The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held this Sunday, April 3, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It’s the best time for talented musicians across all genres to gather and be celebrated. Nominees for this year’s awards ceremony included Jon Batiste (who led this year’s nominations with 11 nominations for his album We Are and his score for the 2020 Pixar film Soul), Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Japanese Breakfast, BTS, Marshmallow, Rivers Cuomo and more. Check out the recap and winner’s list below to find out who went home with a golden gramophone!
Originally planned to occur in January, the Grammys waited until this spring to celebrate this year’s list of nominees.
The award show opened with a 1970s-inspired performance from Silk Sonic (Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars) performing their song “777” from their album 2021 An Evening With Silk Sonic. Trevor Noah applauded Silk Sonic for their stunning performance, assures the audience that the evening will be enjoyable, joking that everyone will be keeping each other’s names out of their mouths (making fun of the 2022 Oscar’s incident), and introduced this year’s Record of the Year nominee Olivia Rodrigo who amazed the crowd with the performance of her hit song, “Driver’s License.”
J. Balvin was the next to perform “Qué Más Pues?” with Maria Becerra. Noah then welcomed musician, producer, DJ and songwriter Questlove who presented the award for Song of the Year. As Silk Sonic arrived on stage, slowly grooving to their now Grammy Award-winning song, “Leave the Door Open”, Mars and .Paak expressed their gratitude for each other and Anderson hilariously realizes that his pants zipper is down.
Host Trevor Noah jokes that despite the other nominees losing to Silk Sonic, they have something that not everybody else has: money. He then welcomes the South Korean boy band BTS who charmed the hearts of everyone with their James Bond-inspired performance of “Butter”.
After the break Lil Nas X was welcomed on stage to perform a mashup of his songs “DEAD RIGHT NOW”, “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” and “INDUSTRY BABY”, which included the help of Jack Harlow.
Actor Anthony Mackie and country-pop singer Kelsea Ballerini presented the award for Best Country Album. The award went to Chris Stapleton for his album Starting Over. He gives a touching speech to support one another
Trevor Noah shined a light on women tour managers and welcomes Nicole Massey, Billie Eilish’s production manager, to the stage who introduced Eilish to perform “Happier than Ever.” As Eilish wore a T-shirt in memory of Taylor Hawkins, the drummer for the Foo Fighters who passed away in March of this year, she gave an exceptional, chilling performance with singer-songwriter FINNEAS. Artists such as Olivia Rodrigo and Doja Cat, as well as actor Billy Porter, were seen giving her a standing ovation.
After Noah celebrates Anderson on his success in Silk Sonic while jokingly ignoring Bruno Mars (because “we don’t talk about Bruno”), he introduced Megan thee Stallion and Dua Lipa (who is briefly joined on stage by fashion designer Donatella Versace) who presented the award for Best New Artist. The Grammy went to Olivia Rodrigo who stated that it was a “dream come true.”
Legendary jazz singer Joni Mitchell and Blues singer Bonnie Raitt introduced Brandi Carlile who sings “Right on Time.”
Noah introduced the iconic rapper Nas, who started his performance with “I Can” and “Made You Look.” He proceeded to shut down the stage as he performed “One Mic”, “Rare Form” and “Nobody.”
Rapper Ludacris presented the award for Best Rap Performance. Baby Keem wins the award for “Family Ties” featuring Kendrick Lamar. Baby Keem thanked his support system, which included the women in his family and rapper Kendrick Lamar (who is also his cousin).
Katie Wilkinson was the next touring manager to introduce her artist: Chris Stapleton. Stapleton gave a beautiful performance of his song “Cold” joined by violinists.
After the Maverick City Music, a contemporary worship music collective, performed, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the world to share their music with the people of Ukraine and not sit in silence as Ukraine fights for their freedom. Then, John Legend, Mika Newton and poet Luba Yakimchuk, who fled Ukraine, all joined the stage to sing in support of Ukraine as pictures of the fight were shown on the screen. After the heartfelt performance, the award show flashed “to support, please visit www.forurkraine.com. #StandUpForUkraine”
After Noah possibly butchered a song in Korean in front of the biggest boy band in the world right now, BTS, Tony Bennett, singer of big band, show tunes, and jazz, introduced Lady Gaga who amazingly sang “Love for Sale” and “Do I Love You” as footage of Bennett and Gaga. It was definitely a heartwarming performance.
Pose actor Billy Porter was the next presenter for Best R&B Album. Jazmine Sullivan won the award for Heaux Tales.
Jared Leto was the next to present an award, this one for Best Pop Vocal Album. The Grammy, once again, goes to Olivia Rodrigo for Sour. She gave a speech about her former dreams as a child to be a gymnast and now she’s a Grammy-award winning artist. The awards show then displayed a montage of the late Taylor Hawkins, which then transitioned into a moving tribute to the celebrities we’ve lost in the past year. The list included Virgil Abloh, Betty Davis, Wanda Young, Meat Loaf, Biz Markie, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Robbie Shakespeare, Michael Lang, Young Dolph, Jessie D, Gregory “Shock G” Jacobs, Vincente Fernández, DMX and more.
The man of the night, Jon Batiste, began his performance with a sickening piano performance. He then broke out into a soulful, dance-filled performance of his hit song “Freedom” from his album We Are. Batiste had the entire room filled with energy as he made his way into the stage and on top of Billie Eilish’s table. What an unforgettable performance!
Reminded of the world’s insane “Bieber fever” during his teen years, Noah welcomes Justin Bieber, Daniel Caesar and Giveon to the stage to perform their fun Grammy-nominated song “Peaches.”
Punk-rock princess Avril Lavigne presented the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The award went to Doja Cat and SZA for their insanely catchy hit “Kiss Me More”. While SZA worked her way to the stage on crutches, Doja Cat fiercely ran to the stage and unashamedly told the audience that she was in the bathroom while the award was being presented. The now Grammy Award-winning artist then tried to hold on to her tears as she mentioned how big of a deal the award is for her.
H.E.R.’s tour manager, Jeanine McLean-Williams, then welcomed H.E.R., Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Travis Barker and Lenny Kravitz. H.E.R. and Lenny Kravitz performed Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way.”
Keith Urban presented the award for Record of the Year. Without a doubt, Silk Sonic wins for “Leave the Door Open.” Once again, they stood and slowly grooved before stepping onto the stage and accepting their award. Anderson .Paak joked, “In the industry, we call that a clean sweep!”
Host Trevor Noah introduces Recording Academy President and CEO Harvey Mason Jr. who states that music serves the world and he, along with other members of the Recording Academy express their gratitude for the Academy and how it has shaped their careers.
Joan Lee, the wardrobe supervisor for Carrie Underwood, brought Underwood to the stage to perform “Ghost Story” for the first time anywhere.
After the break, Lenny Kravitz presented the award for Album of the Year, which was arguably the most exciting award category of the night. So many talented artists and there could only be one. That award went to Jon Batiste for his heavy-hitting album We Are. The multi-Grammy Award-winning artist appeared surprised but pleased. He states that he’s loved music since he was a young boy and states that music is a spiritual practice for him. He congratulated the other nominees, and he finished his speech with one important rule, “Be you.”
The last performance of the night was Brothers Osbourne, who won their first Grammy of the night for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Younger Me.” Their electrifying performance “Dead Man’s Curve” closed the show out in the best way with everyone bobbing their heads to the intense guitars.
Winner’s List:
Album of the Year – We Are, Jon Batiste
Record of the Year – “Leave the Door Open”, Silk Sonic
Song of the Year – “Leave the Door Open”, Silk Sonic
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical – Jack Antonoff
Producer of the Year, Classical – Judith Sherman
Best Rock Album – Medicine at Midnight, Foo Fighters
Best Rock Song – “Waiting on a War”, Foo Fighters
Best Rock Performance – “Making a Fire”, Foo Fighters
Best Metal Perfomance – “The Alien”, Dream Theater
Best Pop Solo Performance – “Driver’s License”, Olivia Rodrigo
Best Rap Album – Call Me If You Get Lost, Tyler, the Creator
Best Rap Song – “Jail”, Kanye West ft. Jay-Z
Best Progressive R&B Album – Table for Two, Lucky Daye
Best R&B Song – “Leave the Door Open”, Silk Sonic
Best R&B Performance – “Leave the Door Open”, Silk Sonic and “Pick Up Your Feelings”, Jazmine Sullivan
Best Traditional R&B Performance – “Fight for You”, H.E.R.
Best Country Album – Starting Over, Chris Stapleton
Best New Artist – Olivia Rodrigo
Best Dance/Electronic Recording – “Alive”, Rüfus Du Sol
Best Dance/Electronic Album – Subconsciously, Black Coffee
Best Rap Performance – “Family Ties”, Baby Keem ft. Kendrick Lamar
Best Reggae Album – Beauty in the Silence, Soja
Best Folk Album – They’re Calling Me Home, Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi
Best R&B Album – Heaux Tales, Jazmine Sullivan
Best Country Song – “Cold”, Chris Stapleton
Best Country Duo/Group Performance – “Younger Me”, Brothers Osborne
Best Country Solo Performance – “You Should Probably Leave”, Chris Stapleton
Best Musical Theater Album – The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, Barlow & Bear
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album – Love for Sale, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Best Melodic Rap Performance – “Hurricane”, Kanye West ft. The Weekend & Lil Baby
Best Pop Vocal Album – Sour, Olivia Rodrigo
Best Jazz Vocal Album – Songwrights Apothecary Lab, Esperanza Spalding
Best Contemporary Classical Composition – Shaw: Narrow Sea, Caroline Shaw
Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album – Origen, Juanes
Best Música Urbana Album – El Último Tour del Mundo, Bad Bunny
Best Latin Pop Album – Mendó, Alex Cuba
Best Latin Jazz Album – Mirror Mirror, Eliane Elias With Chick Core and Chucho Valdés
Best Music Video – “Freedom”, Jon Batiste
Best Music Film – Summer of Soul, Various Artists
Best Gospel Performance/Song – “Never Lost”, CeCe Winans
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song – “Believe for It”, Cece Winans
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance – “Kiss Me More”, Doja Cat ft. SZA
Photo Credit: Stephen Hoffmeister
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