2023 Grammy Photos: Backstage, Performances & More
Written by djfrosty on February 5, 2023
The 65th annual Grammy Awards took over Crypto.com Arena on Sunday (Feb. 5) evening for Music’s Biggest Night. Trevor Noah returned to host the Grammys for the third consecutive year, orchestrating a first-time meet-up between Adele and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson during the show’s first few minutes.
But that was far from the only unexpected celebrity pairing at the 2023 Grammys. Lizzo and Adele hung out, Bonnie Raitt and Taylor Swift posed for pics, and Mary J. Blige and HER chatted with each other. Plus, there were plenty of knockout on-stage pairings, from Chris Stapleton joining Stevie Wonder on a scorching run-through of the latter’s classic “Higher Ground” and an all-star coterie of hip-hop GOATS joining forces for a 50th anniversary salute to the culture-shifting genre.
Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Smokey Robinson, Kendrick Lamar, DJ Khaled, Nile Rodgers, Cardi B, Jennifer Lopez with Ben Affleck, Harry Styles and many more music stars were present — including Sam Smith and Kim Petras, with Petras making Grammy history on Sunday night as the first openly trans woman to win a Grammy (for best pop duo/group performance for “Unholy”). In her speech, Petras paid homage to the late SOPHIE and living icon Madonna for helping to inspire and encourage her.
The ‘in memoriam’ segment was a musical three-parter, with Kacey Musgraves performing the classic “Coal Miner’s Daughter” from the late Loretta Lynn, who passed away at age 90, during the first part. Then, Quavo took the stage with Music City Collective to perform a memorial tribute to Takeoff, his Migos bandmate who was tragically killed last year at age 28. Finally, Mick Fleetwood, Bonnie Raitt and Sheryl Crow joined forces for a tribute to Christine McVie, the Fleetwood Mac legend who died at 79 years old.