By Liz Ciocher
Staff Writer
For the first time in three years, the 65th Annual Grammy Awards was held live and in-person in Los Angeles on Feb. 5. It was a monumental award’s ceremony with 12 Grammys awarded, 12 performances and multiple history-making moments.
The award show began with host Trevor Noah introducing a performance by Bad Bunny, followed by the performance of Brandi Carlile, who was warmly introduced by her wife and two daughters.
CBS held a segment called “The Fans,” which showed videos of the “Album of the Year” nominees’ biggest fans advocating for their favorite artists. Immediately after one of these fans expressed her love for Harry Styles, he was awarded the first Grammy of the night, “Best Pop Vocal Album,” presented by Jennifer Lopez.
The second Grammy was presented by one of the evening’s history-making artists, Viola Davis, who has become one of the few people to have won an EGOT: an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony. She presented “Best R&B Song,” awarded to Beyoncé for her song “Cuff It.” Beyoncé was not yet present to accept the award, which according to Trevor Noah, was because of traffic.
Willie Nelson won the next Grammy for Best Country Album, but Shania Twain accepted it on his behalf as he could not attend the award show for an unknown reason.
Smokey Robinson stayed on stage after performing to present the next Grammy, “Best Pop duo/group Performance.” Sam Smith and Kim Petras gracefully accepted the award for their song “Unholy,” marking another history-breaking moment. Kim Petras became the first transgender woman to receive a Grammy Award.
Following a performance by Lizzo, SZA came on stage to present Bad Bunny with the award for “Best Musica Urbana Album.” His work with “Un Verano Sin Ti” earned this award, and he gave a grateful bilingual acceptance speech.
After a performance by Harry Styles, Cardi B presented the award for “Best Rap Album of the Year” to “Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers” by Kendrick Lamar. He gave a lengthy acceptance speech, filled with poise.
The following segment was called “In Memoriam.” Kacey Musgraves, Quavo, Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt and Mick Fleetwood performed on stage, honoring several talented artists who have died. This selection of artists to make this tribute was heartfelt and carefully selected, as two of the performers (Quavo and Mick Fleetwood) were honoring two artists they were once in a group with (Takeoff and Christine Mcvie).
Presenting the biggest record breaking moment of the evening was James Corden. He delivered the Grammy for “Best Dance/Electronic Music Album” to Beyoncé, who, with this award, became the artist with the most Grammy wins of all time.
Shortly after Beyonce broke this record, LL Cool J also made history. He introduced a new award designed by the Recording Academy, the “Dr. Dre Global Impact Award.” To no surprise, this award went to Dr. Dre himself.
Dwayne Johnson presented “Best Pop Solo Performance” to Adele, whom he referred to as his “best friend.” Earlier in the evening, Trevor Noah introduced the pair on camera as they had both discussed wanting to meet each other.
Luke Combs made his first Grammy performance onstage after being given a touching introduction by Justin Davis, a friend of his who was once his boss before his music career.
For only the second time in Grammy history, the United States’ first lady Jill Biden presented two Grammy awards, “Best Song for Social Change” awarded to Shervin Hajipour and “Song of the Year” awarded to “Just Like That” by Bonnie Riatt.
Chris Martin of Coldplay was then called to the stage to announce “Record of the Year,” which was presented to Lizzo for her song “About Damn Time.” She gave an acceptance speech with dedication to Prince — a speech Trevor Noah said could have earned a Grammy itself.
Between awards, the CEO of the Recording Academy showed an inspiring clip explaining how he believes music can change the world in ways like ending oppressions and wars.
Following a performance by Steve Lacey, Olivia Rodrigo presented the second to last award of the night, “Best New Artist.” As the previous year’s winner, Rodrigo was happy to give the award to Samara Joy.
The final Grammy Award, “Album of the Year,” was highly anticipated as the crowd watched another film of the fans. Trevor Noah called the fans from the video to the stage to give out the award together to Harry Styles for his album “Harry’s House.”
The Grammys closing act was an eight minute song, “God Did,” performed by DJ Khaled, John Legend, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. Trevor Noah acknowledged the performance to be one of the best in Grammy history, and the award show to be one of the same.
