Ricky Kej and Stewart Copeland’s ‘Divine Tides’ Wins Best Immersive Audio Album at the Grammys 2023

Among the early winners at the 65th Annual Grammy awards was Bengaluru-based composer and producer Ricky Kej. His album with The Police drummer Stewart Copeland, Divine Tides, was announced as Best Immersive Audio Album at the 2023 Grammys Premiere ceremony. This marks Kej’s third win, following Grammys in the Best New Age Album category for his albums Winds of Samsara in 2015 and Divine Tides in 2022.

Taking place ahead of the main Grammy awards show in Los Angeles, Divine Tides won in the same category as albums such as Aguilera by Christina Aguilera and Memories… Do Not Open by The Chainsmokers. Taking the honors for this win are mix engineer Eric Schilling and immersive mix producer Herbert Waltl, who worked with Kej and Copeland.

Speaking to Rolling Stone India at the time of his nomination, Kej said of the Grammy nod, “It was not a genre category [we’re nominated in]. It got nominated for Best Immersive Album across genres. [It] is so diverse and also an opportunity to have Indian music stand up against mainstream western music. It’s great to be a part of that and I’m excited to see the outcome.”

At the Grammy premiere ceremony, Copeland, Kej and Waltl took the stage for the win. Waltl spoke and noted that Schilling was not up on stage with them for a very valid reason – he had a prior commitment. “[Schilling] is not here because he’s recording and mixing the Grammys show tonight,” Waltl said.

He went on to talk about the making of Divine Tides, “This album is amazing. It was made in Europe, Asia, Africa and the U.S. and you can only make a great mix if you have great material. This guy [pointing to Copeland] made an enormous, beautiful album.” As Waltl signed off, Kej went up to the mic and said, “Namaste and thank you.”  

Watch a replay of the Grammys premiere ceremony here. ‘Divine Tides’ is announced as winner in the Immersive Audio Album category beginning at the 30:50 mark.