"This is so amazing. This is crazy - because this is
hip-hop music," said Hill, who is the first artist in the
genre to win an Album of the Year award.

The evening's other top winners were the "Titanic"
theme "My Heart Will Go On," which snagged four
Grammys, and pop icon Madonna, who took home
three.

Hill, frontwoman for the Grammy-winning trio the
Fugees, led the pack with her solo debut "The
Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." She won Album of the
Year, Best New Artist, Best R&B Song, Best R&B
Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

The 23-year-old New Jersey native, who had 10
nominations, broke the record for Grammys won by a
female performer in a single year, set by Carole King
in 1971.

Hill - whose arresting blend of rap, pop and R&B
catapulted her to the top of the charts and critics' lists
- carried a Bible and read from Psalm 40.

"I waited patiently for the Lord, he turned to me and
heard my cry ... he put a new song in my mouth, a
hymn of praise to my God," she said.

Madonna - who had to wait until middle age to earn
her first musical Grammy - captured three awards:
Best Pop Album, Best Short Form Video and Best
Dance Recording for her electronica-influenced "Ray
of Light."

The album also won a Grammy for best recording
package, which went to her artistic director.

"This is such a surprise and I am so honored," said the
Material Mom, clad in a red kimono and matching
platform boots.

The song "My Heart Will go On," the Oscar-winning
tune from "Titanic," proved unsinkable once again.

The soaring ballad sung by Celine Dion won Record
of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance. It also
earned songwriters James Horner and Will Jennings
the Grammys for Song of the Year and Best Song
Written for a Motion Picture or Television.

"It spoke to a lot of people," Horner said backstage.
"It obviously was very romantic in a wistful, timeless
way."

The 41st annual Grammys, hosted by comic actress
and talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell and broadcast
live on CBS, was ladies' night.

"If you like women and who doesn't ... Tinky, Winky
... we've got plenty of them tonight," O'Donnell said -
in a an apparent reference to the "Teletubbies"
children's TV show character accused by Jerry
Falwell of being a gay role model.

Country crossover chick Shania Twain won Best
Country Song and Best Female Country Performance
for her hummable hit "You're Still the One."

But she lost the Best Country Album Grammy to the
tawny-tressed trio Dixie Chicks, who also won Best
Country Performance by a Duo or Group with the
song "There's Your Trouble."

Sheryl Crow - who has won a total of five Grammys
in previous years - added another for Best Rock
Album with her self-searching, self-produced "The
Globe Sessions."

"First of all, I want to say I want Lauryn Hill to
produce my next record," she quipped.

Alanis Morissette took home Grammys for Best
Female Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock
Song for "Uninvited."

R&B ingenue Brandy, nominated for four, got one -
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group for "The
Boy is Mine," her collaboration with fellow teen icon
Monica.

In other categories, Brooklynite Jay-Z won Best Rap
Album for "Hard Knock Life" while Will Smith won
Best Rap Solo Performance for his soft-core single
"Gettin' Jiggy Wit It."

Smith, who had just come from a parent-teacher
conference, dedicated the award to his son, Trey.

"She said his math is good," Smith said. "But she told
me his rhyming skills are down. That's just pure
parental neglect...Trey, there's always law school,
baby."

The Brian Setzer Orchestra, the swing-music group
fronted by the ex-Stray Cat, also won two Grammys -
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
and Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

The unlikely pairing of angry young man Elvis Costello
and '60s smoothie Burt Bacharach picked up Best
Pop Vocal Collaboration for "I Still Have That Other
Girl."

Bacharach, who has won Grammys in three different
decades, had his eye on the future: "I'd like to go
another 10."

-- Tracy Connor - 2/24/99