The most exciting night in music, the fifty-fifth Grammy’s provided a night full of entertainment along with 28 million viewers, making this year’s ceremony the second most viewed telecast.
Fans and viewers eagerly tuned in for the return of Justin Timberlake, who completely stole the show. This performance being his first in five years, Timberlake did not let his marketing skills go to waste giving a killer performance with a medley of his newest songs from his highly anticipated upcoming album “The 20/20 Experience.”
Taylor Swift opened up the show with her usual, you-broke-my-heart tune. Alicia Keyes paired with Maroon 5 performing “Girl on Fire,” where Keyes channeled her inner Shelia E. Rihanna sang her newest single, “Stay,” bringing an enormous amount of emotion. However, out of all of the performances, the highlight of the night was the all-star tribute to legend Bob Marley. Singing one of his many hits, “Could You Be Loved,” Bruno Mars, Sting, Rihanna, Ziggy and Damian Marley showed how a tribute should be done, leaving the entire audience on their feet.
The Grammy’s was also a big night for Frank Ocean who walked away with two awards for best urban contemporary album, “Channel Orange,” and best rap/sung collaboration, “No Church in the Wild” – Jay-Z and Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean & The-Dream.” Frank Ocean also gave a rather flat and off tune performance of “Forrest Gump.”
British rooted music band Mumford & Sons took home album of the year with “Babel,” which is said to be the top honor at the ceremony. Beyonce added to her Grammy collection taking home her 17th Grammy for best traditional R&B performance with “Love on Top.” Drake and Miguel both walked away with their first Grammy’s. From the show, we all learned that Miguel isn’t really known by every celebrity. Kelly Clarkson made that clear during her acceptance speech. Check out a list of some of the night’s winners.
RECORD OF THE YEAR: Gotye feat. Kimbra, “Somebody That I Used To Know”
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Mumford & Sons — Babel
SONG OF THE YEAR: fun., “We Are Young”
BEST NEW ARTIST: fun.
BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE: Adele, “Set Fire to the Rain”
BEST POP DUO PERFORMANCE: Gotye feat. Kimbra, “Somebody That I Used To Know”
BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM: Kelly Clarkson — Stronger
BEST DANCE RECORDING: Skrillex feat. Sirah, “Bangarang”
BEST DANCE/ELECTRONICA ALBUM: Skrillex — Bangarang
BEST ROCK SONG: The Black Keys, “Lonely Boy”
BEST ROCK ALBUM: The Black Keys — El Camino
BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM: Gotye — Making Mirrors
BEST R&B PERFORMANCE: Usher, “Climax”
BEST TRADITIONAL R&B PERFORMANCE: Beyonce, “Love On Top”
BEST R&B SONG: Miguel, “Adorn”
BEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM: Frank Ocean — Channel Orange
BEST R&B ALBUM: Robert Glasper Experiment — Black Radio
BEST RAP PERFORMANCE: Jay-Z & Kanye West, “N****s in Paris”
BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION: Jay-Z, Kanye West & Frank Ocean, “No Church In the Wild”
BEST RAP SONG: Jay-Z & Kanye West, “N****s in Paris”
BEST RAP ALBUM: Drake — Take Care
BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE: Carrie Underwood, “Blown Away”
BEST COUNTRY SONG: Carrie Underwood, “Blown Away”
BEST SONG WRITTEN FOR VISUAL MEDIA: Taylor Swift, “Safe & Sound” (from The Hunger Games)
BEST REMIXED RECORDING, NON-CLASSICAL: Nero & Skrillex, “Promises”
BEST SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO: Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris, “We Found Love”
BEST LONG FORM MUSIC VIDEO: Mumford & Sons, “Big Easy Express”
You can see the complete list on the Grammys site.
- Amanda Rhoda, Contributor