Berklee Alumni Recognized at the 63rd Grammy Awards

Berklee alumni had a big night at the 63rd Grammy Awards on Sunday, March 14, with four alumni taking home gold-plated gramophones in three categories. To date, Berklee alumni have won a total of 310 Grammy Awards.

Music legend and 28-time Grammy winner Quincy Jones ’51 offered congratulations to "all of the alumni who have collectively surpassed the 300 Grammy Award mark. I'm proud to be an alumnus of this institution and can't wait to see all that this student body will continue to do. Keep on keepin' on!"

Danilo Pérez ’88 won in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category for his work on Kurt Elling's album Secrets Are the Best Stories. This marks the sixth nomination and third Grammy win for Pérez, who is the founder and artistic director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. He previously won for his contributions to the Wayne Shorter albums Emanon in 2018 and Beyond the Sound Barrier in 2005. 

Gillian Welch ’92 and David Rawlings ’92 won in the category of Best Folk Album for their 2020 release, All the Good Times. David Greenbaum B.M. ’05 won in the category of Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, for his engineering work on Beck’s Hyperspace.

The Grammy for Best Musical Theater album went to Jagged Little Pill, which included Boston Conservatory at Berklee alumni Ebony Williams (B.F.A. ’05, dance) and John Cardoza (B.F.A. ’16, musical theater) in its original cast.

The Grammys also recognized jazz legend Lionel Hampton posthumously as one of 2021's Special Merit Award Honorees. Several members of Hampton’s band, the Big Band and the Estate, were Berklee alumni, including Cleave Guyton Jr. B.M. ’85, Lance Bryant ’83, Mark Gross B.M. ’88, and Christian Fabian B.M. ’00.

Below is a list of Berklee alumni who won Grammys in 2021. This list will be updated as additional winners are confirmed.

Category 32: Best Jazz Vocal Album
Secrets Are the Best Stories (Kurt Elling), Danilo Pérez ’88, piano

Category 51: Best Folk Album
All the Good Times, Gillian Welch ’92 and David Rawlings ’92

Category 69: Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Hyperspace (Beck), David Greenbaum B.M. ’05, engineer