The Recording Academy recently held its 67th Grammy Award ceremony. Winning the big four awards were Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” for Album of the Year, Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and Chappell Roan as the Best New Artist.
Lamar was the most-awarded artist of the night, winning all five Grammys that he was nominated for his song “Not Like Us,” which also won the awards of Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Music Video.
Billie Eilish, with seven nominations, and Taylor Swift, with six nominations, won no awards for their albums “Hit Me Hard and Soft” and “The Tortured Poets Department,” respectively.
Lady Gaga, who won Best Duo/Group Performance alongside Bruno Mars for “Die With A Smile,” revealed the music video for her second pre-release single “Abracadabra” from her upcoming album, “Mayhem,” during a commercial break. The duo also performed a cover of the song “California Dreamin’” as a tribute to the California wildfires.
Sabrina Carpenter delivered a comedic performance while singing her songs “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.” Minutes after her performance, Carpenter won the award of Best Pop Vocal Album for “Short ‘n Sweet,” winning over other nominees such as Ariana Grande (“Eternal Sunshine”) and Chappell Roan (“Chappell Roan The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess”).
The Best New Artist medley performances featured back-to-back performances from most of the nominees of the awards, except for Khruangbin, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan (all performing separately from the medley). The award went to Roan.
Roan’s acceptance speech for Best New Artist was one of the most memorable speeches of the night, in which she called out labels, saying that she did not receive the proper wages and health care after she was dropped by her label in 2020. She ended her speech by saying, “Labels, we got you, but do you got us?”
In a tribute to producer Quincy Jones, artists Herbie Hancock, Cynthia Erivio, Lainey Wilson, Jacob Collier, Stevie Wonder and Janelle Monáe performed songs produced by Jones including “Fly Me to the Moon” sung by Erivo and “We Are The World” performed by Wonder.
Charli XCX was the last performer, singing her songs “Von Dutch” and the solo version of “Guess” in an energizing performance.
The last award, Album of the Year, was presented by Los Angeles firefighters. Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” won the award, making it her first-ever Album of the Year award.
