The 54th annual GRAMMY ceremony celebrated the best in music from the past year, and was highlighted by memorable performances, tributes, and of course, the awards. Looking at the results, we were pleased to see a number of graduates of our Recording Arts program represented on this year’s honorees.

In total 23 alumni were credited on 12 GRAMMY-winning projects across a wide range of categories – including top nods in fields like country, gospel, Latin, and reggae.

Notably, Brad Blackwood took home his own statue as mastering engineer on Alison Krauss & Union Station’s Paper Airplane, which won for Best Engineered Album-Non Classical and Best Bluegrass Album. Brad graduated from Full Sail in 1996, and has credits on over 300 albums, including hits for Maroon 5 and Against Me.

Grads also did well in the R&B categories, including Iain Findlay, Ryan Kelly, and Michael Congdon, who contributed to Chris Brown’s F.A.M.E., winner of Best R&B Album. 2004 grad Graham Marsh also worked as engineer on Cee Lo Green’s single “Fool For You,” which won for Best R&B Song and Best Traditional R&B Performance, while 1991 graduate (and Full Sail Hall of Fame inductee) Phil Tan was a mixer on Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Is This Love,” Best R&B Performance winner.

Legendary vocalist Tony Bennett had a big GRAMMY night, which was great news for Recording Arts graduate Alessandro Perrotta, who worked as assistant on the singer’s Duets II. The project took the statue for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, while the track “Body and Soul,” a collaboration with the late Amy Winehouse, won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, and “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)” received Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist.

Other highlights include three grads on Taylor Swift’s “Mean,” winner for Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song (Drew Bollman, assistant, engineer; David Bryant, assistant; Seth Morton, assistant). Another four grads were featured on Kirk Franklin’s Hello Fear, which won for Best Gospel Album (Carl Harper, assistant, engineer; Bradley Chaney, engineer; Todd Fairall, engineer; Trey Nagella, engineer, mixing). The title track was also awarded Best Gospel Song.

Additional alumni were also credited on the winners for Best Reggae Album (Stephen Marley – Revelation Pt 1: The Root of Life), Best Musical Theater Album (The Book of Mormon, Original Broadway Cast), and Best Latin Pop, Rock, or Urban Album (Mana – Drama y Luz), among others.

The diversity of these credits is inspiring, and a reminder of the amount of great music released each year, as well as the opportunities in the industry. Having the results of your work singled out by your peers is an accomplishment for any artist, and Full Sail’s staff would like to congratulate all of the graduates who contributed to the 54th Annual GRAMMY winners and nominees.

You can review our coverage of the 2012 GRAMMY Awards on the Full Sail blog:

2012 GRAMMY nominees

Faculty GRAMMY picks

GRAMMY poll

Alumni GRAMMY memories

2012 GRAMMY wrap up