Questlove and Joni Mitchell among early winners at 64th Grammys

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Joni Mitchell were among the early winners at the Grammys.

The main ceremony in Las Vegas is yet to begin but a number of awards have been given out during a premiere pre-show event.

The Roots drummer Questlove claimed the gong for best music film for his documentary Summer Of Soul, which also won the prize for best documentary feature at the Oscars last week.

That award was presented to the team behind the film, about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, by comedian Chris Rock, moments after he was slapped by Will Smith for a joke about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

Folk veteran Mitchell claimed the Grammy for best historical album for the record Joni Mitchell Archives, Volume 1: The Early Years, a five-disc box set.

Renowned jazz pianist Chick Corea, who died in February last year aged 79 after being diagnosed with cancer, claimed two posthumous awards.

These were for best improvised jazz solo for Humpty Dumpty (Set 2) and best Latin jazz album for Mirror Mirror by Eliane Elias, on which he featured with Chucho Valdes.

Other early winners included Carrie Underwood’s My Savior for best roots gospel album and Jon Batiste’s Freedom for best music video.

Comedian Nate Bargatze took to the stage to announce a category wearing a crash helmet in a nod to Smith’s outburst at the Oscars.

He quipped: “They said comedians have to wear these now at award shows when they get to the jokes part.”

The pre-show is where the bulk of the night’s 86 awards are distributed.

The 64th annual main ceremony will be hosted by The Daily Show presenter Trevor Noah at the 17,000-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena and feature an array of live performances and surprise guests.

The event was originally scheduled to take place on January 31 in Los Angeles but was postponed as the Omicron variant spread in the US.

Multi-genre performer Batiste has the most nominations with 11 but faces competition from the likes of Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo.