The bass was loud on Sunday night as the top music artists of the year gathered in Los Angeles to see who would be taking home one of the top prizes in their industry. This year was the 65th Grammys Award Show, which was hosted by comedian Trevor Noah. The night not only included stellar performances, incredible honors, and milestones but also stunning (and controversial) red-carpet looks. So, here’s a recap of the star-studded 2023 Grammys!
Red Carpet:
The evening kicked off with a bang as many celebrities and musicians brought their A-games to the red carpet of the Crypto.com Arena. Taylor Swift, who many were shocked to see at the awards show, referenced her new album, Midnights, in a simple navy two-piece dress. Rapper Cardi B showed up in a similar color to Swift but was dressed in an elaborately wired dress that was structured around her shoulders and near her head. The outfit was one of my personal favorites of the night. Lizzo also opted for something near her head, but rather than having wiring, she seemed to be wearing a cape covered in hand-sewn orangey-red flowers. She eventually took off the headwear, revealing a corseted, somewhat orange-hued dress that she wore for the rest of the evening. Harry Styles, who has received both praise and criticism for his past outfits, had a bit of a disappointing outfit. Many fans compared his diamond-patterned jumpsuit to a clown costume (which, yes, does seem a tad bit harsh) and said that it looked extremely similar to what he wears on tour (which it absolutely did). Last, but certainly not least, Sam Smith and Kim Petras, whose song “Unholy” went viral this past summer, wore coordinating red outfits and were followed by an entourage of drag queens and models decked out in red.
Beyoncé:
Of course, Queen Bey deserves her own category, especially as she released a new album, Renaissance, this year and recently announced that she’s going on tour. The night started off with Beyoncé arriving late to the show, citing Los Angeles traffic as preventing her from getting to the stadium on time and actually being able to go on stage and receive her own award for best R&B performance for her song “Cuff It.” Good thing that she won multiple other awards, including best dance/electronic recording, best dance/electronic music album, and best R&B song. With her 4 new wins, she made history by having the most career wins at the Grammys, as she has 32.
Performances:
The Grammys featured multiple performances this year, but none were as memorable as the 50-year anniversary performance of hip hop, which was curated by Questlove and included performances from LL Cool L, Queen Latifah, and Busta Rhymes. In a similar realm of production, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, and R&B group WanMor kicked off the show with soulful renditions of Motown hits. For the ‘In Memoriam’ segment, Quavo performed a tribute to his cousin and fellow Migo, late rapper Takeoff. That portion of the show also featured medleys sung by Kacey Musgraves and Sheryl Crow. As far as pop performances go, we saw performances from Lizzo, DJ Khaled, Sam Smith and Kim Petras, and Harry Styles. Harry’s performance was largely criticized, as it appeared that there were technical difficulties, alongside a generally sluggish stage presence from someone who is known as an excellent performer.
Major Winners:
Arguably the biggest winner of the night was Viola Davis, who achieved EGOT status after winning a Grammy for her audiobook. Lizzo’s song “About D**n Time” won record of the year, while Harry’s House by Harry Styles took home album of the year. A shocking underdog, Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That” won song of the year (an award focused on the lyricism of the song) over Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)(10 Minute Version)” and Adele’s “Easy on Me.” Best new artist was taken home by Samara Joy, and best pop duo/group performance was won by Sam Smith and Kim Petras.
The Grammys gave us an opportunity to acknowledge all of the songs that made up 2022 and try to determine which artists will be making big waves in 2023. Overall, a pretty standard, but good, Grammys!