64th Annual Grammy Awards: Highlights

The 64th annual Grammy Awards occurred on Sunday 4/3, featuring a number of major wins, along with an appearance from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, appealing to the people to offer support to Ukraine, who is currently at the heart of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The show broadcasted mostly live from Las Vegas, after being postponed from January 31 due to the omicron variant, a symbol of the music industry trying to emerge from more than two years of the pandemic.

The host, comedian Trevor Noah, opened the show promising that “we’re going to be dancing… singing… [and] keeping people’s names out of our mouths,” alluding to the eventful confrontation between Chris Rock and Will Smith at the Oscar Academy Awards last Sunday.

The opening number was performed by the R&B duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, with the pair winning song and record of the year for “Leave the Door Open”. 

Jon Batiste, the Louisianian jazz pianist from Louisiana, scored a whopping total of five Grammys on Sunday including album of the year for “We Are”, bringing his grand total of 11 awards. Historically, Batiste is the first black artist in 14 years to win album of the year (before him, Outkast had been the only black performers younger than 65 to win this award in 2004). In his short and sweet acceptance speech, Batiste said that “the creative arts are subjective and they reach people at a point in their lives when they need it most”, expressing his gratitude for his fans and love for music.

Olivia Rodrigo, the favorite, made her own sweep of three Grammys at the young age of 19. A smashing success, she took best new artist, best pop vocal album (for “Sour”) and best pop solo performance (for “Driver’s License”). Rodrigo’s emotional acceptance of the awards reflects a whirlwind of a year for the young artist; with her hit single “Driver’s License” topping the US Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks and her debut album “Sour” atop the US Billboard 200 chart for five weeks. 

Along with Rodrigo, there were a number of young artists delivering powerful performances and winning awards, signaling a transformation of the music industry. Doja Cat, a recent rapper and artist who has taken the internet by storm, won the pop duo/group performance with her “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA, calling the award a “big deal”. Lil Nas X, the artist with 2021 hits “Dead Right Now”, “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)”, and “Industry Baby” (featuring Jack Harlow), soared into Sunday with five nominations but walking away with none. Nonetheless, he had a stellar performance with a medley of his big hits. The K-pop stars BTS, fan favorites, performed their easily recognizable number “Butter”.

The 64th Grammys honors and recognizes achievements in music released in the last year. The winning artists and works are chosen by more than 11,000 voting members of the Recording Academy. Acceptance speeches from winners highlighted personal triumphs and gratitude to fans and family.

A musically significant event, the Grammys will continue to shape the music industry as we know it.