On Feb. 2, the 67th annual Grammy Awards ceremony took pace in the Los Angeles Crypto.com Arena. The ceremony started with a tribute to Los Angeles with Randy Newman’s “I Love LA.” The broadcast was filled with tributes to California in light of the recent wildfires severely damaging the state. Part of this included a QR code on the screen for people to donate to wildfire relief. By the end of the show, 7 million dollars were raised.
With the television ceremony only featuring nine awards, the three-and-a-half-hour show left a lot of time allotted to performances. Some of the highlights were Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan who were both nominated for Best New Artist, with Roan taking home the award. Kendrick Lamar won big with six awards including Song and Record of the Year for “Not Like Us.”
It was a big night for female artists, with Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Kacey Musgraves, Beyonce, Charli XCX and more being nominated for major awards. Upcoming rap star Doechii won Best Rap Album with her mixtape “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” becoming only the third woman to win the award. Beyonce took home Best Country Album and Album of the Year for her country album “Cowboy Carter.”
As always, the major awards were met with a lot of controversy, specifically Album of the Year. Many Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish fans were shocked to see that both artists won zero of their six and seven nominations, respectively. This was a big shock to fans and many took to social media to claim that Beyonce rigged and paid for her awards.
As per tradition, the ceremony included an In Memoriam segment, dedicated to musicians who passed away the previous year. This highlighted the likes of Liam Payne, Kris Kristofferson and more. Additionally, Cynthia Erivio, Janelle Monae, Stevie Wonder and others came together to honor producer Quincy Jones who passed away in November.
Overall, while awards will never be unanimously agreed on, the ceremony consisted of impressive performances from veterans and newbies alike.
