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GRAMMYs 2023: Highlights of the Music’s Biggest Night

GRAMMYs 2023: Highlights of the Music’s Biggest Night

After a buzzy awards circuit from TV and film, music finally got the spotlight on Sunday! The 65th Grammy Awards took place in Los Angeles overnight, showcasing and honoring the biggest and brightest stars of the industry. Artists from different genres share laughs and claps with the help of the night’s host, Trevor Noah.

Beyonce, the goddess herself, came in late after being stuck in the traffic, but still bagged the most trophies. Adele and Lizzo are the night’s ultimate besties, with a lot of iconic interactions. Taylor Swift just came to party with friends, especially to Bad Bunny’s beats. The Big Four categories were jammed with surprise wins. A lot of history has been made through the night, mixed with fun bits of regular A-listers being themselves.

Here’s a look at the most memorable and iconic moments from the music’s biggest night:

Bad Bunny starts the party

Bad Bunny kicked off the show with a joyous and energetic performance of his songs El Apagon and Despues de la Playa. The Puerto Rican rapper and singer surely commanded the place to start off on a high note. The performance was complete with back-up dancers swirling and fandangoing around the audience tables. He even got Taylor Swift and Jack Harlow grooving off their chairs. Many viewers quickly took to Twitter their reaction of seeing Taylor get down to Bad Bunny’s song.

The 28-year-old Latino icon was up for three nominations for the night, including Album of the Year for Un Verano Sin Ti, which is the first Latin album to get a nod in that category. He later on won Best Música Urbana Album for the same LP. The icon was also up for Best Pop Solo Performance with Moscow Mule.

Viola Davis joins the EGOT Club

Viola Davis continues to prove that she can do just about anything. The veteran actress achieves the legendary EGOT status by winning Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording for her memoir Finding Me.  The only female nominee in her category, Davis beat out Jamie Foxx, Mel Brooks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Questlove.

“I just EGOT!” she exclaimed in her brief speech—and of course, the crowd went wild for her. She is now the 18th person, and third black woman, to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award. Talk about legend behavior!

Beyonce becomes the most awarded artist in the history of Grammys

It was a big night for Beyonce—well, every awards show is always a big night for the icon—but this night was especially a bigger one. She just became the most awarded artist in the history of Grammys! The diva bagged four trophies for the night, with Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best R&B Song, and Best Dance/Electronic Album and Recording. Her Grammy trophies now totals to a whopping 32, beating out former record-holder, Georg Solti.

The artist soaked in an extended standing ovation, then headed on to thank God, her uncle, her parents, her husband Jay-Z and their three children. She lastly thanked the queer community for their love and “for inventing the genre”, referring to Dance/Electronic.

Beyonce was also the most decorated artist of the night with nine nominations and four wins. This comes to no surprise already!

Kim Petras makes history as the first transwoman to win Best Pop Duo

The 30-year-old popstar broke down in tears while accepting the trophy for Best Pop Duo, along with Sam Smith for their hit-song Unholy. Petras highlighted how Smith wanted her to accept the award and give the speech because of the landmark achievement. She took time to thank the “transgender legends” who paved the way for her success— especially the late artist Sophie.

“Thank you so much for your inspiration Sophie, I adore you and your inspiration will forever be in my music,” Petras said onstage. Petras also thanked Madonna for fighting for LGBTQ rights, as well as her mother.

Sam Smith and Kim Petras followed up their history-making Grammys victory with an epic performance of their smash single, Unholy. Donning red hot devil outfits, Sam started the number with dancers, while Kim appeared in an S&M-style cage. They definitely gave the audience a sizzle when the chorus kicked in and the flames shot off the stage.

Lizzo belts out and finally wins a Big Four trophy

Big girl popstar, Lizzo, brought everyone to church with her performance of About Damn Time and Special during the ceremony. Donning a black mini dress with silver jewel corset detailing, she was fully committed to giving Grammys viewers a spectacle. She flawlessly belted high notes for the latter song. A stunning gospel choir also complemented her in black and gold ensembles.

The singer later on took one of the Big Four trophies by winning Record of the Year for About Damn Time. In her speech, she gave honor to Prince and highlighted how she used to skip class just to watch Beyonce.  She also gave emphasis to the importance of making “positive music” in very dark times.

Lizzo ended her speech by saying that Beyonce is the “artists of our lives”. Beyonce cheered her on from the audience. Icons supporting icons!

See Also

The Grammy celebrates 50 years of Hip-Hop

Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, GloRilla, Lil Uzi Vert, Queen Latifah and other Hip-Hop icons gave a stunning tribute to the said genre on its 50th year through a packed medley. The 15-minute performance was curated by Questlove, in partnership with Mass Appeal. It was like traveling through time as dozens of stars chronicled how the genre has evolved through the songs.

The medley included 24 songs including LL Cool J’s Just Wanna Rock and I Can’t Live Without My Radio, Salt-N-Pepa’s My Mic Sounds Nice, Method Man’s Method Man, and a lot more.

Harry Styles and Bonnie Raitt surprise everyone with their wins

What does Beyonce have to do in order to take home an AOTY trophy? Everyone was expecting Renaissance to snatch it for the night, but in a shocking turn of events, Harry Styles bagged Album of the Year. The As It Was singer was just equally shocked as everyone else in the room. In his speech, he stated that “there’s no such thing as best music”. You could hear someone yelling out, “Beyoncé!” from the audience as Styles talked.

Before ending his speech and passing the mic to his producers, Styles stated that “This doesn’t happen to people like me very often,”. The line prompted violent reactions from viewers in the social media.

Styles also took home the Best Pop Vocal Album that night, beating out Adele, Lizzo and ABBA.

Equivalently, what does it take for Taylor Swift to win Song of the Year? The whole social media was certain that she was bound to take home the SOTY trophy for her emotionally striking All Too Well (10 Minutes Version). Well, gut-feels and predictions don’t work anymore. Bonnie Raitt took home the trophy for her American Roots song, Just Like That.  The singer was also just as bewildered as everyone else when first lady Jill Biden announced that she won.

“I’m so surprised, I don’t know what to say. This is just an unreal moment,” said Raitt, who noted that singer and songwriter John Prine, who died in 2020, inspired her song. The American blues singer and guitarist also won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s ceremony.

Even with all the shocking snubs and unexpected wins, Grammys still gave a good time, not just for the artists but also viewers. You can always expect good television and entertainment with A-list artists in one room. Now we look forward for next year’s Grammys!

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