As the paparazzi fulgurated the red carpet with their clicks and snaps, on January 26, celebrities across the globe made their way towards the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, to celebrate music’s biggest night. The 62nd Grammy Awards recognized the most popular and critically acclaimed music from early October of 2018 to late August of 2019. Artists such as Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, and Lil Nas X were on the forefront as each musician earned at least two nominations in the main categories. 

      The show was opened by none other than Lizzo. Before she began her performance, Lizzo acknowledged Kobe Bryant, who passed away in a helicopter accident only that morning. Lizzo then sang, with soul-filled vocals and the accompaniment of a grand orchestra, her album title track, “Cuz I Love You.” Finishing with her hit song that went number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart for seven weeks, “Truth Hurts,” Lizzo earned a standing ovation from the audience. 

      Following Lizzo’s performance, host and 15 times Grammy-Award-winner, Alicia Keys, gave a speech regarding the death of Bryant. 

      “Earlier today, Los Angeles, America, and the whole wide world lost a hero. And we’re literally standing here heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built,” Keys said passionately. 

      Keys was joined by Boyz II Men as she performed the heart wrenching acapella rendition of “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye” in remembering the victims of the helicopter crash. 

      Thereafter, Keys encouraged everyone to grieve together: “We’re going to sing together, we’re going to laugh together, we’re going to dance together, we’re going to cry together, we’re going to bring it all together, we’re going to love together. And we’re going to make sure that we are celebrating the most powerful energy, the most beautiful thing in the world; the one thing that has the power to bring all of us together, and that’s music.”

Record of the Year

Hey Ma – Bon Iver

WINNER: Bad Guy – Billie Eilish 

7 Rings – Ariana Grande

Hard Place – H.E.R 

Talk – Khalid 

Old Town Road – Lil’ Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus

Truth Hurts – Lizzo

Sunflower – Post Malone & Swae Lee

      With those healing words, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani took the stage with their duet, “Nobody But You.” The couple stared into each other’s eyes the entire time, delivering one of the most emotional performances of the night. Soon after, Alicia Keys returned to perform a song she wrote shouting out a few of the stars in the audience. Next, the Jonas Brothers enticed the crowd with a debut of their new single, “Five More Minutes,” and a homage to Grease with “What a Man Gotta Do.” The following act was Tyler the Creator, who brought on a flammable performance with “EARFQUAKE and “NEW MAGIC WAND” from his Grammy winning album, IGOR.

Best Pop Solo Performance

Spirit – Beyoncé

Bad Guy – Billie Eilish

7 Rings – Ariana Grande

WINNER: Truth Hurts – Lizzo

You Need To Calm Down – Taylor Swift

      Lil Nas X debuted his hit song, “Old Town Road” at the show. Nas put together quite the performance as his set was a spinning circle that displayed a variety of rooms. As Nas moved through each room, he was joined by the K-pop group BTS, Diplo, Internet sensation Mason Ramsey, better known as “Kid Yodeler,” and of course Billy Ray Cyrus. Nas completed his performance with help from “Big” Nas on the former’s track “Rodeo.” Demi Lovato also arrived at the Grammys to debut her newly released song, “Anyone,” which is a continuation of the story she tells of her overdose in 2018 from her previous single “Sober.”

Song of the Year

Always Remember Us This Way – Lady Gaga

WINNER: Bad Guy – Billie Eilish 

Bring My Flowers – Brandi Carlile 

Hard Place – H.E.R.

Lover – Taylor Swift

Norman ******* Rockwell – Lana Del Rey

Someone You Loved – Lewis Capaldi 

Truth Hurts – Lizzo

Paying tribute to “The Purple One,” Usher arguably gave the most exciting performance of the night with a medley consisting of “Little Red Corvette,” “When Doves Cry,” and “Kiss.” After Usher’s energetic act, Camila Cabello decided to slow it down with an incredibly raw performance of her song “First Man” from her album Romance; with such a moving song, Cabello brought the audience to tears, including her father, Alejandro Cabello.

Best New Artist 

Black Pumas 

WINNER: Billie Eilish

Lil Nas X

Lizzo

Maggie Rogers

Rosalia 

Tank and the Bangas

Yola 

With her singles “thank u, next,” “imagine,” and “7 rings,” Ariana Grande closed her “Sweetener-Thank U, Next” Era at the Grammy Awards. Grande began with the dreamy track “imagine” to a rendition of “My Favorite Things” from the musical The Sound of Music, both of which were joined by an orchestra. Transitioning from “My Favorite Things” to “7 rings” was smooth as it can be as Grande’s inspiration for the latter was sparked by “My Favorite Things.” Finally, Grande ended her alluring performance with “thank u, next.” The next act was Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell. The siblings debuted their soul-stirring song “when the party’s over.” Eilish became one of the youngest Grammy winning artists ever as she garnered five Grammy Awards that night.

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

Boyfriend – Ariana Grande & Social House

Sucker – Jonas Brothers

WINNER: Old Town Road – Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus 

Sunflower – Post Malone & Swae Lee

Señorita – Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello

Lil Nas X debuted his hit song, “Old Town Road” at the show. Nas put together quite the performance as his set was a spinning circle that displayed a variety of rooms. As Nas moved through each room, he was joined by the K-pop group BTS, Diplo, Internet sensation Mason Ramsey, better known as “Kid Yodeler,” and of course Billy Ray Cyrus. Nas completed his performance with help from “Big” Nas on the former’s track “Rodeo.” Demi Lovato also arrived at the Grammys to debut her newly released song, “Anyone,” which is a continuation of the story she tells of her overdose in 2018 from her previous single “Sober.”

Album of the Year

7 – Lil Nas X

Cuz I Love You (Deluxe) – Lizzo 

Father of the Bride – Vampire Weekend 

I Used to Know Her – H.E.R. 

I, I – Bon Iver 

WINNER: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? – Billie Eilish 

Thank U, Next – Ariana Grande 

Norman ******* Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey

      After building the anticipation, at the end of the night, the winner for the Album of the Year was announced by Ll Cool J: Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go. 

      Eilish was quite humble in her speech: “Can I just say that Ariana deserves this? Thank U, Next got me through ****. And I think it deserves more than anything in the world. I love you so much. I’m not gonna waste your time. I’m really not. I love you. Thank you for this.”