The 2023 Grammys was an exciting night full of many best moments, big wins and highlights. The Grammys took place on February 5th at the Crypyto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA and was hosted by South African comedian Trevor Noah for the third time. The ceremony awarded best recordings, compositions and artists of the year along with spectacular performances from nominees, past winners and favorite artists.

This year’s ceremony celebrated 50 years of hip-hop, making it the highlight of the night. To mark the occasion, an ensemble ranging from some of the legendary emcees like Grandmaster Flash, Run- DMC and LL Cool J to up-and-coming artists like Lil Baby, GloRilla and Lil Uzi Vert performed on the same stage. It was stunning to see dozens of hip-hop artists spanning decades and regional subgenres come together for this historic celebration. “We started in the Bronx,” declared LL Cool J over the closing bars. “And ever since, we’ve gone everywhere.”

It was a huge night for Beyoncé. She made history by breaking the record for most Grammy wins of all time with a total of thirty-two awards. She also received the most nominations, nine, along with already being tied with her husband Jay-Z as the most nominated artists in Grammy history with eighty-eight nominations. Beyoncé took home four awards for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (Break My Soul), Best Dance/Electronic Album (Renaissance), Best Traditional R&B Performance (Plastic Off the Sofa) and Best R&B Song (Cuff It).

The biggest surprise of the night was Beyoncé losing to hard-working Harry Styles for the prestigious Album of the Year–Style’s won for “Harry’s House”. Styles also won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album and performed his hit song “As It Was.” Many predicted Beyonce’s album Renaissance as the front-runner for Album of the Year as it was the most critically acclaimed release of 2022. Viewers of the ceremony expressed shock toward Style’s win in the Grammys biggest category. Beyoncé has now lost in this category four times. Previously, it was Beck, Adele and Taylor Swift. Of the sixteen times she has been nominated in the major, all-genre categories, she has only just won once in 2010 for Song of the Year, “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”.

This year was the first time in Grammy history for a transgender woman to win an award. Kim Petras won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Unholy”, with Sam Smith. Kim received a standing ovation and made a moving speech paying homage to her late friend and music producer Sophie, who says she always believed in her. She thanked all the incredible transgender legends before her who, “kicked these doors open” and Madonna for fighting for LGBTQ rights. Backstage, Kim still could not get over the sense of occasion. “It’s the best feeling in the world.”

There were quite a few fist-time occurrences over the course of the night. Conductor Michael Repper and the New York Youth Symphony won the Grammy for Best Orchestra Performance for their recording of “Works by Florence Price, Jessie Mongtomery, Valerie Coleman.” It is the first youth orchestra to ever win an award. Also, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti became the first Spanish-language album to be nominated for Album of the Year. Bad Bunny went on to win Best Música Urbana Album and put on a performance of his hit song “El Apagón” that had the celebrities dancing in the aisles. This night was a party we will not soon forget.