On January 26, 2020, the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards aired in over 150 countries, bringing people together worldwide to celebrate music’s biggest night of the year. Newcomers Billie Eilish and Lizzo marked their Grammy debut and represented the new faces and freshness the music industry has in store for the new decade, Ariana Grande said goodbye to her biggest chapter in music yet and on a night filled with emotions of mourning and loss, music was indeed a strong antidote to begin the healing process.
Lizzo opened the show with a heartfelt and energetic performance of “Cuz I Love You” and her Top 10 hit “Truth Hurts.” Before diving her emotions into song, the Grammy award-winning artist for Best Pop Solo Performance proclaimed to the audience that “Tonight is for Kobe!” The tone was then set for the night. It was clear where everyone’s thoughts and prayers were on such a heavy night. That morning, the horrific news of the death of NBA star Kobe Bryant in a Calabasas helicopter crash, which also took the lives of eight other passengers on board, including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna, hit the world. Following the performance, host Alicia Keys took the stage to respond to the tragic news that shocked people around the world and made sure that this night would be to celebrate the lives of those lost, show how powerful the language of music really is and to honor the people who do it so well.
One of the most talked-about names following the night of the 62nd Annual Grammy’s was that of the 18-year-old phenomenon, Billie Eilish. Eilish swept up the awards, winning five out of her six nominations, four of them being the major categories of the night: record, album, and song of the year and Best New Artist. She is the first artist to sweep all the major categories since Christopher Cross in 1981. With a humble speech followed by another and another, it was of genuine reaction that Billie never in a million years expected such major recognition for a body of work and a group of songs she made in her childhood bedroom that she stills resides in today. Taking the stage with her to accept the awards, brother/collaborator Finneas O’Connell describes their intentions of writing the album, when we all fall asleep, where do we go?, as not to win a Grammy but they simply just “wrote an album about depression, suicidal thoughts, climate change, and being the bad guy, whatever that means.” In my opinion, it was a great decision for the Recording Academy to look at such an authentic piece of work and see it as deserving of history-making recognition.
However, to be expected, public opinion was split on some of the winnings, including that of Album of the Year, won by Billie Eilish. In the realm of social media, a lot of users voiced their opinion that Ariana Grande was just as deserving and should have taken home the award for her fifth studio album, thank u, next. Billie Eilish did not seem to disagree. As she took the stage once again to accept her award, she declared that she believed that thank u, next deserved this award “more than anything in the world.” Ariana, on the other hand, humbly shouted from the audience, telling Billie to “take her moment.” Nobody, not even Ariana herself, can deny that her last album was the most honest and record-breaking one to date, so she honored it in another way aside from winning an award. Midway through the ceremony, Grande took the stage to perform three songs off the #1 album including “imagine,” ”7 rings” and “thank u, next.” She ended the performance by sweetly slipping a diamond ring off her left hand and placing it back into the box, saying goodbye to what Grande describes as her most healing era.
More and more performances marked a memorable show, including that of Tyler, The Creator, who was joined by Boyz II Men and Charlie Wilson to performs songs off his album IGOR. The album took home a Grammy for Best Rap Album, making it Tyler’s first Grammy win. Camila Cabello also took the stage to sing a heartfelt and tear-jerking ballad to her father and Lil Nas X performed his record-breaking hit “Old Town Road” in what I would call meme culture in a performance. The most powerful performance of the night was the Nipsey Hussle Tribute. Hussle, who was killed last March, was honored with a Grammy for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap/Sung Performance. John Legend, DJ Khaled, and more took the night to pay respects to Hussle and his family who were also in attendance and brought on stage. The tribute closed with pictures of Hussle and Bryant displayed above the stage, honoring the impact of both California-based heroes.
The 62nd Annual Grammys was a night with heavy hearts and minds in a room filled with people who love music and the power it holds. No matter who you thought should’ve or shouldn’t have taken home an award, it is hard to deny the energy and commonality that music speaks to everyone and it was nice to take a moment and celebrate the beautiful year music gave all of us. So, until next year, plug in your headphones and hope for your favorites to take it home in 2021.