The 61st annual Grammy Awards was held in Los Angeles on Sunday evening, and the female artists in the Staples Center stole the show.
Thirty-one of the 84 categories were won by women, up from 17 in last year’s Grammys. Of those awards, Kacey Musgraves took home one of the biggest awards of the night, album of the year, for her album “Golden Hour.” Dua Lipa owned the stage for her performance of her song “One Kiss,” and she now owns the Grammy for best new artist.
Before the awards could even be given out, female power owned the stage alongside Host Alicia Keys, when she was joined by Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez and former First Lady Michelle Obama. After a well-deserved applause and standing ovation, Obama went on to talk about how music has allowed her to tell her story, and her history of listening to Motown on Chicago’s south side.
Lady Gaga took home two of the awards in the Pop category, including one for her duet with Bradley Cooper in “Shallow” from the soundtrack of “A Star Is Born.” Gaga was visibly emotional and moved by this award, and she said she was so proud to be a part of a movie that addresses mental health issues.
Cardi B also had a great awards night. Not only did she rock the stage with her performance of “Money,” her big debut album “Invasion of Privacy” took home the award for best rap album. This award did come with some controversy since Cardi beat out Mac Miller in this category.
Miller lost his life last year to an overdose, and many of his fans came running to his defense, including Ariana Grande, who was early to clap back on Twitter, saying “Literal bullshit. Bullshit.”
Grande was scheduled to perform, but chose not to attend after a discrepancy between herself and the production team over which song she was allowed to perform. Reports say she wanted to perform “7 Rings” but the Grammy producers would not allow her to.
Alongside Kacey Musgraves with four awards for the night, making them the highest awarded, Childish Gambino also took home four Grammys, including one for song of the year and record of the year.
Also taking home awards Sunday night was Ariana Grande, Drake, H.E.R., Brandi Carlile, Beck, Tori Kelly, Mark Ronson, alongside many others.
There were 18 live performances, which included nearly 40 artists. To kick off the show, Camila Cabello rocked the stage with her hit song “Havana,” and was soon joined on stage by Ricky Martin, J Balvin and others. Shortly after, Shawn Mendes was joined by Miley Cyrus, Post Malone and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Alicia Keys, who was perceived as one of the realest and calmest hosts the awards stage has ever seen, performed a mashup of 10 songs.
Jennifer Lopez led the Motown Celebration, alongside Smokey Robinson, Ne-Yo and Alicia Keys. Ten songs were performed in total by J-Lo and her crew. There was some criticism surrounding the performance, however, as many viewers questioned why Lopez was chosen to lead this tribute.
Fantasia, Yolanda Adams and Andra Day concluded the live performances for the evening with a soulful tribute to Aretha Franklin, who passed away last year. They sang “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Women,” one of Franklin’s most iconic songs.
Eighty-four awards were distributed, hundreds of musical geniuses were recognized, and just like that, music’s biggest night of the year has come and gone, until Jan. 26, 2020, when the 62nd annual Grammy Awards will be back at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.