The 65th Annual Grammy Awards

STORY BY MONICA BADOLIAN, STAFF WRITER
PHOTO FROM GETTY IMAGES

On February 5, 2023, the 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. There’s much to unpack with the Grammy winners and those who were unhappy with the winning choice.

Harry Styles won Album of the Year for “Harry’s House” and won best pop vocal performance. There were a couple of people in the crowd shouting, “Beyonce should’ve won,” but Harry went on with his speech saying, “this doesn’t happen to people like me very often,” due to the fact he grew up as a baker. Meanwhile, singer-songwriter and former girlfriend to Harry, Taylor Swift, is the only one standing in the crowd for him. Not all relationships end badly between celebrities.

Record of the Year was won by Lizzo and her song “About Da*n Time.” The singer dedicated the award to Prince, the American singer-songwriter, who passed away in 2016. She said, “When we lost prince, I decided to dedicate my life to making positive music and I don’t care if my positivity bothers you.” It makes a lot of sense now, looking at Lizzo’s music and how they all do truly give positive vibes. “…But I stayed true to myself because I wanted to make the world a better place so I had to be that change,” Lizzo said.

Next is the Song of the Year Award, “Just Like That,” by Bonnie Raitt. Most people in the crowd did not seem to know this song or the name of the artist because when the award was announced the room was quiet. But yet, it’s the song of the year. The Blues singer didn’t expect herself to even win the award. “It’s really great to be able to celebrate and honor all the songwriters and my band and my team and see all my friends again and get to hug them after two years of masks,” said Raitt. “It means a lot to come back and actually win again was a great surprise.”

The Best New Artist Award was taken home by American Jazz singer, Samara Joy. “I’ve been watching y’all on TV for so long,” she said to the room. Speaking of her Bronx roots, she shouted out her family members in the crowd. “I’ve been singing all my life,” said Joy. “Thank you so much for this honor.”

English singer-songwriter Adele won Best Pop Solo Performance with her song “Easy On Me.” She goes on to say, “I wrote this first verse in the shower when I was choosing to change my son’s life and he’s been nothing but humble and gracious and loving to me the whole time.” Many people also believed that Adele should’ve won other awards like Record of the Year and Album of the Year.

The Queen, Beyoncé, did win the Best dance/electronic music album with “Renaissance.” Like Adele, people thought Beyoncé deserved Album of the Year as well. But she did make Grammy’s history with the most wins ever. Trevor Noah, the comedian, and host of the Grammys night presents the award to the artist because she was stuck in traffic. She also won Best dance/electronica recording with her single “Break My Soul,” and Best R&B song with “Cuff It.”

Bad Bunny won Best música urbana album with “Un Verano Sin Ti.” The Puerto Rican rapper opened up the Grammys with his song “Tití Me Preguntó,” which had many people dancing and up on their feet, including Taylor Swift who seemed to be having the most fun.

The Best pop duo/group performance award was given to Sam Smith and Kim Petras for their single “Unholy.” Beyoncé was not the only one to make history that night, Petras became the first transgender woman to win the category. The German singer-songwriter said, “My mother — I grew up next to a highway in nowhere, Germany, and my mother believed me that I was a girl, and I wouldn’t be here without her and her support.”

Related Posts