| 28th Annual Grammy Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date | February 25, 1986 |
| Location | Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles |
| Hosted by | Kenny Rogers |
| Most awards | USA for Africa (4) |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | CBS |
The 28th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1986, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year, 1985.[1][2] The night's big winner was USA For Africa's "We Are The World", which won four awards, including Song of the Year which went to Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. It marked the first time in their respective careers that they received the Song of the Year Award. For Richie, it was his sixth attempt in eight years. The other three awards (including Record of the Year) for the latter single were given to the song's producer, Quincy Jones.
Another big winner was Phil Collins, whose No Jacket Required LP amassed three wins: Album of the Year (alongside Hugh Padgham), Producer of the Year and Best Pop Vocal (Male). The Manhattan Transfer also won three awards, including two for the song "Another Night in Tunisia" (performed and arranged on the album by guest vocalists Jon Hendricks and Bobby McFerrin).
Stevie Wonder won his first Grammy in nine years for his album In Square Circle, after winning fifteen awards in the mid-1970s. While songwriter Jimmy Webb won him his first Grammy in 17 years for his song "Highwayman" (after 1969's Up, Up and Away). Orchestrator and arranger Nelson Riddle, posthumously won for his arrangements on Linda Ronstadt's album Lush Life. There was one new category, Best Polka Recording. It would run until 2009.
There were a number of remarkable wins in the classical field. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's recording of Berlioz: Requiem won three awards, while a different recording by the same orchestra won the Best Orchestral Performance award. These four wins were the result of an unusually large number of nominations for the orchestra (12 in total), including four in the Best Classical Album category which normally holds five nominees (the Recording Academy decided to add a number of nominations to this list to lessen the domination of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in this category).
Several sources from the American classical community - including record labels - expressed their dismay with the situation, suggesting that this was the result of many members of the orchestra and other associates joining the Recording Academy in force to be able to vote on nominations and Grammy winners.[3] Despite the controversy, the orchestra's conductor Robert Shaw and their album producer (and record label owner) Robert Woods won three Grammys each.