The 65th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 5th, with a who’s who of the music world heading to Los Angeles to honour the best the past year had to offer.
The awards, hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, saw surprises in a number of major categories, leaving both fans and critics alike shocked.
Ex-boybander Harry Styles donned a tinsel style jumpsuit while performing his number 1 single ‘As it Was’ on a revolving stage, before going on to win Album of the Year for ‘Harry’s House’. However many weren’t impressed when the popstar closed his speech stating, “This doesn’t happen to people like me very often and this is so, so nice.” Styles was the only white male solo artist nominated for the Album of the Year accolade, beating off competition from minority group artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige and Bad Bunny.
Lizzo performed her now Record of the Year winning single ‘About Damn Time’, accompanied by a backing choir as well as her song ‘Special’. Lizzo’s win marks the first time a black woman has won the Record of the Year award in close to thirty years; the last black female recipient being the late Whitney Houston for ‘I Will Always Love You’. Lizzo paid tribute to the late songstress on her Instagram, captioning her post “I don’t take this lightly”.
Winner of Best New Artist Samara Joy performed at the ceremony for the first time. The singer was nominated for two awards and walked home with both on Sunday night, including the award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. She follows in the footsteps of artists such as Adele, Billie Eilish and Amy Winehouse.
Migos rapper Quavo joined the Grammy winning Maverick City Music to pay tribute to late nephew and band member Takeoff, who was fatally shot in November 2022 at the age of just 28.
EGOT history was also made last night, when actress Viola Davis took home her first Grammy for Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording. The award now makes her a member of the elusive EGOT club; a status held for those who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony respectively. Davis becomes the third black woman to have reached EGOT status, along with Whoopi Goldberg and Jennifer Hudson, but becomes the first to have won each of the four awards for performing alone. Both Goldberg and Hudson won their Tony awards for producing rather than performing.
But of course the biggest Grammy history made last night was when Beyoncé won her 32nd Grammy award, officially making her the most decorated artist in Grammy history. She overtook conductor George Solti – whose record 31 wins had stood for over two decades. Beyoncé accepted the award for Best Dance/Electronic Album for Renaissance, before dedicating the award to her late uncle who battled HIV. Queen B’s record comes as tickets went on sale for her Renaissance World Tour, however the Grammy record holder will not be bringing her tour to Irish soil.