TThe 64th Annual Grammy Awards aired Sunday night in Las Vegas, in the shadow of aExtremely controversial Oscarsfor just a week. It's been a tough few years for the Recording Academy to struggle withinternal Conflicts, allegations of clandestine dealings and defections from some of music's biggest stars: Drake and The Weeknd have publicly abandoned the Grammys' legitimacy, whileKanye Westhe was disqualified from this ceremony for "online conduct".
Instead, a younger group of superstars asserted their claim to the center of the pop world at the 2022 Grammy Awardsolivia rodrigooneBillie Eilishonelittle nose x🇧🇷 Jon Batiste was the big winner of the night and took home the album of the year. Silk Sonic, the duo of Anderson.Paak and Bruno Mars, won both Song and Record of the Year for their sultry "Leave the Door Open." The Foo Fighters, in mourning for theDrummer Taylor Hawkins dies, swept all three categories it was nominated for, including Best Rock Album (medicine at midnight) and Best Rock Song ("Waiting on a War"). Trevor Noah hosted for the second year in a row. Here are some of the best and worst moments of the night.
Bester: Jon Baptiste
Jon Batiste accepts album of the year for 'We Are' on stage during the 64th Annual Grammy Awards
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images für The Recording Academy
The night's big winner was Jon Batiste, who took home five awards including Album of the Year forWe are🇧🇷 It's been a winding road for Batiste, growing up in a family of New Orleans musical royalty, rising through the ranks of the jazz world for his virtuoso piano and becoming the leader of jazzthe Late Show with Stephen Colbert,and then decided to try his luck as a pop leader. WhenTIME interviewed Batiste in April,described his latest twist as inevitable:
“Am I functioning from the perspective where everything inevitably leads me? And it seems like the journey has definitely led me to take up the torch of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye and be the black pop star making black pop masterpieces.”
On Sunday night, Batiste rose to the occasion and performed a rendition of "Freedom" that fused many musical and cultural sounds (classical-tinged piano, thunderous 808 bass drum, jazzy bebop and hip-hop dance) into a coherent and exuberant whole. 🇧🇷 🇧🇷 The performance lifted the room especially Billie Eilish and Finneas who looked at him in awe.
To wrap up the show, Batiste took home the night's biggest award, Album of the Year, and delivered one of the best awards speeches in recent memory. "I firmly believe that there is no 'best' musician... There is no best performer, best dancer, best actor," he said. "Creative art is subjective... It's like making a song or an album, and it has a radar for finding a person when they need it most."
He paid tribute to his family - both his father and grandfather are on the album - as well as the other nominees in his category, saying their music gave him "out-of-body experiences". He then encouraged young musicians to stay true to themselves: "Be you. Continues."
The Best: SZA and Doja Cat Win Their First Grammy for "Kiss Me More"
Doja Cat and SZA Win Best Performance by a Pop Duo/Group at the 64th ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS
Francis Specker/CBS über Getty Images
Hardly a dry eye stayed as SZA and Doja Cat took home their first (and undeniably deserved) Grammy Awards for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their song "Kiss Me More," one of TIME's picks forThe music of summer 2021🇧🇷 While the win has many reasons to be memorable, from Doja being in the bathroom when it was announced to Lady Gaga helping SZA, who was on crutches, with her tail as she took the stage , it was a nice and emotional thank you from Doja and SZA. each other in their acceptance speeches, which made for one of the most emotional moments of the evening.
The victory of Doja and SZA is only the second time that two women have won this category, a significant moment that did not go unnoticed by Doja, who for a solemn moment at the end of her speech gave up her typical sophistry: “I like very much to minimize shit, but that's, uh, it's agreatApproval."
Best: Lush Medley by Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X on stage at the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images für The Recording Academy
No contemporary artist understands the zeitgeist better than industrial babe and prolific tweeter Lil Nas X, who put on one of the liveliest performances of the night. Based on four of her songs from her album.Monteroand with a cheeky cameo from rapper Jack Harlow, Lil Nas X delivered a flashy, fast-paced medley that was as exuberant as it was fun. To put it colloquially, Lil Nas X got the job done, and the Grammy was all the better for it.
The Best: Olivia Rodrigo's Debut
Olivia Rodrigo performs during the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images für The Recording Academy
It's been fifteen long months since Olivia Rodrigo's "driver's license" took the internet by storm, breaking all manner of streaming records and chronicling countless TikTok reenactments and tributes. On Sunday, Rodrigo proved on the biggest music stage that "Drivers License" wasn't just TikTok's trend of the month, but an epoch-making ballad. She howled in terror like she was reliving her first lovesickness as a teenager on a dusty small-town movie set, with birds (or maybe rubble) in the background.
Rodrigo has shown what a talent he is on shows like Tiny Desk despite not having performed live until last year, and her Grammy debut firmly places her alongside a roster of great ballad singers like Stevie Nicks, Brandi Carlile and Adele . Rodrigo then won Best New Artist and Best Pop Solo Performance, proclaiming on stage, "This is my biggest dream come true."
More Vegas: BTS
BTS performs during the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
BTS was practically made for Las Vegas: a sleek, polished, multifaceted group fueled by perfectionism, flashy charisma and a love of pop culture. So they found themselves completely in their element playing their #1 hit "Butter," performed with the practiced skill and joy of the strip's most experienced artists. The group started with V flirting with the it girl of the night, Olivia Rodrigo, and Jungkook coming down off the roof.
Dressed in monochromatic costumes, the group lived out their cosplay dreamsImpossible Missionjnow you see Me, jump in laser beams and throw cards around the room. As her shiny shoes scurried across the floor, not a single step or heel was out of place.
Better: Homage to Ukraine
Although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not given the opportunity to speak on behalf of his country at the Oscars, asallegedly desiredDue to her showbiz background and huge Oscar audience, she settled on the next best thing: the Grammys. In a previously recorded video, Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of music for Ukrainian culture, especially during the war: "Our musicians wear bulletproof vests instead of tuxedos. They sing for the wounded,” he said in English. “Russia brings a terrible silence with its bombs. Fill the silence with her song.”
The video was followed by a moving performance by John Legend and various Ukrainian artists (bandura player Siuzanna Iglidan, singer Mika Newton, poet Lyuba Yakimchuk) who combined biblical, African American and Ukrainian struggles for freedom and self-determination.
Best of all: Billie Eilish's sweet tribute to Taylor Hawkins
Billie Eilish performs during the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images für The Recording Academy
Billie Eilish delivered one of the best performances of the night with a charismatic and rockin' version of her album's title track.But never happy. When Eilish and her brother/producer Finneas performed on a set playing the song's music video, perhaps the most moving part of the performance was Eilish's bittersweet tribute to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died less than a year, ahem, month ago Wearing a large t-shirt emblazoned with Hawkins' face, Eilish's energetic and cathartic performance captured an energy that the late Hawkins often embodied as Foo Fighters.
Least Shocking: Trevor Noah
daily programHost Trevor Noah took on the Grammy duties for the second year in a row, presiding over a very different type of ceremony than before: while the 2021 awards were socially distanced and subdued, this one aimed for Vegas glitz. But Noah didn't bring that energy with him, rushing through most of his one-liners (perhaps in an effort to keep the show going).
He landed a solid pair of zingers. Referring to some musicians' NFT obsession, he quipped, "You know it's difficult when your favorite artists go from trying to sell music to selling pictures of digital monkeys." And after Silk Sonic titled "Song of the Year", Noah Anderson.Paak credited the band with credit for the band's success, explaining to bandmate Bruno Mars, "We're not talking about Bruno." (For those wondering, the song byCharmare eligible for next year's Grammy Awards).
Most played: slap jokes
[Barenaked Ladies voice] It's been a weekWill Smith deu Tapa in Chris Rock no Oscar, although it seems that much more time has passed. Jerrod Carmichael got it rightSaturday night livethis weekend,when i played with it"It feels like we've lived with it our whole lives," he admitted, never wanting to talk about it again.
The slap was the subject of a few jokes on Sunday night, mostly met with some strained laughter. "Let's keep people's names out of our mouths," Trevor Noah said in his brief monologue. And Questlove jokingly told everyone in the room to "stay 150 meters away from me" while performing the song of the year. (Questlove himself was at the scene of the confrontation last week and received an Oscar for his filmsummer of the soul.)
Best of all: Celebrate the non-stars
While pop stars dominated the night, the Grammys also brought shine to lesser-known artists and the teams that tirelessly supported the artists behind the scenes. Due to the lack of performance spaces at the MGM Grand, organizers decided to set up a second stage on the roof of the MGM, where various non-pop artists broadcast in and out of commercial breaks. This somewhat inelegant solution, however, brought artists onto the show who would never get a chance to play at the Grammys. And everyone from Aymée Nuviola to Maverick City Music to the Billy Strings displayed their musical virtuosity and openly circled their more famous peers below.
Meanwhile, several A-list artists were introduced by members of their tour crew, including wardrobe supervisors and production managers, serving as a reminder of how important great teams are to creating magic on stage, and howThe tourism industry has been hit hardby COVID-19. In an age of Stan culture and idol worship, his presence was a welcome change.
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write toCady Lang aroundcady.lang@timemagazine.com.