2, 2011) was an American character actor who played supporting roles in over 120 television shows and 35 films.
Early life
Stone was born in Salem, Oregon, the son of Jewish parents Julia ...
, Doris Rich, Cynthia Latham, Joy Nichols, Bob Dixon & Pat Ferrier for ''
Redhead''
**Hal Hastings & original cast with
Carol Burnett,
Joseph Bova,
Allen Case,
Jack Gilford, &
Matt Mattox for "
Once Upon A Mattress
''Once Upon a Mattress'' is a musical theater, musical comedy with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer. It opened off-Broadway in May 1959, and then moved to Broadway theat ...
"
**
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...
for ''
Ages Of Man
The Ages of Man are the historical stages of human existence according to Greek mythology and its subsequent interpretatio romana, Roman interpretation.
Both Hesiod and Ovid offered accounts of the successive ages of humanity, which tend to pr ...
''
**
Betty Comden &
Adolph Green for ''
A Party With Betty Comden And Adolph Green''
*
Best Sound Track Album, Original Cast - Motion Picture or Television
**
André Previn
André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...
,
Ken Darby
Kenneth Lorin Darby (May 13, 1909 – January 24, 1992) was an American composer, vocal arranger, lyricist, and conductor. His film scores were recognized by the awarding of three Academy Awards and one Grammy Award. He provided vocals for ...
& the original cast for ''
Porgy and Bess
''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...
''
**
Mario Lanza
Mario Lanza ( , ; born Alfredo Arnold Cocozza ; January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an American tenor and actor. He was a Hollywood film star popular in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Lanza began studying to be a professional singer a ...
for ''
For The First Time''
Packaging and notes
*
Best Album Cover
**Robert M. Jones (art director) for ''
Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...
:
Symphony No. 5'' conducted by
Howard Mitchell
**Acy R. Lehman (art director) for ''
Porgy And Bess
''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...
'' performed by
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre.
Horne joined the chorus of the C ...
& Harry Belafonte
**Acy R. Lehman & Robert L. Yorke (art directors) for ''The South Shall Rise Again'' performed by
Phil Harris
**
Tom Parker (art director) for ''
For LP Fans Only'' performed by
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
**
Saul Bass
Saul Bass (; May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996) was an American graphic designer and Academy Awards, Oscar-winning filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture title sequences, film posters, and logo, corporate logos.
During his 4 ...
(art director) for ''Anatomy Of A Murder'' performed by Duke Ellington
Pop
*
Best Vocal Performance, Female
**
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...
for "
But Not for Me"
**Lena Horne for ''Porgy And Bess''
**
Caterina Valente for "La Strada Del Amore"
**
Pat Suzuki for ''Broadway '59''
**
Peggy Lee
Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...
for "
Alright, Okay, You Win"
*
Best Vocal Performance, Male
**
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
for ''
Come Dance with Me!''
**Bobby Darin for "Mack The Knife"
**
Jesse Belvin for "Guess Who"
**Harry Belafonte for ''
Belafonte At Carnegie Hall''
**
Robert Merrill for ''An Evening With Lerner And Loewe''
*
Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus
**
Richard P. Condie (choir director) for "
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
The "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is an American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe during the American Civil War.
Howe adapted her song from the soldiers' song " John Brown's Body" in November 1861, and sold ...
" performed by the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for o ...
directed by Condie
**
The Browns for "
The Three Bells"
**
Robert Shaw Chorale for ''The Stephen Foster Song Book''
**
The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...
for ''Kingston Trio At Large''
**
The Ames Brothers for ''Ames Brothers Sing Famous Hits Of Famous Quartets''
*
Best Performance by a Dance Band
**
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life.
Born and raised in Washington, D ...
for ''
Anatomy of a Murder
''Anatomy of a Murder'' is a 1959 American legal drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Wendell Mayes was based on the 1958 novel of the same name written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker under ...
''
**
Ray Anthony for ''Sounds Spectacular''
**
Perez Prado for ''Pops And Prado''
**
Larry Elgart for ''New Sounds At The Roosevelt''
**
Glenn Miller
Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...
for ''For The Very First Time''
**
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
for Breakfast Dance and Barbecue, ''Breakfast Dance And Barbecue''
*Grammy Award for Best Performance by an Orchestra or Instrumentalist with Orchestra, Best Performance by an Orchestra
**
André Previn
André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...
& David Rose (musician), David Rose for ''Like Young'' performed by David Rose (musician), Dave Rose and his Orchestra with André Previn
**Hugo Winterhalter for ''Two Sides Of Winterhalter''
**
Esquivel for ''Strings Aflame''
**
Stanley Wilson for ''M Squad, Music From M Squad''
**Henry Mancini ''More Music From Peter Gunn''
**Bob Thompson (musician), Bob Thompson for ''Just For Kicks''
*Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song, Best Performance by a "Top 40" Artist
**Nat King Cole, Nat "King" Cole for "Midnight Flyer (song), Midnight Flyer"
**Neil Sedaka for ''Rock with Sedaka, Neil Sedaka''
**Floyd Robinson (singer), Floyd Robinson for "Makin' Love"
**The Coasters for Charlie Brown (The Coasters song), "Charlie Brown"
**Sarah Vaughan for "Broken Hearted Melody"
**
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
for "A Big Hunk o' Love, A Big Hunk O' Love"
Production and engineering
*Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, Best Engineering Contribution - Other Than Classical or Novelty
**Robert Simpson (engineer) for ''Belafonte at Carnegie Hall'' performed by
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...
**Ernest Oelrich (engineer) for ''Strings Aflame'' performed by Esquivel
**Robert Simpson (composer), Robert Simpson (engineer) for ''New Sounds At The Roosevelt'' performed by
Larry Elgart
**Robert Simpson (engineer) for ''Compulsion To Swing'' performed by Kid Rena, Henry Rene
**Robert Simpson (engineer) for ''Big Band Guitar'' performed by Buddy Morrow
*Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Classical, Best Engineering Contribution - Classical Recording
**Lewis W. Layton (engineer),
Robert Russell Bennett
Robert Russell Bennett (June 15, 1894 – August 18, 1981) was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershw ...
(conductor) & the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra for ''Victory at Sea, Vol. I''
**Lewis W. Layton (engineer),
Kiril Kondrashin (conductor) for ''Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien, Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol''
**Lewis W. Layton (engineer),
Morton Gould (conductor) for ''Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Ravel: Bolero''
**Lewis W. Layton (engineer), Fritz Reiner (conductor) for ''Rossini Overtures''
**Lewis W. Layton (engineer), Morton Gould (conductor) for ''Doubling In Brass''
*Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording - Special or Novel Effects, Best Engineering Contribution - Novelty Recording
**Ted Keep (engineer) for "Alvin's Harmonica" performed by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., David Seville
**Robert Simpson (engineer) for ''The Wild Wild West'' performed by Ralph Hunter, Ralph Hunter Choir
**Luis P. "Val" Valentin (engineer) for "The Bat" performed by Alvino Rey
**Robert Simpson (engineer) for ''Supersonics In Flight'' performed by Billy Mure, Bill Mure
**Thorne Nogar (engineer) for ''Orienta (album), Orienta'' performed by Gerald Fried, Markko Polo Adventures
R&B
*Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance, Best Rhythm & Blues Performance
**Dinah Washington for "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes"
**Nat King Cole, Nat "King" Cole for "Midnight Flyer"
**
Jesse Belvin for "Guess Who"
**The Coasters for "Charlie Brown"
**Elvis Presley for "A Big Hunk O' Love"
Spoken
*Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album, Best Performance - Documentary or Spoken Word (other than comedy)
**Carl Sandburg for ''A Lincoln Portrait''
**Tony Schwartz (sound archivist), Tony Schwartz for ''New York Taxi Driver''
**Hal Holbrook for ''Mark Twain Tonight!, Mark Twain Tonight!''
**Basil Rathbone for ''Basil Rathbone Reads Sherlock Holmes''
**
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...
for ''
Ages Of Man
The Ages of Man are the historical stages of human existence according to Greek mythology and its subsequent interpretatio romana, Roman interpretation.
Both Hesiod and Ovid offered accounts of the successive ages of humanity, which tend to pr ...
''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grammy Awards 002
Grammy Awards ceremonies, 002
1959 in Los Angeles
1959 in New York City
1959 music awards
1959 in American music
November 1959 in the United States
Events in Los Angeles
Events in New York City