By: Leah Duffill
(Source: PRSformusic.com)
The 65th Annual Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah, took place on February 5th, 2023. It had many record-breaking moments such as Béyonce winning her thirty-second Grammy, which broke Grammy history, Kim Petras being the first transgender woman to win a Grammy, and Dr. Dre being the first recipient of the new Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. In this article, you will read about the biggest moments of the night that made it memorable.
Before I cover the records broken, I’ll provide a recap of some of the biggest winners and performances. To start, Lizzo won Record of the Year for her hit “About Damn Time,” Harry Styles won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for “Harry House,” Adele won Best Pop Solo Performance for “Easy on Me,” and Sam Smith and Kim Petras won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their hit single “Unholy”.
Some honorable mentions before getting to the performances and record-breaking hits of the night:
- Song of the Year and Best American Roots Song: “Just Like That” — Bonnie Raitt, songwriter (Bonnie Raitt)
- Best New Artist: Samara Joy
- Best Jazz Vocal Album: “Linger Awhile” — Samara Joy
- Best Rap Performance: “The Heart Part 5” — Kendrick Lamar
- Best Song Written for Visual Media: “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” [from “Encanto”] — Lin-Manuel Miranda, songwriter (Carolina Gaitán [La Gaita], Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & “Encanto” cast)
- Best Score Soundtrack: won by Germaine Franco for Encanto, being the first woman of color to win in that category.
- Best Global Music Album: “Sakura” — Masa Takumi
- Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album: “MOTOMAMI” — Rosalía
- Best Música Urbana Album: “Un Verano Sin Ti” — Bad Bunny
- Best Country Album: “A Beautiful Time” — Willie Nelson
- Best Rock Song: “Broken Horses” — Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)
- BT’s own Kebin Lee’s orchestra, the New York Youth Symphony, won Best Orchestral Performance!!
To see the full list of winners, check out these links here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/grammys-2023-winners-nominees-list/
According to People magazine, these are the top performances in chronological order from the night:
- Bad Bunny — “El Apagón” and “Después de la Playa”
- Brandi Carlile — “Broken Horses”
- Stevie Wonder — “The Way You Do The Things You Do” (solo), “Tears of a Clown” (with Smokey Robinson), and “Higher Ground” (with Chris Stapleton)
- Lizzo — “Special” and “About Damn Time”
- Harry Styles — “As It Was”
- Kacey Musgraves — “Coal Miner’s Daughter” to tribute and honor the late Loretta Lynn
- Quavo — “Without You” to honor his fellow Migos and nephew who passed away in November 2022
- Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt & Mick Fleetwood — “Songbird” to pay homage to the late Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac band member who passed away November 30th, 2022
- Kim Petras and Sam Smith — “Unholy”
- Mary J. Blige — “Good Morning Gorgeous”
- LL Cool J with several hip-hop legends to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop (more detail later in the article of the show-stopping performance)
- Luke Combs – “Going, Going, Gone”
- Steve Lacy – “Bad Habit”
- To conclude the show, DJ Khaled, Fridayy, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend & Jay Z sang a rap ensemble with Legend crooning and playing the piano while the five rappers helped finish out the song with “The Last Supper” interpretation to end the show.
To conclude the article, here is a complete list of the top moments of the entire show.
GRAMMYS GREATEST HITS:
- Viola Davis won a Grammy for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording for “Finding Me” which made her an EGOT winner, making her the eighteenth recipient to achieve this accomplishment.
- After Kim Petras and Sam Smith’s performance for “Unholy,” Kim Petras became the first transgender woman to win a Grammy for her and Sam’s Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
- Béyonce won four Grammy awards – making her new total at thirty-two to break the record – for Best R&B Song for “CUFF IT,” Best Traditional R&B Performance with “Plastic Off the Sofa,” Best Dance/Electronic Recording for “Break My Soul,” and Best Dance/Electronic Music Album for “RENAISSANCE,” which is the award that allowed her to break the record.
- LL Cool J presented the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award to Dr. Dre, preceding the award with a major performance to celebrate hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. LL Cool J began the performance by singing his song “I Can’t Live Without My Radio”. The song transitioned into a mashup of performances by Run-DMC singing with “King of Rock,” Ice-T (“New Jack Hustler”), Queen Latifah (“U.N.I.T.Y”), Missy Elliot (“Lose Control”), Nelly and City Spud (“Hot in Herre”), and many more.
All in all, the night was filled with monumental performances and historical highlights that will be remembered for years to come. Next year’s Grammys should be interesting to watch as we see if Béyonce can further her record and how Kim Petras has laid the pathway for future Grammy winners in the LGBTQ+ community. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/grammys-2023-winners-nominees-list/
