This year celebrated the 57annual Grammy Awards on CBS. Otherwise known as “Music’s Biggest Night,” this event has shown recognition for excellence in all areas of the music performance industry, as well as showcasing such excellence at the ceremony. This year the Grammy’s were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and gave out 83 awards from Album of the Year to Song of the Year to Best Classical Arrangement. The show also featured 23 different performances of 26 different songs. So in case you didn’t see the show, only saw a bit or want to relive the experiences, here’s my recap of what you need to know about this year’s award show.
Back with the Old and In With the New: The Grammy’s this year allowed its viewers to enjoy performances from a myriad of generations and styles. We saw appearances from legendary artists like Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Tom Jones, Madonna, ELO, Annie Lennox, Herbie Hancock, Mary J. Blige, Paul McCartney, and of course the incredible performance by AC/DC to start the show.
Kanye: We all remember the infamous event at the 2008 VMA’s where Kanye stole the stage from Taylor Swift to profess his disappointment that Beyoncé didn’t win Video of the Year. Well believe it or not, he did it again. Almost. This year Album of the Year went to rock artist Beck, and Kanye wasn’t too happy. He began to go on stage, much to the crowd’s awe, and right before grabbing the mic, went back to his seat. After giving everyone a scare and a laugh, Kanye made some extreme comments that sent the Internet into a frenzy. Saying how Beck didn’t respect artistry and how the Grammy’s want real musicians to keep coming every year, Kanye believes they will have to give the awards to people who truly deserve them. I’m not going to give you my opinion on Kanye’s remarks, but it was definitely a spectacle to remember.
Domestic Violence: During the show, there was a special presentation by President Obama encouraging people to join the #ItsOnUs campaign in support to crack down on domestic violence. Immediately following, a survivor of domestic violence, Brooke Axell, made her plea and told her story about what its like to be in that situation. Katy Perry followed that with a moving performance of a song to further support the campaign.
Collaborations: The Grammy stage has never been scarce of collaborative performances, which certainly continued to this year. Some notable performances included Ed Sheeran singing “Thinking Out Loud” with John Mayer, Herbie Hancock and Questlove (the Roots). Hozier was accompanied by Annie Lennox to sing his hit “Take Me to Church.” Tom Jones and Jessie J came together to sing “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” by the Righteous Brothers. Stevie Wonder joined Usher on harmonica to perform his song “If it’s Magic.” Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga sang a song off of their collaborative album called “Cheek to Cheek.” Rihanna, Paul McCartney and Kanye West performed their song “FourFiveSeconds.” Mary J. Blige joined Sam Smith to sing his hit “Stay With Me.” These are only a few of the great collaborations that happened last Sunday.
Sam Smith: The night’s big winner. Smith went home with four Grammy’s including Song and Record of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Vocal Album. It was a big night for him, saying a special thanks in his speech to “the man I fell in love with last year. Thank you for breaking my heart because you won me four Grammy’s.” Sam also performed his hit song “Stay With Me” with R&B legend Mary J. Blige.
As you can see, there were few dull moments at this year’s Grammy Awards. You can find the full list of winners as well as videos of the performances on www.grammy.com.
