This past weekend, the 67th Grammy Awards were held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The award show was probably one of the most interesting and eventful in the past couple of years. Here are some of the most important moments you might have missed:
LA fires tribute
John Legend, St. Vincent, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley, and Brittany Howard performed Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” and Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars performed “California Dreamin’” to honor the city after the devastating wildfires that took place this month destroying thousands of homes and businesses. To salute the firefighters who fought them, a few were selected to present the Album of the Year award at the end of the show. On top of all of this, during the entire ceremony, there was a QR code on the corner of your screen that you could scan and donate to the fire victims, and attendees could put money into boxes set up all around the arena. Thanks to these efforts, they were able to raise over 7 million dollars!
Doechii becomes the third woman ever to win Best Rap Album
New artist Doechii makes history by winning the Best Rap Album for “Alligator Bites Never Heal”. In a genre dominated by men, only three women have ever won this award, Lauryn Hill, Cardi B (who presented the award this year), and now, Doechii.
Chappell Roan stands up for her fellow artists
For her acceptance speech for the Best New Artist Award, Roan took the time to read out of her cream-colored notebook to make a statement on how the music industry doesn’t take care of artists. She spoke about how they don’t give their artists benefits and when they drop them, they leave them with no job experience whatsoever, leading them to become broke. Roan even shared her own experiences in the industry. Her speech made her fellow musicians erupt in applause.
“Cowboy Carter” wins big time
Beyonce won two major awards, Best Country Album and Album of the Year. Taylor Swift presented the Best Country Album award to Beyonce 15 years after she won it for “Fearless”. The two rivals embraced on the stage and were smiling with only respect for one another. “Cowboy Carter” also won Beyonce her first Album of the Year award! She was shocked about winning both of these awards, but it was well deserved.
The Quincy Jones Tribute
To honor the late, great music producer, Quincy Jones, there was a series of speeches and performances of songs produced by Jones. Will Smith spoke about the late producer, Cynthia Erivo sang Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me To The Moon”, Lainey Wilson did her rendition of Ray Charles’ “Let the Good Times Roll”, Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock performed “Bluesette” on the piano and harmonica, Wonder sang “We Are the World” with choir students from Palisades Charter High and Pasadena Waldorf School, and Janelle Monae rounded out the tribute by performing Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough”.
Alicia Keys wins the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award
Alicia Keys was awarded the well-deserved Global Impact Award for her advocacy and influence in the world. In her acceptance speech she shouted out many great producers and showed her support for Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) and how powerful different voices can be to make an impact on the world. Her speech was as beautiful as she was standing on that stage.
The above are some of the most important moments, but here are some other notable moments:
- Billie Eilish performed “Birds of a Feather” with FINNEAS.
- Best New Artist nominees, Benson Boone, Teddy Swims, Raye, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Shaboozey performed their hit songs.
- Gaga supported trans-rights during her acceptance speech for Best Pop Duo/Group Song.
- The Weeknd gave a surprise performance of a song from his new album, “Hurry Up Tomorrow”.
- Shakira dedicated her Best Latin Pop Album award to all the immigrants in the U.S.
- Charli XCX performed “Guess” from her album “Brat” with a flash mob and underwear flying everywhere.
- Swift and Billie Eilish walked out of the ceremony empty-handed.
- Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” swept Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
This award show was definitely one of the most memorable, and the world should be excited about what the music industry has got for us this year.
