The Grammy Awards, known to be the biggest night in music, was February 2 and saw some unexpected wins. Like every award show, it had its ups and downs.
- A Tribute to L.A. The night was spent honoring and helping the victims of the Los Angeles Palisades fires. Throughout the night, speakers brought up cases of the fires, how to help, and a QR code at the bottom of the screen to donate. They even started the night off with Vincent & More performing, an L.A. based band who was affected during the fires.
- Breathtaking Performances. Many people look forward to the performances each year and enjoy them, but the past couple of years I’ve found to be lacking. The past performances were not showstopping, unlike this year. This year’s performances filled with artists like Chappell Roan, Billie Ellish, Sabrina Carpenter, and so many more were the highlight of the evening. Each and every performer did an amazing job.
- Album of the Year. Beyonce won the album of the year award for COWBOY CARTER. I know that some people liked this album, but I have found that many didn’t. I think most of the albums up for the award were not the best but I wanted to see Charli XCX’s Brat or Billie Eilish’s Hit me Hard and Soft win.
- Long-awaited Awards. This night was filled with artists that have been around for some time but won their first Grammys this year. Starting the night, Charli XCX won three awards for Best Recording Package, one for Best Dance/Electronic Album, and one for Best Dance Pop Recording. Besides her first time, Sabrina Carpenter won two awards that night, with Chappell Roan and Doechii both winning their first awards.
- Decades Later… The Beatles won a Grammy this year, decades after their heyday. Using AI, The Beatles came out with a song this past year called “Now and Then”. I know many people have mixed thoughts on the use of AI in the music industry, but I think the way they used it brought The Beatles back into light.
- The Losses. Although many deserving people won awards, there were many others that went home with nothing. Billie Eilish was nominated for seven categories for her newest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, and went home with nothing. Taylor Swift, who is known to take home the most awards, went home with zero. Possibly the most heartbreaking loss for me was that Gracie Abrams didn’t win, as she was up for Best Pop Duo for her song “us.” featuring Taylor Swift (Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars won over them for “Die With A Smile”).
- Award Sweep. Kendrick Lamar was nominated for five categories for his song “Not Like Us” and won all five categories. This isn’t the first time a full sweep has happened like this at the Grammys, but it is impressive seeing that the song wasn’t on an album and he still won categories like Record of the Year and Best Rap Song.
Bad Joke. Trevor Noah, the host of the Grammys, has been known to make some poor jokes in the past years, and this year was no different. He could have used his time poking fun at the current events happening, but instead used his time to make a joke about Colombia and immigrants that felt lazy and insensitive.
