Grammys’ most memorable moments, from Bad Bunny to naked dressing
Sabrina Carpenter rocked a flight attendant suit and hot pants, Justin Bieber kicked it in just boxers and socks, Lady Gaga performed with a large lamp shade on her head, and Chappell Roan showed up in barely anything.
Mainly, though, the artists at the 68th Grammy Awards on Sunday wore their hearts on their sleeves.
Winners used their moment at the mic to speak out: Bad Bunny denounced ICE, Billie Eilish called for people to continue to protest (and had choice words for ICE), and Gaga urged female artists to always speak their mind. Along the way, a wide variety of musicians performed and were honored for their work at the Grammys, from Olivia Dean being named new artist to Kendrick Lamar breaking records. Plus Cher showed up!
Here are the moments that touched hearts and minds, sparked some laughter or caused a stir at music’s biggest night:
Kendrick Lamar makes Grammy history as most awarded rapper
A year after sweeping five awards, Kendrick Lamar returned to the Grammys with a field-leading nine nominations and took home even more gold. Lamar won three honors at the pre-televised event and in the main ceremony added record of the year for “Luther” with SZA and best rap album for “GNX.” His night was one for the record books: He surpassed Jay-Z as the most winning rapper in Grammys history.
“I’m not good at talking about myself but I express it through the music,” Lamar said in his rap album acceptance speech. “Hip-hop is always going to be right here. We gonna be in these suits, we gonna be looking good, we gonna have our culture with us.”
Cher had one of the best moments of the night when she accidentally said Luther Vandross won for “Luther” but corrected herself. Lamar probably would have been OK with him getting the trophy, calling Vandross “one of my favorite artists of all time.” When they got the clearance to use a sample of Vandross’ vocals on “Luther,” “we all dropped a tear,” the rapper said. The only caveat: “No cursing.” That was OK with Lamar, he said, “we’re gonna make sure this represents love.”
An emotional Jelly Roll wins a Grammy, preaches to the choir
Jelly Roll took the Grammy crowd to church, with a small bible in his right hand and a Grammy – for best contemporary country album – in his left. He thanked his wife Bunnie Xo, saying, “I’d have killed myself if it wasn’t for you and Jesus.” Then the singer went on a roll about his holy inspiration.
“There was a time in my life, y’all, that I was broken. That’s why I wrote this album,” he said of “Beautifully Broken.” “I didn’t think I had a chance, y’all. There were days that I thought the darkest things. I was a horrible human. There was a moment in my life that all I had was a Bible this big and a radio the same size in a 6-by-8-foot cell, and I believed that those two things could change my life. I believed that music had the power to change my life, and God had the power to change my life.
“And I want to tell y’all right now, Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is not owned by one political party. Jesus is not owned by no music label. Jesus is Jesus, and anybody can have a relationship with him. I love you, Lord.”
Trevor Noah appreciated the sentiment. “Thank you for that,” the host said. “My mom’s going to love the show now.”
Bad Bunny makes political statement in Grammy speech: ‘ICE out’
Bad Bunny nabbed the biggest prize of the night, album of the year, and also won best musica urbana album for “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” but his most important message came through his powerful acceptance speeches.
“I’m going to say, ICE out,” the Puerto Rican megastar said, starting off his political speech accepting the musica urbana honor and getting a standing ovation from the crowd. “We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”
Bunny added: “I know it’s tough not to hate these days. … The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love. So please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love. We don’t hate them – we love our people, we love our family and that’s how you do it.”
Later, Trevor Noah sidled up next to Bunny in the audience and gave him grief for not performing at the show due to contractual obligations for his Super Bowl halftime show performance next week. The comedian managed to get Bunny to sing a little bit when a mariachi band came out – and also showed love for his acceptance speech: “That was really beautiful.”
At the end of the night, Bunny dedicated his historic album of the year win “to all the people who had to leave their home land, their country, to follow their dreams.”
Trevor Noah takes jabs at Nicki Minaj and Donald Trump, but not Kendrick Lamar
Trevor Noah hosted the Grammys for his sixth and final time, and roasted Nicki Minaj and President Donald Trump in his monologue.
“Nicki Minaj is not here. She is still at the White House with Donald Trump discussing very important issues,” Noah said, before launching into a Trump impression: “’Actually Nicki, I have the biggest ass. Everybody’s saying it, Nicki.’”
Noah later took another jab at the president, saying Trump wanted Greenland so badly “because Epstein’s island is gone, he needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton.” (Though Trump and former president Clinton have appeared in the Epstein files, both men have denied any wrongdoing and neither have been charged.)
One guy he wouldn’t touch? Kendrick Lamar. “I thought about writing a few jokes, roasting you,” the South African-born Noah said, sitting by the rapper. “But then I remembered what you can do to light-skinned dudes from other countries,” referencing Lamar’s legendary beef with Drake.
Chappell Roan shocks the Grammys red carpet with ultra-revealing dress
Someone always comes to the Grammys red carpet with a shocking look, and this year it was Chappell Roan. The “Midwest Princess” turned heads with a see-through burgundy dress showing off an intricate tattoo-like scene and held up in the front with a nudelike top.
By the time she appeared on the E! network’s pre-show special, she was covered up and admitting that “hardest” part of Grammys night is the red carpet. “It’s overstimulating and people are just filming you and you don’t know what they’re doing with it. It’s crazy.”
Others who went above and beyond on the Grammys red carpet include French producer Gesaffelstein, who showed up in a tux plus his signature black mask (and also won for his edit of Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra”), and Swedish pop star Zara Larsson, in a bold, shiny gold bra-and-skirt two-piece. Heidi Klum did her take on the naked dress. And of course, the Mother Monster herself didn’t disappoint: Lady Gaga showed up and showed out in black feathers.
This article originally appeared on USA Today
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect