āWhat makes a record of the year?ā Here are our rankings of the all-time Grammy winners

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Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Itās Sunday. Iām your host, Andrew J. Campa. Hereās what you need to know to start your weekend:
- Ranking the 66 songs that won Grammy record of the year.
- Palisades and Eaton fires now 100% contained. But recovery looms.
- āSignificant bluff collapseā sends steps, rocks tumbling to the sand in Laguna Beach.
- And hereās todayās e-newspaper.
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The Grammys are back tonight. Here are our rankings of the previous winners, from No. 66 to No. 1.
Before I get into it, hereās the L.A. Timesā live coverage of these ongoing fires.
A slight bit of normalcy will return to Los Angeles in the aftermath of the area fires as the Grammy Awards kick off, live at the former Staples Center, with the main telecast tonight at 5 on Paramount+ and CBS.
While my colleague, pop music critic Mikael Wood, has handicapped his favorites and underdogs for the 67th edition of the awards show, perhaps his more ambitious project was to rank all 66 songs that previously won record the year.
Itās a fun look into the history, fads, controversies and legacies of the songs and their artists. A few of the selections are listed below, and the full list can be found here.
What makes a record of the year?
According to Wood, it can be a stunning performance or an ingenious production, a glimpse into the future or a glance at the past, a worldwide smash or an obscurity by a longtime fave.
The rundown includes expert commentary from half a dozen previous winners: Sheryl Crow, Totoās Steve Lukather, producer Mark Ronson, Michael McDonald, Chicās Nile Rodgers and Charles Kelley of the country trio Lady A.
No. 63 āHere We Go Againā
Ray Charles and Norah Jones, 2005
The victory delivered a posthumous win for Charles that you can scorn and sympathize with at the same time.
No. 56 āDonāt Worry, Be Happyā
Bobby McFerrin, 1989
āHeās one of the greatest jazz singers of all time ā like Al Jarreau on steroids ā and he wins for making some little fāing novelty song,ā Lukather says of McFerrinās a cappella chart-topper. āHit records are a blessing and a curse, man.ā
No. 45 āUptown Funkā
Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, 2016
Ronson credits the āTodayā showās Hoda Kotb, of all people, for helping to break this future wedding-reception staple: āShe talked about it for like 20 minutes one morning ā āI love this Bruno Mars songā ā and next thing I know, it shot into the top five on the iTunes Store. Then it didnāt leave for six months.ā
No. 32 āHigher Loveā
Steve Winwood, 1987
āI donāt know if heās the most soulful white guy, but heās certainly on the Mt. Rushmore,ā Ronson says of the English singer who did time in the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith before striking out on his own. āWhen music got very slick and expensive-sounding in the late ā80s, he always walked the right side of the line: You could hear the $200,000 Synclavier, but the grooves and arrangements were so clever and intricate. And the message of āHigher Loveā ā itās got something really honest and earnest in it.ā
No. 28 āChange the Worldā
Eric Clapton, 1997
It makes zero sense that the great Kenny āBabyfaceā Edmonds had to wait to win record of the year until he produced this acoustic roots-soul jam that Clapton cut for the soundtrack to 1996ās āPhenomenonā (in which [John] Travolta plays a small-town mechanic who ā¦ turns into a genius after being struck by lightning?). That said, āChange the Worldā cooks, not least because of the rub between Babyfaceās luscious groove and Claptonās well-creased vocal. Says Crow, who reportedly dated Clapton in the late ā90s: āItās like Bonnie and āNick of Timeā ā these people whoāve lived a full life and then sing a song that cauterizes itself in a moment.ā
No. 13 āRosannaā
Toto, 1983
Among the musicians who didnāt vote to nominate Totoās āRosanna,ā according to Lukather: the members of Toto, none of whom had yet joined the academy when the L.A. band earned a nod for record of the year with this exceedingly crafty studio-geek classic. āOnce we found out, they wouldnāt let us join until after the Grammys because obviously we wouldāve voted for ourselves,ā Lukather says. āPeople can lie and say they donāt do that. They do.ā
No. 10 āHotel Californiaā
The Eagles, 1978
A high point for polished yet hirsute L.A. rock: The Eaglesā Hollywood phantasmagoria is named record of the year the same night Fleetwood Mac wins the album prize with the darkly glittering āRumours.ā
No. 8 āWhatās Love Got to Do With Itā
Tina Turner, 1985
McDonald hears Turnerās comeback smash ā the one that launched her as a superstar solo act after she left an abusive marriage to her longtime musical partner, Ike ā as a testament to her perseverance. āI donāt know who else could deliver that message the way Tina did,ā he says. āFrom anyone else, the song mightāve just sounded cynical. With her, it took on a kind of profound meaning.ā
No. 1 āI Will Always Love Youā
Whitney Houston, 1994
āThereās no other record where somebody put on a better performance than āI Will Always Love You,āā Babyface told The Times in 2022, and itās hard to disagree as Houstonās vocal rolls over you in all its splendor and precision. But the finest recording by popās greatest ballad singer is also a story about Houstonās lifelong drive to bring herself into being. Itās high on possibility and haunted by loss.
For the entire list, click here.
The weekās biggest stories
Los Angeles fires
- Palisades and Eaton fires now 100% contained. But a long road to recovery looms.
- What ā or whoā started the Palisades fire? Two leading theories emerge as investigation intensifies.
- PCH and Pacific Palisades are reopening to the public. Some say itās too soon.
- Meryl Streep ācut a car-sized hole in the fence,ā fled fire through a neighborās yard, nephew says.
Rebuilding from the blazes
- Online tracker shows insurance payments to wildfire survivors.
- A world away from the Palisades and Altadena, landlords try to sell fire victims on living downtown.
- Your car didnāt escape the fire? Hereās how to get rid of it.
- Schools opening near fire zones are safe, district officials say. Parents arenāt so sure.
Rain and water issues
- L.A.ās second big winter rainstorm is coming. What you need to know.
- Acting on Trumpās order, federal officials opened up two California dams.
- Newsom issues order to āmaximizeā water capture during storms. Critics say it sounds just like Trump.
Crime and courts
- LAPD captain claims she saw cops slamming teen into concrete ā then faced unionās wrath.
- Former Fox Sports anchor alleges network executive sexually assaulted her in 2016.
- āFear has been sown.ā Street vendors and other workers in L.A.ās massive informal economy react to Trump.
- Malibu homeowner sues Tripadvisor, renter for fire that destroyed house, killed student.
More big stories
- A rising San Diego politician abruptly quit, citing āpersonal safety.ā It raises a lot of questions.
- 2 hostages return to Israel after release in southern Gaza; American Israeliās handover imminent.
- Sundanceās top prizes go to āAtropiaā and āSeeds.ā
- California snowpack is below average, but winter storms could change that.
- The Inland Empire is a hotbed for Latino culture. De Los wants to tell its stories.
Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.
Column One
Column One is The Timesā home for narrative and long-form journalism. Hereās a great piece from this week:
Picture a thin slab of sandy, inhospitable desert land by the side of Highway 78, just a few miles from the Salton Sea. A flag and a border gate welcome you to the United Territories of the Sovereign Nation of the Republic of Slowjamastan ā Imperial Countyās littlest empire ā where a border patrol agent in a black beret hands you a passport and stamps you into the tiny micro-nation that has declared itself independent from the United States.
More great reads
- This French film about Mexico has 13 Oscar nominations. Why āEmilia PĆ©rezā is tanking in Mexico.
- Solutions: The Los Angeles fires demand a better answer to the question āHow can I help?ā
- Your next great bottle of wine might come from this under-the-radar California region.
- Column: For L.A. County Supervisor Barger, the right to rebuild in Altadena is nonnegotiable.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
For your weekend

Going out
- šŗ Television star Topher Grace begins his perfect Los Angeles Sunday Funday with avocado toast at Joanās on Third.
- š Need a breather? These are our favorite āmental health escapesā within driving distance of L.A.
- š½ļø Weāve got the the best places to eat and drink in L.A. this month.
- āØļø Whenever you feel like taking a soak, here are 10 serene hot springs in California to heal your weary soul.
Staying in
- š¶ The 67th annual Grammy Awards get going today at 5 p.m. Hereās how to watch them.
- š Jeff Hobbs, author of āSeeking Shelter,ā tells the the scary, humiliating reality of surviving homelessness in California.
- š Itās a new month, so here are 10 books to add to your reading list in February.
- š§āš³ Echo Parkās Little Fish and Chainsaw is offering up a secret, the recipe for a delicious Chicken and Leek Congee.
- āļø Get our free daily crossword puzzle, Sudoku, word search and arcade games.
L.A. Affairs
Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.
He was so grateful that she didnāt want to go to Disneyland and preferred having a picnic at the beach instead. He showed her Las Virgenes Road, and they drove through the tunnel and then on Mulholland Drive toward Topanga Canyon. He loved Richard Bachās āJonathan Livingston Seagullā and gave her a copy of it. She fell in love with him, but also with the city. Spurred by the recent fires, she returned to visit both and her memories of a passionate romance.
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Carlos Lozano, news editor
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