The night’s diversity proves ‘all of it matters’
There was a lot to celebrate at Sunday’s wonderfully diverse Grammy Awards, with women and people of color dominating top categories including album (Kacey Musgraves’ “Golden Hour”), record and song of the year (both Childish Gambino’s “This Is America”). Latin artists dazzled at the top of the show with a medley from Camila Cabello, Ricky Martin and J Balvin, and Motown got a high-energy (if somewhat questionable) tribute from Jennifer Lopez and Smokey Robinson.
More of the night’s biggest moments that you might’ve missed:
Drake shows up to accept award but seemingly is silenced
The Grammys were ruthless with the playoff music this year, cutting off speeches by winners including Dua Lipa, H.E.R. and Cardi B. But none sparked more outrage online than Drake’s, whose microphone appeared to be silenced midspeech as he accepted the award for best rap song for “God’s Plan.” The rapper – who notoriously criticized the Grammys for failing to in- clude hip-hop categories in the televised show and hasn’t attended the ceremony since 2013 – gave an impassioned speech that essentially boiled down to why the awards don’t matter. “You don’t need this right here, I promise you,” he said, addressing fellow artists. “You already won. But – .”
Cardi B tearfully thanks daughter and her husband Offset
The “I Like It” breakout became the first female rapper to win the Grammy for best rap album as a solo artist for last year’s hit “Invasion of Privacy.” Accepting the award, Cardi gave the night’s funniest and most heartwarming speech: joking about her nerves walking onstage (“Maybe I need to start smoking weed”) and thanking her semi-estranged husband, rapper Offset, and their 7-month-old daughter, Kulture (“When I found out I was pregnant, my album was not complete. We were like, ‘We have to get this album done so I can shoot these videos while I’m still not showing.’ And it was very long nights.”).
Michelle Obama makes a surprise appearance
No one makes an entrance quite like the former first lady, whose presence earned such deafening cheers that she had to restart her speech. Obama was on hand to open the Grammys with host Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jennifer Lopez as they shared their thoughts on the power of music. “From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side to the ‘who run the world’ songs that fueled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story,” Obama
told the audience. “It allows us to hear each other and to invite each other in. Music shows us that all of it matters.”
Lady Gaga confuses Twitter with her “Shallow” performance
The actress/singer served hair, body and face for her over-the-top rendition of “A Star Is Born,” which picked up two Grammys, including best pop duo/ group performance. In a bedazzled jumpsuit with chunky platform heels, Gaga went full ’80s glam-rock as she belted out the track: swinging her jewelembellished microphone, clawing at the air and mugging to the camera. Some people on Twitter were taken aback by the dramatic display; users called it everything from “powerful” to “weird.”
Dolly Parton outshines everyone in her all-star tribute
The eight-time Grammy winner proved why she’s the Queen of Country in an A-list celebration of her five-dec-
ade career, singing some of her biggest hits with goddaughter Miley Cyrus, Kacey Musgraves, Little Big Town, Maren Morris and Katy Perry. Parton, 73, earned a standing ovation for her rousing vocals on latest single “Red Shoes” before closing out the performance with crowd favorite “9 to 5.”
Bebe Rexha shuts down fat-shaming designers
The “Meant to Be” singer looked and felt like a princess on the carpet in a billowing red Monsoori gown, weeks after she revealed in an Instagram video that many designers refused to dress her for the show because she’s “too big.” Since then, Rexha says, she has received support from fans and other designers, and she found the dress of her dreams. “It’s been amazing. ... I just did the video because I was really heartbroken,” she told E! on the red carpet, calling her two Grammy nominations a “Cinderella moment” in a taped segment.