Sony Grabs Grammy Spotlight

SONY SIDE UP: Sony Music chief Doug Morris was in an expansive mood at his post-Grammy, “no velvet rope” gig at Cecconi’s, as they all celebrated Adele’s incredible six Grammy wins, including a clean sweep of the top three prizes, Album, Song and Record of the Year. Adele’s 21, already closing in on 6.4 million, will undoubtedly get another sales boost from her performance at L.A.’s Staples Center. Other Columbia nods went to Tony Bennett (who earned one apiece for his Duets II album, duet with Amy Winehouse, “Body and Soul,” and his arranger on a Queen Latifah duet) and an art direction nod for Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness at the Edge of Town box set. RCA Records also toasted their haul of eight awards, including five for Foo Fighters, two for gospel star Kirk Franklin and one for Chris Brown. With the passing of Whitney Houston over the weekend, Sony stands to reap the rewards of increased sales for the late diva, who climbed to #1 on the iTunes chart over the weekend with her Greatest Hits album, one of eight on the retailer’s Top 100, along with 19 of her singles in the Top 200. With new albums by Columbia’s Bruce Springsteen and The Shins, along with RCA’s R. Kelly and 19/Arista Nashville’s Carrie Underwood, Sony Music should stay pretty strong through the first part of the year. Among those making merry were, aside from winners Adele, Bennett, Franklin and Springsteen: Sir Howard Stringer, new Sony boss Kazuo Hirai, Rob Stringer, Steve Barnett, L.A. Reid, Irving and Shelli Azoff, Jared Leto, Berry Gordy, Les Moonves, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Marty Bandier, Tom Corson, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, Steven Tyler, Steven Van Zandt, Dr. Luke, Kelly Clarkson, Chris Brown, Weird Al Yankovic, Becky G., Sophia Black, Miguel, Foster the People, Jon Landau, Marty Ehrlichman, Carrie Underwood, Peter Edge, Joe Riccitelli, J. Cole, Jeff Rosen, Pitbull, Alicia Keys, Marsha Ambrosius, Jeremy Piven, Lee Leipsner, Barry Dickins, Adele mgr. Jonathan Dickins and dad Barry, Mitch Rosen, Rob Light, Barbara Carr, Gary Gersh, Lucian Grainge, Jimmy Iovine, John Legend, Scott Greer, Greg Linn, Darren Stupak, X Factor winner Melanie Amaro, Ciara, Tricky Stewart, Mike Flynn, Mark Stewart, Erik Olesen, Jacqueline Saturn, Benny Pough, Mark Shimmel, Lynn Hazan, Heath Kudler, Angelica Cob-Baehler and Super Bowl-winning coach Dick Vermeil, among many others. (2/13p)