Grammy voters love giving artists second chances

The legendary duo nabbed three Grammys -- their first ever -- at Wednesday night's ceremony, besting critical favorite Eminem for the top award, album of the year. The jazz-rock group's biggest hits were in the '70s, and they are to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next month.

Walter Becker, one-half of Steely Dan, said Grammy voters' collective guilt may have played a role in the best-album award for "Two Against Nature."

"I would be guessing, but that probably had something to do with it," said Becker, 51. "I notice these things tend to be sort of cumulative for the course of a career."

Others who have wowed the Grammys with comebacks over the years include Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, James Brown and Marvin Gaye.

"It's classic Grammy catchup, where they embrace veteran rock artists long after they're done rocking the boat," said Tom O'Neil, author of the book "The Grammys."

But Recording Academy President Michael Greene dismissed the notion.

"I don't think those people had any frame of reference of whether Steely Dan ever won," Greene said of Grammy voters.

"Two Against Nature," Steely Dan's first recording in 20 years, was the night's major upset; Eminem's lyrically vicious but clever "The Marshall Mathers LP" was the most talked-about disc of the year.

Just the possibility that Eminem might take the most prestigious award drew protests from gay and women's groups, who objected to his violent lyrics. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation led a small protest outside the ceremony.

Adding to the controversy was Eminem's performance at the awards show with gay superstar Elton John.

"The duet was so dramatic, so when he lost the best-album award a few minutes later, viewers had to feel that maybe the critics and Elton were right and Eminem was the great artist he said he was," said O'Neil.

Another of the best-album nominees, Ed O'Brien of the alternative group Radiohead, agreed. "I think we all feel, and I think a lot of people we've spoken to think that he's made the most culturally significant album, whether it's good or bad," said O'Brien.

(The other nominees for album of the year were "Midnite Vultures" by Beck and "You're the One" by Paul Simon -- a big Grammy winner in the past.)

While Eminem's lyrics drew the most scrutiny, Steely Dan's album also contained some milder but controversial themes, including a cousin's lust for his underage cousin.

"We'd like to thank Eminem for taking the heat," Donald Fagen, the 53-year-old other half of Steely Dan, said backstage.

Eminem, 28, did win three Emmys, in rap categories.

But veterans claimed the top trophies. Besides Steely Dan, Irish rockers U2, who had won seven Grammys before, including album of the year, added three more to their trophy case, including record and song of the year. Perennial Grammy favorite Sheryl Crow, Lenny Kravitz, Toni Braxton, Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton also took awards.

In the night's other upset, veteran Southern crooner Shelby Lynne won, ironically, the best new artist award off the strength of her sixth album, "This Is Shelby Lynne." Under loosened Grammy rules, the award can go to a performer who has made other recordings but has a breakthrough year.

"I feel like, why not?" Lynne said backstage. "I have been around so long that to me it feels new."

Today's youth sensations, Destiny's Child, took home two of their leading five nominations. But last year's top-selling act, 'N Sync, lost all of their categories, repeating the fate suffered by the Backstreet Boys last year. And teen-pop stars Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera also were shut out.

Of course, not all veterans came home winners; except for her glitzy opening performance of "Music," Madonna never walked on the stage again, shut out in her three nominated categories.

Maybe Grammy voters will smile more kindly in another decade or two.<