Grammy Glory For Kendrick & Beyoncé
• Kendrick Lamar was the big winner at the 67th Grammy Awards, as his powerful “Not Like Us” scored five Grammys — Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance and Best Music Video. Not a bad lead-in to his Super Bowl Halftime Show next Sunday.
Beyoncé made Grammy history yet again, finally winning her long-denied Album of The Year award as her groundbreaking Cowboy Carter won Album of The Year and Best Country Album Grammys. Earlier in the evening Beyoncé won her first-ever Country Grammy, as her duet with Miley Cyrus, “II Most Wanted” earned the Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.
The honor of presenting the Album of The Year Grammy — the final award of the evening — was given to members of LA County Fire Department, lead by Chief Anthony Marrone, who were greeted with tumultuous applause from the audience.
Chappell Roan won the Best New Artist Grammy, Sabrina Carpenter took home Grammys for Best Pop Solo Performance for “Espresso,” Best Pop Vocal Album (Short N’ Sweet), while the “Working Late Remix” of “Espresso” by Mark Ronson & FNZ won the Grammy for Best Remixed Recording.
Charlie xcx won for Best Dance/Electronic Album winner for BRAT, and Best Dance Pop Recording for “Von Dutch.” BRAT also won for Best Recording Package (Brent David Freaney & Imogene Strauss, Art Directors). St. Vincent won three Grammys — Best Alternative Music Album, All Born Screaming, Best Rock Song for “Broken Man,” and Best Alt Music Performance for “Flea.” [Kendrick photo: Chris Pizzello / AP]
‘A Tribute To Resilience’
That is how songwriter Justin Tranter, who hosted the Grammy Premiere Ceremony, accurately described the prevailing theme of this year’s 67th Grammys, which carried the added mission of supporting relief efforts after the recent devastating wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes in Altadena and Pacific Palisades, many of which belonged to people in the music and entertainment industries.
Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith, a.k.a. Dawes, both of whom lost their homes in the Eaton fire, opened the show performing a special version of Randy Newman‘s iconic anthem, “I Love LA,” accompanied an all-star band that included Sheryl Crow, St. Vincent, Brittany Howard, John Legend, and Brad Paisley.
Other Grammy Highlights: In a tribute to the city’s resilience in the wake of the wildfires, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars performed a phenomenal version of “California Dreamin’.” Shortly thereafter, during a commercial break sponsored by Mastercard, Gaga debuted her new single and music video for “Abracadabra” from her forthcoming album, Mayhem. Making their evening complete, Gaga and Bruno also won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Die With A Smile.”
The Weeknd also ended his Grammy boycott and electrified the audience with a surprise appearance to perform “Cry For Me” and “Timeless.”
The touching salute to the late, legendary Quincy Jones featured Herbie Hancock, Will Smith, Cynthia Erivo, Lainey Wilson, Stevie Wonder and Janelle Monaé, who closed out the tribute — and tore the joint up — with her cover of Michael Jackson‘s Quincy Jones-produced “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” — complete with moonwalk!
During the Grammy Premiere Ceremony, Americana artist Sierra Ferrell won four Grammys — Best Americana Performance and Best Americana Roots Song (with co-writer Melody Walker) for “American Dreaming,” Best Americana Album for Trail Of Flowers, and Best Roots Performance for “Lighthouse”
And how about these amazing achievements from a couple of familiar-sounding bands that have been entertaining generations of fans for more than six decades — The Beatles won the Best Rock Performance Grammy for “Now and Then” (accepted by Sean Lennon), while The Rolling Stones won Best Rock Album for Hackney Diamonds. A complete list of all 67th Grammy Award winners is posted at Grammy.com.
