A night of firsts for Canadians at 58th Grammys
Justin Bieber and Weeknd nab early honours; broadcast features tributes to lost artists
It was a night of career firsts for Canadian artists at the Grammy Awards.
Both Justin Bieber and the Weeknd walked away as early winners in a pretelecast ceremony leading up to the main show on Monday.
Bieber took home a best dance recording honour as part of a collaboration with Skrillex and Diplo on the song “Where Are U Now.’’
The Weeknd, a.k.a. Abel Tesfaye, nabbed two golden gramophones before the televised show.
He took home one for best urban contemporary album for “Beauty Behind the Madness” and another for best R&B performance for “Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey)” from the original soundtrack for the film "Fifty Shades Of Grey."
The Weeknd was nominated for a total of seven Grammys and appears to have plenty of support from his peers in the music industry.
As the televised portion of the cere- mony got underway, the Weeknd performed a medley of “Can’t Feel My Face” and “In the Night” sharply dressed in a tuxedo.
Adele was quick to jump to her feet with a standing ovation. Canadians nabbed a total of five Grammys early on in the show. Bieber’s Grammy-winning song “Where Are U Now” also appears on an album that was honoured by the Grammys.
The Skrillex and Diplo collaboration, which they released under the moniker Jack U, won best dance/ electronic album.
Others who won on Grammy night include legendary singer/ songwriter Joni Mitchell for best album notes on “Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting To Be Danced.”
Two other Canadians marked their first-time Grammy wins.
Jan Haust, a native of London, Ont., and Hamilton’s Peter Moore captured the honour for best historical album for “The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11,’’ featuring music of Bob Dylan and Toronto’s the Band. The duo shared the award with Steve Berkowitz, Jeff Rosen and Mark Wilder.
Canadian acts collectively had more than 20 nominations heading into the awards, capping off a sensational year i n which Canucks commanded seven of the top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100.
Taylor Swift kicked off the awards, which were hosted by LL Cool J, with performance of her latest hit single, “Out of the Woods,” while Kendrick Lamar collected his fifth trophy for the night.
Lamar won best rap album for his sophomore effort, “To Pimp a Butterfly.”
“Hip-hop, Ice Cube, this for hiphop, this for Snoop Dogg ... this for Nas. We will live forever, believe that,” said Lamar, who also won best rap song, rap performance, rap/sung collaboration and music video earlier in the day.
Swift, who won two awards in the pre-telecast, wore a glittery onepiece with a long slit on each side of her body as she sang her pop smash. After welcoming the audience at the Staples Center in Los Angeles to the Grammys, Swift said, “But it’s right now it’s 1989. Put your hands up.”
She then walked from the main stage to a smaller one to finish the song. Swift’s wins included best music video for “Bad Blood” with Lamar and best pop vocal album for “1989.”
Lamar walked into the Grammys with the most nominations — 11. Swift’s other win was for best pop vocal album for “1989.” She wasn’t in the audience to pick up the award, but Jack Antonoff, the guitarist from the band fun and a producer on “1989,” went onstage to accept the honour and called Swift on the phone.
The show planned tributes to David Bowie, B.B. King, the Eagles’ Glenn Frey, Natalie Cole, Lemmy Kilmister and Earth, Wind & Fire’s Maurice White.