“With All That Divides Us Today, Our Shared Love Of Music Unites Us”
After music’s biggest evening, the 58th annual Grammys had controversy, tribute performances, and surprise winners. There was Lady Gaga’s Bowie tribute & Taylor Swift calling out Kanye! Don’t forgot that Hamilton stole the show with a stunning Broadway performance! All the biggest musical artist in the world in one room, this year’s Grammys has social media & the morning shows buzzing.
Below are some of the most talked about moments from the 2016 Grammy Awards:
10. Adele
-Hyped during EVERY commercial leading up to this year’s Grammys, Adele finally made her return to the stage with a stirring new song called “All I Ask”. An audio error in the beginning of the performance didn’t stop this number from being another powerful performance from Adele. Many expected to hear the popular song “Hello” but the English songstress took this chance to showcase another ballad from her album ’25’.
9. Song of the Year: “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran
-Surprising Ed Sheeran himself, the ginger singer/songwriter took home the award for ‘Song Of The Year‘; seemingly leaving his ‘BFF’ Taylor Swift far happier than he was. Sheeran humbly accepted the award after a very real rant from presenter Stevie Wonder. Ed would later introduce Lady Gaga for her David Bowie tribute.
8. Various Tributes
-From The Eagles to Lionel Richie, there was no shortage of performances dedicated to other artist. The Grammys even somehow managed to awkwardly fit a Michael Jackson tribute in there before the award for ‘Best Rock Performance‘. Lionel Richie joined John Legend, Demi Lovato, Luke Bryan, Meghan Trainor, and Tyrese Gibson in a fun melody of his biggest hits. The Eagles remembered the late Glenn Frey with Bernie Leadon & Jackson Browne. There was also tributes to Motorhead’s Lemmy as well as B.B. King and Maurice White from Earth, Wind, And Fire.
7. Best New Artist: Meghan Trainor
-Presented by last year’s ‘Best New Artist’ winner Sam Smith, Meghan Trainor joins the likes of Sade, Mariah Carey, and Adele as a winner in this category. The pop artist couldn’t hold back the tears as tried to make her way through her acceptance speech. One of the most genuinely touching reactions of the evening, Trainor followed up a big year of popular songs by adding a Grammy to her collection.
6.Gwen Stefani’s Live Music Video
-The iconic Gwen Stefani acted out, filmed, and live broadcasted the music video for her newest single “Make Me Like You“. Dubbed the first-ever live music video, Stefani collaborated with American super-store Target to bring to life her newest song during a 4-minute commercial break.
5. Broadway Show ‘Hamilton’ Steals The Entire Grammys!
-The hottest thing in New York right now is Hamilton, the Broadway production about founding father Alexander Hamilton. The show also became one of the hottest moments of the entire Grammy evening. With one of the best speeches of all time for their win of ‘Best Musical Theater Album‘ to their special broadcast, the cast of Hamilton proved to everyone why their show has been sold-out until 2018! The stunning performance of title song “Alexander Hamilton” will only draw more attention to the already hyped show; I’m sure tickets will be sold out till about 2020 now…
4.Kendrick Lamar Performs ‘Alright’ & Wins ‘Best Rap Album’
-Winning the first award of the night for ‘Best Rap Album‘; Kendrick Lamar walked away with the win for his work on ‘To Pimp A Butterfly‘, a powerful hip-hop album that won over critics and listeners. Following 5 wins, Kendrick then took a note from Hamilton & delivered one of the most theatrical performances of the entire night. With multiple sets and amazing cinematography, Lamar stunned with a performance that will be surely be remembered throughout Grammy history.
3. Lady Gaga’s David Tribute Performance
-One of the longest performances, Lady Gaga brought the house down with a visual masterpiece in tribute to the late David Bowie. By the end of the performance, everyone was standing on their feet giving the bizarre Lady the praise she earned. Gaga performed 9 of Bowie’s biggest hits while floated around the stage changing her look with ease. After singing the ‘National Anthem‘ at The Super Bowl, Gaga followed it up with this number; another talked moment of hers for years to come.
2.Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ Wins ‘Album Of The Year’
-The first women to win ‘Album Of The Year‘ twice, Taylor Swift took home the biggest award of her career. Her album ‘1989′ was the conclusion of her transition from country gem to pop superstar so winning this award makes sense. While many were rooting for Kendrick Lamar, Taylor earned this win. She also took the moment to make a very obvious dig at Kanye West following his claim he “made Taylor Swift famous”.
1. Biggest Award Of The Night: Uptown Funk Wins ‘Record Of The Year’
-If you’ve listened to the radio in the past year, you knew that “Uptown Funk” was one of the biggest songs of the year. The record was so big that it took home the final award of the night! While their celebration was cutoff due to time restrictions, it doesn’t take away from Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson getting the award for making an unstoppable pop anthem!
What was your favorite moment from the 2016 Grammys?! Did Gaga make you go gaga?! Do you agree with Uptown Funk being the biggest record of the year? On a scale from Tori Kelly to Taylor Swift, how excited are you for other peoples wins?
