Tuesday, January 26th was a music lover’s favorite night of the year—the night in which the most prestigious award show for music took place: The Grammys. The first Grammy ceremony took place on May 4th, 1959. Unlike other award shows where winners are by popular vote or positions on the top charts, a Grammy is awarded by The Recording Academy’s voting membership. It is a peer honor awarded by professionals in the industry (artists, producers, songwriters, and engineers), which makes the award a respected one. This year the 62nd Annual Grammy’s Awards Ceremony was hosted by Alicia Keys and held in the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. For those of you who did not have the chance to watch the Grammy’s from their dorm, or was too busy doing work, here is a recap of everything you missed in a nutshell:
First, we must talk about the red carpet. All of our favorite artists looked stunning while they made their way into the award ceremony. Ariana Grande strutted the red carpet in a beautiful, puffy, grey gown with her typical ponytail hairstyle. Old Town Road singer, Little Nas X, walked his first Grammy’s red carpet in pink cowboy gear from head to toe. He even had a pink cowboy hat, pink belt, and pink cowboy boots! In addition to all the celebrity sightings, there were lots of cute couple photos taken at the red carpet. To name a few, our favorite couples Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner, and Chrissy Teigen and John Legend were spotted posing for the paparazzi. Such couple goals!
Once everyone settled into the stadium after such chaos on the red carpet, the ceremony began with a powerful monologue from Alicia Keys. Unfortunately, a tragic event occurred on the day of the GRAMMY’s that caused everyone to be down in a moment of honor and celebration. Professional basketball player Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna Bryant, and the lives of 8 other people were taken in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Such news was devastating, heart-breaking, and ultimately shocking to the world. Alicia Keys gave a tear-evoking tribute to Kobe to start off the GRAMMY’s ceremony. Afterwards, Boys II Men joined her on stage to give a touching performance of “It’s so Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” in Kobe’s honor. Later in the award’s ceremony, another tribute was given to both Kobe Bryant and Nipsey Hussle by John Legend, Kirk Franklin, DJ Khaled, Meek Mill, and Roddy Rich.
Throughout the presentations of the Grammy awards, there were lots of memorable performances. The first performer of the was Lizzo, a relatively new artist known for her songs about female empowerment. She put on an amazing performance—alongside an entire orchestra—of her songs “Cuz I Love you” and “Truth Hurts.” Shortly after, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani performed their new duet together called “Nobody But You.” Later in the night, another memorable performance was given by Demi Lovato, where she sang a song written four days after her overdose. Demi received a well-deserved standing ovation from the crowd. Other performances were from artists including Lil Nas X, Tyler the Creator, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Rosalia, and the Jonas Brothers. A poll on the Grammys website has come to the conclusion that Ariana Grande was the fan-favorite performer at the 2020 Grammys.
Now to the part that you all have probably been waiting for… The awards. Billie Eilish was the talk of the night, as she received her first Grammy ever at the age of eighteen years old and swept four other Grammy awards under her belt. Her and her brother began making records in a room in their house just for fun, and now, she is winning awards from the most prestigious music awards ceremony ever! Billie received the record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, best new artist, and best pop vocal album awards. She is not the type of artist to get emotional, but after her third award, she began to tear up. Other big wins of the night included Lizzo for best pop solo performance, Lil Nas X and Billy Cyrus for best pop duo/group performance, and Igor and Tyler the Creator for Best Rap Album. To see all of the winners of the night, check out this link.
