GRAMMY FOR 905’S CARA
Named best new artist
Bruno Mars went six for six at the Grammys, winning all of the awards he was nominated for with his energetic and upbeat ’90sinspired R&B album 24K Magic.
Mars won three of the show’s biggest awards — album of the year for 24K Magic, record of the year for titular track 24K Magic and song of the year for That’s What I Like — on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
Sound engineer Charles Moniz, who grew up in Burlington, Ont., won three Grammys for his work on 24K Magic.
Mars gave credit to his musical influences as a youth, such as producers/songwriters Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, as well as Babyface. Mars, who now has a career total of 11 Grammys, said he wanted to bring the love.
“That’s all I wanted to do with this album, see people dancing again and moving.”
Kendrick Lamar was close behind with five awards, including best rap album for DAMN. and best rap/sung performance for LOYALTY. with Rihanna.
“This is special, man. I got a lot of guys in this building that I still idolize today,” said Lamar, naming JayZ, Nas and Diddy as inspirations.
At the end, Lamar closed with: “Jay for president.”
Jay-Z, the leading nominee with eight, walked away empty-handed.
Lamar, nominated for seven awards, kicked off the Grammys with a powerful and poignant performance featuring video screens displaying a waving American flag behind him, as background dancers dressed as army soldiers marched and moved behind. He was joined by U2’s Bono and The Edge, and also fellow Grammywinner Dave Chappelle — who told jokes in between Lamar’s performances.
At one point, Lamar’s background dancers, dressed in red, were shot down as he rapped lyrics, later coming back to life as fire burst to end the six-minute performance.
Kesha gave a passionate performance with the help of powerful women behind her, including the Resistance Revival Chorus.
She was joined by Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Julia Michaels, Andra Day and Bebe Rexha for her Grammy-nominated song, Praying. Dressed in white, they won over the audience and hugged at the song’s end as some audience members cried, including Hailee Steinfeld.
Kesha, who earned her first pair of Grammy nominations this year, has been in a legal war with former producer and mentor Dr. Luke. Janelle Monae introduced the performance with strong words.
“We come in peace but we mean business. To those who would dare try to silence us, we offer two words: Time’s Up,” Monae said. “It’s not just going on in Hollywood. It’s not just going on in Washington. It’s here in our industry, too.”
Earlier, Maren Morris, Eric Church and Brothers Osborne performed an emotional rendition of Eric Clapton’s Tears In Heaven — written after his son died — in honour of the 58 people who died at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas last year. The names of the victims were displayed behind them as they performed.
The performances were two of the show’s serious moments. Dozens of artists and music industry players also sported white roses in support of the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements against sexual abuse and harassment.
A shaking Alessia Cara won best new artist, winning over SZA, Julia Michaels, Khalid and Lil Uzi Vert.
“Thank you to my parents and my brother for believing in me,” she said, also urging the crowd to “support real music and real artists because everyone deserves the same shot.”
The prize was the Brampton, Ont.-raised singer’s first Grammy. Cara told the audience she’s been “pretend winning” Grammys in the shower since she was a kid.
Meanwhile, soprano Barbara Hannigan of Waverley, N.S., toasted her first Grammy Award with a glass of wine in Hamburg, Germany.
“I’m having a glass of wine. It’s white. It should be white and red for the Canadian flag, actually,” the contemporary opera singer said in a phone call from her apartment.
The Weeknd’s Starboy picked up best urban contemporary album, giving the Toronto performer his third Grammy.
Leonard Cohen’s song You Want It Darker received a Grammy for best rock performance. Taken from his album of the same name, it marks the first solo Grammy win for the late Montreal singer-songwriter, who died in November 2016.
Chris Stapleton won three awards, including best country album, best country song and best country solo performance.
The Rolling Stones picked up their third career Grammy — for best traditional blues album for Blue & Lonesome, while Ed Sheeran won best pop vocal album. Emmy and Golden Globe winner Childish Gambino (Donald Glover), who picked up best traditional R&B performance, gave a smooth and sultry performance of Terrified in all-white featuring screeching high notes.
Little Big Town, who sang their Taylor Swift-penned No. 1 hit Better Man, also won best country duo/group performance with the song.
Lady Gaga won over the audience with a rousing performance of the songs Joanne and Million Reasons, while Sam Smith gave a powerful performance of Pray.
Mars gave an energetic and colourful performance of Finesse with breakthrough rapper Cardi B; Pink was a vocal powerhouse while she sang Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken; and Rihanna, DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller teamed up for a vibrant performance of Wild Thoughts.
Posthumous Grammys were handed out to actress Carrie Fisher, Cohen and engineer Tom Coyne, who worked on Mars’ 24K Magic album.