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The World as you knew it
Cease-fire ends Persian Gulf War (April 3); UN forces are victorious.
Europeans end sanctions on South Africa (April 15). South African Parliament repeals apartheid laws (June 5).
Boris Yeltsin becomes first freely elected president of Russian Republic (July 10). Yeltsin's stock increases when he takes a prominent role in suppressing an anti-Gorbachev coup by communist hardliners (Aug. 18-22).
US indicts two Libyans in 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland (Nov. 15).
Soviet
Union breaks up after President
Gorbachev's
resignation; constituent republics form
Commonwealth of
Independent States (Dec. 25). Background:
Dissolution of the USSR
The US as you knew it
US Supreme Court limits death row appeals (April 16).
William H. Webster retires as Director of CIA; Robert H. Gates succeeds him (May 14).
Professor Anita Hill accuses Judge
Clarence Thomas
of sexual harassment (Oct. 6); Senate, 52-48, confirms Thomas for
US Supreme Court
after stormy hearings (Oct. 15).
1991 US Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $5,916.70 billion
Federal spending: $1323.63 billion
Federal debt: $3598.5 billion
Median Household Income(current dollars): $30,126
Consumer Price Index: 136.2
Unemployment: 6.8%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.25 ($0.29 as of 2/3/91)
The Wide World of Sports - 1991
Super Bowl
NY Giants d. Buffalo (20-19)
World Series
Minnesota d. Atlanta Braves (4-3)
NBA Championship
Chicago d. LA Lakers (4-1)
Stanley Cup
Pittsburgh d. Minnesota (4-2)
Entertainment
Fox Broadcasting is the first network to permit condom advertising on television.
Seattle band Nirvana releases the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on the LP Nevermind and enjoys national success. With Nirvana's hit comes the grunge movement, which is characterized by distorted guitars, dispirited vocals and lots of flannel.
Paul Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman) is arrested in a Florida movie theater for indecent exposure.
1991 Grammys
| Record of the Year | “Another Day in Paradise,” Phil Collins | |
| Album of the Year | Back on the Block, Quincy Jones (Qwest/Warner Bros.) | |
| Song of the Year | “From a Distance,” Julie Gold, songwriter | |
| Best New Artist | Mariah Carey | |
| Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male | “Oh Pretty Woman,” Roy Orbison | |
| Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female | “Vision of Love,” Mariah Carey | |
| Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal | “All My Life,” Linda Ronstadt with Aaron Neville | |
| Best Pop Instrumental Performance | “Twin Peaks Theme,” Angelo Badalamenti | |
| Best Rock/Contemporary Gospel Album | Beyond Belief, Petra (Dayspring/Word) | |
| Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male | “Bad Love,” Eric Clapton | |
| Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female | “Black Velvet,” Alannah Myles | |
| Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal | “Janie's Got a Gun,” Aerosmith | |
| Best Rock Instrumental Performance | “D/FW,” Vaughan Brothers | |
| Best Hard Rock Performance | Time's Up, Living Colour | |
| Best Metal Performance | “Stone Cold Crazy,” Metallica | |
| Best Alternative Music Performance | I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, Sinead O'Connor | |
| Best Rhythm and Blues Song | “U Can't Touch This,” Rick James, Alonzo Miller and M.C. Hammer, songwriters | |
| Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Male | “Here and Now,” Luther Vandross | |
| Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Female | Compositions, Anita Baker | |
| Best Rhythm and Blues Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal | “I'll Be Good to You,” Ray Charles and Chaka Khan | |
| Best Rap Solo Performance | “U Can't Touch This,” M.C. Hammer | |
| Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group | “Back on the Block,” Ice T, Melle Mel, Big Daddy Kane, Kool Moe Dee, Quincy D. III and Quincy Jones | |
| Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Male | We Are in Love, Harry Connick, Jr. | |
|
All That Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald | |
| Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist | The Legendary Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Blue Note, Oscar Peterson | |
| Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group | The Legendary Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Blue Note, Oscar Peterson Trio | |
| Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band | “Basie's Bag,” George Benson featuring the Count Basie Orchestra | |
| Best Jazz Fusion Performance | “Birdland,” Quincy Jones | |
| Best Country Song | “Where've You Been,” Jon Vezner and Don Henry, songwriters | |
| Best Country Vocal Performance, Male | “When I Call Your Name,” Vince Gill | |
| Best Country Vocal Performance, Female | “Where've You Been,” Kathy Mattea | |
| Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal | Pickin' on Nashville, Kentucky Headhunters | |
| Best Country Vocal Collaboration | “Poor Boy Blues,” Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler | |
| Best Country Instrumental Performance | “So Soft, Your Goodbye,” Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler | |
| Best Bluegrass Recording | I've Got That Old Feeling, Alison Krauss (Rounder) | |
| Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album | Tramaine Hawkins Live, Tramaine Hawkins (Sparrow Corp.) | |
| Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album | So Much 2 Say, Take 6 (Reprise/Warner/Alliance) | |
| Best Pop Gospel Album | Another Time…Another Place, Sandi Patti (A&M/Word) | |
| Best Southern Gospel Album | The Great Exchange, Bruce Carroll (Word) | |
| Best Gospel Album By a Choir or Chorus | Having Church, Rev. James Cleveland (Savoy) | |
| Best Latin Pop Performance | “Por Que Te Tengo Que Olvidar?,” José Feliciano | |
| Best Tropical Latin Performance | “Lambada Timbales,” Tito Puento | |
| Best Mexican/American Performance | “Soy de San Luis,” Texas Tornados | |
| Best Traditional Blues Recording | Live at San Quentin, B.B. King (MCA) | |
| Best Contemporary Blues Recording | Family Style, Vaughan Brothers (Epic Associated) | |
| Best Traditional Folk Recording | On Praying Ground, Doc Watson (Sugar Hill) | |
| Best Contemporary Folk Recording | Steady On, Shawn Colvin (Columbia/CBS) | |
| Best Reggae Recording | Time Will Tell—A Tribute to Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer (Shanachie) | |
| Best New Age Performance | Mark Isham, Mark Isham | |
| Best Polka Recording | When It's Polka Time at Your House, Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra (Starr) | |
| Best Arrangement on an Instrumental | “Birdland,” Quincy Jones, Ian Prince, Rod Temperton and Jerry Hey, arrangers | |
| Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) | “The Places You Find Love,” Jerry Hey, Glen Ballard, Clif Magness and Quincy Jones, arrangers | |
| Best Instrumental Composition | “Change of Heart” Pat Metheny, composer | |
| Best Musical Cast Show Album | Les Misèrables, The Complete Symphonic Recording (Relativity) | |
| Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television | Glory, James Horner, composer (Virgin) | |
| Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television | “Under the Sea” (From The Little Mermaid), Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, composers | |
| Best Contemporary Composition | Arias and Barcarolles, Leonard Bernstein, composer | |
| Best Classical Album | Ives, Symphony No. 2 and Three Short Works, Leonard Bernstein conducting New York Philharmonic (Deutsche Grammophon) | |
| Best Chamber Music or Other Small Ensemble Performance | Brahms, The Three Violin Sonatas, Itzhak Perlman, violinist; Daniel Barenboim, pianist | |
| Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (With Orchestra) | Shostakovich, Violin Concerto No. 1; Glazunov, Violin Concerto, Itzhak Perlman, violinist; Zubin Mehta conducting Israel Philharmonic | |
| Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (Without Orchestra) | The Last Recording (Chopin, Haydn, Liszt and Wagner), Vladimir Horowitz | |
| Best Opera Recording | Wagner, Das Rheingold, James Levine conducting The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; solos: Morris, Ludwig, Jerusalem, Wlaschiha, Moll, Zednik and Rootering (Deutsche Grammophon) | |
| Best Choral Performance (Other Than Opera) | Walton, Belshazzar's Feast; Bernstein, Chichester Psalms, Missa Brevis, Robert Shaw conducting Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus | |
| Best Classical Vocal Performance | Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti in Concert, José Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, tenors; Zubin Mehta conducting Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Orchestra del teatro dell'Opera di Roma | |
| Best Comedy Recording | P.D.Q. Bach, Oedipus Tex and Other Choral Calamities, Professor Peter Shickele (Telarc) | |
| Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording | Gracie: A Love Story, George Burns (Simon and Schuster Audio) | |
| Best Recording for Children | The Little Mermaid—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, composers (Disneyland Records) | |
| Best Album Package | Days of Open Hand (Special Edition Hologram Digapack), Len Peltier, Jeffrey Gold and Suzanne Vega, art directors (A&M) | |
| Best Album Notes | Brownie: The Complete Emarcy Recordings of Clifford Brown, Dan Morgenstern, annotator (Emarcy) | |
| Best Historical Album | Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings, Robert Johnson (Columbia/CBS) | |
| Best Music Video, Short Form | “Opposites Attract,” Paula Abdul | |
| Best Music Video, Long Form | “Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em the Movie,” M.C. Hammer | |
| Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) | Quincy Jones | |
| Classical Producer of the Year | Adam Stern |
