Last night (February 5) marked the annual return of the Grammys as the ceremony celebrated its 65th year with arguably their biggest show to date. The Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles saw a healthy mixture of fresh faces and legendary acts all sit under one room to celebrate some of the great releases of the past year. While most of the big winners come as no surprise with the likes of Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar sweeping up wins, the major highlights of the night came in the performances and shocking victories.
The performances put on throughout the night were captivating and presented a nice mix of genres. The most exciting performance coming from the young Steve Lacy, who saw a breakout year in 2022 with his hit “Bad Habit”, brought the chart-topper to life with his debut performance at the award ceremony. Lacy would also go on to win Best Progressive R&B album for Gemini Rights. The likes of Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, and Chris Stapleton paid tribute to the great Berry Gordy with a melody of Motown classics while Questlove took charge of the party that was the 50th hip-hop anniversary set. Under the watchful eye of The Roots leader, all generations of hip-hop were represented as artists like LL Cool J, Missy Elliot, and Lil Uzi Vert all appeared during the performances to cut through time in order to bridge the ever-growing genre back to its roots. Brandi Charlie had her time on stage as well with a roaring performance of “Broken Horses”. Charlie would go on to win Best Americana Album, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance.
In terms of winners, even more milestones were made. Beyoncé made history by winning her 32nd Grammy award, making her the most decorated artist to ever be nominated for an award. Viola Davis became a member of the sought-after EGOT family after taking home the award for Best Audio Book for her narration of her memoir. Song of The Year went to Bonnie Raitt as she beat out favorites Taylor Swift and Beyoncé for her track “Just Like That”, Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5” was also up for the award but went on to win for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. Lamar also won Rap Album of The Year with his ambitious Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. Indie-head favorites Wet Leg cleaned up the alternative music categories with their wins in Best Alternative Music Performance and Best Alternative Music Album. The country categories still belong to the legendary Willie Nelson as he picked up two awards for Best Country Album with A Beautiful Time and Best Country solo performance with “Live Forever”.
You can check out the full list of winners below:
