The Grammy Award is the recording industry’s most prestigious award, presented annually by the Recording Academy, to honour the recording arts. The 62nd Grammy Awards took place on Sunday, January 26, and to put it briefly, they were a mess.
Before the awards taking place, on January 16th, 2020, Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan was placed on placed leave after allegations of misconduct emerged. She claimed that she was wrongfully fired for alleged sexual harassment claims of a female worker and irregularities with the Grammy nominations. She was seen as a threat to the Recording Academy, after stating that the voting process was an “outrageous conflict of interest ”, and that several nominated artist were on the voting boards of their prospective categories. This was several months before this year’s Grammy’s, which were lacklustre on their own.
Some performances were outstanding, like that of Demi Lovato, Tyler the Creator, and Billie Eilish, who dominated their stages. However, most of the performances, including Blake Shelton, the Jonas Brothers, and Camila Cabello fell short of being worthy of the Grammy’s stage.
Some of the wins were well deserved, however, there were several snubs I need to acknowledge. Firstly, Album of the Year won by Billie Eilish for “When we all fall asleep where do we go?” was surprising to me. Ariana Grande’s album “Thank you, Next” dominated the charts for most of last year, and was much more deserved.
Lana del Ray has continuously put alternative pop on the map for this generation, so the fact that she did not win in either of the categories she was nominated in for “Norman Fckng Rockwell!”, was a huge letdown.
It was fitting for Billie Eilish to win Song of the year for “Bad Guy” as that was one of the most prominent songs of 2019, but Lil Nas X was snubbed of a nomination in that category for “Old Town Road”. However, Lil Nas X winning Best Music Video over FKA Twigs’ immaculate video for “Cellophane” was not deserved , in my opinion.
One win I completely agree with is Tyler the Creator winning Best Rap Album for “Igor”, which was an incredible album. Undoubtedly, Ariana Grande deserved at least one of the awards she was nominated for. She ruled pop music in 2019, and it was unfortunate that she did not walk away with an award. Many people speculate that she did not win due to the drama between herself and the Recording Academy before last year’s Grammy’s.
All in all, the Grammy’s were unenjoyable this year. However, I have hope that after this year’s controversy, the Grammy’s will be impartial and fair next year. Here’s to a memorable Grammy’s 2021!