Billie wins big at Grammys
TEEN pop game-changer Billie Eilish made a clean sweep of the Grammy Awards’ top four gongs with the 18-yearold singer and songwriter becoming the youngest artist ever to win Song and Album of the Year.
The music industry’s big night was overshadowed and subdued by the tragic death of basketball great Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others, sharing its Staples Centre venue with the LA Lakers as its home court.
Eilish and her award-winning producer brother Finneas O’connell were clearly shocked by their collective Grammy haul with her smash hit Bad Guy picking up three awards and debut album When We Fall Asleep … winning two gongs. He also collected Producer of the Year.
“I feel like I joke around a lot, and I never take anything seriously at these kinds of things, but I genuinely want to say I’m so grateful. And I only want to say that I’m grateful, and I’m so honoured to be here among all of you. I love you to my core. I grew up watching all of you,” she said.
Leading nominee Lizzo, who won thousands of Australian hearts with her bushfire relief efforts during her recent tour, picked up three awards including Best Pop Solo Performance for her breakthrough hit Truth Hurts.
She dedicated her joyous opening mash-up of Cuz I Love You and Truth Hurts to Bryant, along with several of the night’s entertainers featuring the late sports hero’s image or trademark 24 singlet on big screens during the performances.
“Let’s get back to making music that moves people again, making music that feels f---ing great, that liberates people,” Lizzo said.
Host Alicia Keys opened with a moving monologue about the tragedy and was joined by Boyz II Men to sing their haunting ballad It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.
“We are literally standing here heartbroken in the house that Kobe built,” Keys said.
“Right now, Kobe and his daughter Gianna and all of those people who have been tragically lost today are in our spirit, in our hearts, they are in our prayers, they are in this building.”
This year’s Grammy Awards also paid tribute to the late LA rapper Nipsey Hussle who was murdered outside his clothing store last year.
Keys amazed fashion followers with at least five costume changes during the ceremony from a glorious silver gown to a not-so-glamorous pants suit accessorised with cleavage stickers.
Among those celebrating was Australian Christian pop brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone whose group For King and Country won two Grammys, including one with Dolly Parton for their collaboration God Only Knows.
While the artists may have been coveting those golden grammaphone trophies, for fans the awards were all about the performances.
The BTS army went berserk online when the South Korean boy band joined Lil Nas X to perform the history-making chart-topper Old Town Road.
Demi Lovato made a powerful and raw return to the Grammys stage with her song Anyone, written just a few days before she almost died of an overdose in 2018.
Lovato had to restart the song when she was overcome with emotion, singing her heart out as tears streaked her face. She finished with a beaming smile as her honest performance ended in a standing ovation of support from her peers.
Younger fans checking out the Grammys were no doubt bemused by the loose antics of Musicares honorees Aerosmith frontman Steve Tyler during their rockin’ rendition of the iconic rock rap mash-up Walk This Way with rappers Run DMC.
Other winners included Michelle Obama for Best Spoken Word Album for Becoming, Beyonce for her Homecoming
film and Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper picking up two gongs for A Star Is Born.