Grammys
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It’s been months since the tragic and shocking death of beloved Migos member, Takeoff, and during last night’s Memoriam segment of the Grammy Awards, his uncle Quavo paid tribute to his nephew in a moving performance that will not be soon forgotten.
Sporting a half-mask on his face and bringing along Takeoff’s diamond-encrusted chain, Quavo took to the stage with Maverick City Music and performed his touching tribute song “Without You” before being joined on stage by two choir singers who performed a rendition of the hit Wiz Khalifa and Chalie Puth song, “See You Again.” With pictures of Takeoff and the Migos crew being shown on the big screen behind him, Quavo put forth a moving performance that left Hip-Hoppers in their feelings and feeling the pain through Quavo’s black mask.
Lord knows how hard it must’ve been for Quavo to hold it together for this last night.
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The performance marks the first time that Quavo’s made a public appearance since his nephews tragic murder on Halloween night last year. Since then a man has been arrested in connection with Takeoff’s murder though he’s since been released on a million dollar bond.
Check out Quavo’s tribute below and let us know your thoughts on the performance in the comments section below.
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Source: Timothy Norris / Getty / Beyoncé
It was a history-making night for Beyoncé at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
Beyoncé’s husband, JAY-Z, once rapped, “tell the Grammy’s fuck that 0 for eight shit,” but that feeling was swept under the rug as the couple returned to the awards show to see if Queen Bey could walk away a big winner.
The Houston native arrived fashionably late and took home four awards for her critically acclaimed album Renaissance. Earlier in the broadcast, her viral hit “Cuff It” won Best R&B Song while she was stuck in traffic. Her collaborators on the song, The-Dream, and Niles Rogers were on hand to accept the award on her behalf.
Beyoncé Was Thankful
Beyonce’s latest project also won Best Dance/Electronic Music Album award. The lead single, “Break My Soul,” won Best Dance/Electronic Recording, and “Plastic Off the Sofa” won Best Traditional R&B performance, cementing her as the greatest winner of all time at the Grammys.
“I am trying not to be too emotional, and I am trying to just receive this night,” she said while fighting tears.
“I want to thank God for protecting me. Thank you God. I’d like to thank my uncle Johnny, who is not here but he’s here in spirit,” of course her parents got love too, “I’d like to thank my parents — my father, my mother — for loving me and pushing me,” she said during her speech.
“I’d like to thank my beautiful husband and my beautiful three children,” was the punctuation on her acceptance speech.
But she didn’t take home two of the night’s biggest honors. Song of The Year went to Lizzo’s retail store anthem, “About Damn Time,” and dedicated her win to the late legend Prince. She also gave Beyoncé her flowers during her speech.
Album of The Year, which always seems to elude Queen Bey, landed on Harry Style’s lap for his album “Harry’s House.” Of course, the BeyHive, who was happy for their queen making history, felt she was more deserving of Album of The Year.
Other Notable Grammy Moments
Other moments we care to talk about include Kendrick Lamar winning three Grammy Awards for his album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. He received the Rap Album award from Cardi B and, in his acceptance speech, thanked his family for giving him “courage and vulnerability” to share his truth on the album. He said his latest project was tough to make, and he “found imperfection.”
Lamar also won Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for his song “The Heart Part 5.”
23-year-old Bronx Native Jazz singer Samara Joy took home Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album.
You can peep more reactions to all things Beyoncé in the gallery below.
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Photo: Timothy Norris / Getty
1. Heard You!
3. HOV Knew
Growing up in south Florida, the closest Christian Breslauer got to Hollywood was a nearby beach named after it. The cinephile looked up to renowned film director David Fincher, who also helmed music videos for Madonna and Billy Idol early in his career. After high school, he started directing clips for local artists. He moved to California in 2016 with sights set on working with London Alley Entertainment, a full-service production company behind award-winning videos for artists including Kendrick Lamar (“Alright”) and Logic (“1-800-273-8255”). Breslauer jokingly recalls that he reached out to founder/executive producer Luga Podesta dozens of times before first working with the company on a 2019 Cîroc commercial. However, London Alley didn’t start representing him until the following year, after Podesta saw the video for Roddy Ricch’s “The Box,” which earned an MTV Video Music Award nomination for best hip-hop video. “Our job as a company is seeing a director’s career long term instead of just per project,” says Podesta. “We strategize about who are the artists they want to work with and who manages those artists.”
Since then, Breslauer has become a go-to creator of visuals that are equally eye-popping and purposeful, working with superstars including The Weeknd, Doja Cat, John Legend and Lil Nas X (The latter’s “Industry Baby” clip with Jack Harlow won three VMAs). At the beginning of 2023, Breslauer directed the video for SZA’s “Kill Bill,” which has over 20 million views — and most recently, he helmed the ultimate Black girl superhero visual for Lizzo’s Special title track. “We helped [Christian] form the relationships with Lizzo and SZA,” says Podesta, also noting that the team “did four or five videos with SALXCO management and then finally got [him] to work with The Weeknd.” Adds Breslauer: “We try to build little Marvel universes for every artist I work with. That’s why artists like to come back and keep working with me.”
Tyga x Doja Cat, “Freaky Deaky”
Christian Breslauer and Doja Cat on the set of the “Freaky Deaky” music video.
Virisa Yong
After Tyga texted Breslauer about shooting a “futuristic” video for “Freaky Deaky,” a Doja Cat collaboration from his forthcoming album, Breslauer imagined a sexy cat-and-mouse game, with Doja capturing Tyga in various traps during a late-night rendezvous. The lyrics helped inspire some of them, including “Black Barbie, perfect and you gnarly,” which reminded Breslauer of a scene from Joe Dante’s 1998 film Small Soldiers when action figures punch out of their plastic boxes. “I put a lot of intention in breaking down the song,” says Breslauer. He often leans on artists to bring their own flair during shoots, noting that Doja Cat’s chastity belt lock featuring a phallic keyhole was an addition by her stylist Brett Alan Nelson.
Lizzo, “About Damn Time”
Lizzo and Christian Breslauer on the set of the “About Damn Time” music video.
Micayla Catanzariti
Last year, Lizzo’s team asked Breslauer to direct three videos for her Grammy-nominated album Special. But once the newly minted record of the year “About Damn Time” went viral and subsequently reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, that visual took priority. The two set out to make something uplifting, with Breslauer running with Lizzo’s idea to open in a support group setting. The visual won video for good at the 2022 VMAs, with Lizzo dubbing Breslauer “Tittylauer” during her acceptance speech. “We have so many funny moments. She brings such a bubbly energy where you just can’t help but love her,” he said, calling the recent “Special” video his favorite one from her album.
SZA, “Kill Bill”
SZA and Christian Breslauer on the set of the “Kill Bill” music video.
Micayla Catanzariti
For SZA’s latest video, Breslauer wanted to incorporate the singer’s idea of shibari rope bondage during the outro — a second sequence soundtracked by fellow SOS track “Seek & Destroy” — while still largely referencing Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films. “It seemed too on-the-nose to have an Uma [Thurman] cameo, but Vivica [A. Fox] was right to me,” says Breslauer of one of its driving scenes. “She’s got the look, she’s got the swagger.” He adds that they wrapped that shot around 5 a.m. as part of a 19-hour-long shoot that happened just days before Christmas. The video came out two weeks later — which Podesta says is “definitely the fastest video we’ve done in a while.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the Feb. 4, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Stars descended on L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena on Sunday (Feb. 5) for the 65th annual Grammy Awards, with everyone from Bad Bunny and Lizzo to Harry Styles and Mary J. Blige taking the stage to perform.
And now that this year’s biggest night in music has officially come and gone, Billboard wants to know which star-studded performance still had you talking come Monday morning.
The artist otherwise known as Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio opened the ceremony with a delightful mash-up of “El Apagón” and “Después de la Playa” off his bestselling album Un Verano Sin Ti, paying tribute to his native Puerto Rico with a colorful entourage of cabezudos and merengue dancers.
Ahead of her win for record of the year, Lizzo brought the house down with a joyful revisiting of “About Damn Time” and the title track off Special, just before Styles recreated the music video for “As It Was” by bringing the giant red turntable to the stage.
Of course, one of the most-talked-about moments of the night came when LL Cool J introduced the all-star tribute to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, which brought pioneers and legends such as Salt-N-Pepa, Public Enemy, Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes together with the new guard of GloRilla, Lil Uzi Vert and Lil Baby for a 23-song medley that was nothing short of electrifying — gigantic Ruff Ryders flag flying high about the Grammys stage included.
This year’s In Memoriam segment was also particularly touching as Quavo memorialized the late Takeoff in between Kacey Musgraves‘ restrained performance of “Coal Miner’s Daughter” for Loretta Lynn and Mick Fleetwood teaming up with Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt to honor Christine McVie with “Songbird.”
Elsewhere in the telecast, Sam Smith and Kim Petras opened the gates of hell for “Unholy” after making history with their win for best pop duo/group performance, Blige belted out “Good Morning Gorgeous” looking nothing less than absolutely glam, and DJ Khaled rounded up a rogue’s gallery of Fridayy, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne John Legend and Jay-Z to close out the show with “God Did.”
Vote for your favorite musical number of the 2023 Grammys in Billboard‘s official poll below!
Kim Petras may “never cause no drama,” but she’s certainly ready to put an end to it.
At Sunday night’s Grammys (Feb. 5), Petras and Sam Smith took home the award for best pop duo/group performance, making Petras the first transgender winner in the category. In a press conference following her win, the pop singer said that she couldn’t help but think about the people who told her she wouldn’t make it.
“All these years are going through my head of people saying I would be a ‘niche artist’ because I’m transgender and my music would only ever play in gay clubs,” she said, adding that gay clubs “raised” her. “Now, I got a Grammy for making gay club music with my friend, and that’s the best feeling in the world.”
When asked what she hoped people watching could take away from her historic victory, Petras offered up a plea for greater understanding. “Honestly, I just think people need to judge less,” she said. “I hope that there’s a future where gender and identity and all these labels don’t matter that much. I hope all the kids that saw this that are special or different or feel like they don’t belong … feel inspired that, ‘Yes, you can be yourself and get rewarded for your talent rather than your gender or your sexuality.’”
While many watching were excited by the prospect of Petras earning her first Grammy, others online were getting fired up over her performance with Smith. Conservatives online referred to the pair’s fire-and-brimstone performance as “satanic,” with Senator Ted Cruz even weighing in to call the live number “evil.”
As Petras tells it, that was very much the point of their presentation. “It’s a take on not being able to choose religion, and not being able to live the way that people might want you to live,” she said matter-of-factly. “I think a lot of people have labeled what I stand for and what Sam stands for as ‘religiously not cool.’ I personally grew up wondering about religion and wanting to be a part of it, but then slowly realizing it doesn’t want me to be a part of it.”
Petras saved her kindest words backstage for Smith, referring to the singer as “a very special friend” and thanking them for their support since the outset of her career. “It’s really special to share this with someone who’s given me such important advice in my life, who has helped me in dealing with the opinions of people,” she said. “So, yeah, Sam will never get rid of me and we will always sing this song for eternity.”
Check out Petras’ full backstage press conference at the 2023 Grammys above.
While the In Memoriam performance at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday (Feb. 5) paid tribute to the passing of many music stars in 2022, several notable omissions left fans irate, most notably the absences of Gangsta Boo and Lil Keed.
Boo, born Lola Chantrelle Mitchell, died on New Year’s Day this year. She rose to prominence during her teenage years and played an integral role in creating Three 6 Mafia. At the time of her death, Memphis Police Department said in a statement that there were no immediate signs of foul play and the investigation into her death was ongoing. She was 43.
Despite a gripping performance delivered by Quavo for his Migos bandmate and nephew, Takeoff, hip-hop fans chirped on social media about Boo’s exclusion. “Leaving out Gangsta Boo, one of the pioneers of Southern female rap, from the GRAMMY memoriam segment is a sin and a shame,” said one fan. “Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop tonight and forgetting to include Gangsta Boo in the memorial video is disrespectful af @RecordingAcad,” tweeted another.
Viewers also had something to say about the omission of YSL’s Lil Keed,” who died last May. “Grammy’s really didn’t honor Lil Keed. Scum,” said a viewer on Twitter.
According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, Keed’s cause of death stemmed from eosinophilia. Eosinophilia is a rare condition in which the number of eosinophils — a type of white blood cell — is greatly increased, according to cancer.gov.
Billboard has reached out to the Recording Academy for comment about the omissions.
Take a look at some of the tweets reacting to Boo and Keed’s omissions below.
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop tonight and forgetting to include Gangsta Boo in the memorial video is disrespectful af @RecordingAcad.— K E I S H (@MikeishaDache) February 6, 2023
Leaving out Gangsta Boo, one of the pioneers of Southern female rap, from the GRAMMY memoriam segment is a sin and a shame.— AGD. (@TheLexGabrielle) February 6, 2023
Grammy’s really didn’t honor Lil Keed. Scum— dan (@D_Gallagher9) February 6, 2023
Woww they really left Lil Keed and Gangsta Boo out of the #GRAMMYs tribute.😪— Shh the TV On (@shhthetvon) February 6, 2023
How did the Grammys not honor Gangsta Boo during the memorial part of the show?? Unacceptable and so disrespectful.— HXV (@WE_ARE_HXV) February 6, 2023
#GRAMMYs Why was Gangsta Boo not in the tribute to artist we lost? With this being 50 years of hip hop they should have added her picture.— Mzredmoma@gmail.com (@mzredmoma) February 6, 2023
Wow, y’all really gangsta boo off the tribute? Memphis being disrespected left and right this year. #GRAMMYs— Random, naked hoes stop following me!😷 (@WandaNon) February 6, 2023
You know it’s not the same as it was, but we remember it all too well. It’s been more than a decade since Harry Styles and Taylor Swift dated and called it quits, leaving millions of heartbroken fans feeling akin to children of divorced parents. But at the Grammy Awards Sunday night (Feb. 5), the two singers proved that, though long broken up, Mom and Dad are on great terms, taking time to chat and support one another during the ceremony.
In an onsite video captured during Steve Lacy’s performance of “Bad Habit,” Swift can be seen making her way over to Styles’ table in her glitzy, midnight-blue two-piece gown. The “As It Was” singer, who took home the coveted album of the year award and best pop vocal album for Harry’s House that night, stands up to greet her with a hug.
As Lizzo dances along to Lacy’s performance a few chairs down, the former pop power couple talk for about a minute before Swift glides elegantly away. Did she congratulate her “ex man” (to quote “Shake It Off”) on his wins? Did they discuss the best ways to co-parent their joint fanbase? It remains to be known what their brief conversation was about, but whatever it was, they were all smiles throughout.
The moment mirrors Swift and Styles’ reunion at the Grammys two years ago, when it was Swift who was honored with album of the year for Folklore. Just like this year, the two were also spotted on video having a friendly conversation at the 2021 awards, except Harry was the one to approach Taylor.
The “Anti-Hero” singer — whose “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” was nominated for song of the year, which went to Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That” — was also filmed passionately applauding Styles after his performance of “As It Was,” giving him a standing ovation. Now that snowmobile accidents, paper airplane necklaces and dozens of songs rumored to have been written about each other (looking at you, “Style” and “Two Ghosts”) are simply things of the past, fans can rest easy knowing that the two pop stars are friendly than ever.
Watch Harry Styles and Taylor Swift reunite at the 2023 Grammys below:
Now this is a another historic #Grammys moment. During Steve Lacy’s performance, Taylor Swift snuck over to talk to Harry Styles. They hug + talk for a long time over his table. pic.twitter.com/MX75UmcxJM— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) February 6, 2023
As if people weren’t mad enough at the results of the 2023 Grammys, now conservatives are fired up over two performers wearing devil costumes during the annual telecast. During the ceremony on Sunday (Feb. 5), Sam Smith and Kim Petras offered a rousing performance of their hit single “Unholy,” in which the Petras performed alongside drag stars Violet Chachki and Gottmik dressed in devil costumes, while Smith was in a bright red top hat with devil horns sticking out from it for the final chorus.
Instead of celebrating the fact that the pair made history for the LGBTQ community that night, conservative viewers slammed the performances for promoting the worship of Satan. “I know we on the right probably use the word satanic too often but this performance from Sam Smith is literally a tribute to Satan,” wrote one viewer. Another added some conspiracy-baiting into the mix, saying Madonna (who introduced the performance) looked like a statue erected in New York City that conservatives have called “satanic” as well.
Eventually, right-wing senator Ted Cruz decided to weigh in. Retweeting a video of the performance captured by conservative podcaster Liz Wheeler (who wrote that “demons are teaching your kids to worship Satan”), Cruz simply wrote, “This…is…evil.”
Neither Smith nor Petras have publicly responded to the backlash yet. Billboard has reached out to their reps for comment.
The pair took home the Grammy award for best pop duo/group performance, and Smith gave Petras the stage to celebrate being the first transgender woman to win in the category. “I just want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight,” she said during her speech, especially thanking the late SOPHIE for her constant support. “Everyone who believed in me to this point, I love you so much.”
Check out some of the reactions to Smith & Petras’ “Unholy” performance below:
Last night at the Grammys the satanic ritual performed by Sam Smith was introduced by MadonnaWho “coincidentally” looked like the new pagan statue in New York City pic.twitter.com/TPq8NjecYR— Vision4theBlind (@Michael3147) February 6, 2023
Sam Smith’s satanic performance at the Grammy’s ended with a Pfizer commercial. You can’t get it more on the nose than that. Pfizer and Hollywood deserve each other. pic.twitter.com/4HhFQemiCi— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) February 6, 2023
You can’t give out 91 awards without some snubs and surprises – and the 65th annual Grammy Awards, held on Sunday (Feb. 5), had plenty of both.
For the second time in three years, no artist won in more than one Big Four category. Harry Styles’ Harry’s House took album of the year, Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” won record of the year, Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That” claimed song of the year, and Samara Joy won best new artist.
In the past 25 years, there have been only three other years where no artist won in more than one Big Four category. This same four-way split occurred at the telecasts in 2004, 2010 and 2021. Sweeps, or at least mini-sweeps, in the Big Four categories have generally been the rule in recent years.
Beyoncé and Maverick City Music were the night’s top winners with four awards each. Brandi Carlile, Kirk Franklin, Kendrick Lamar and Raitt were close behind, with three each.
One of the biggest surprises this year didn’t pertain to awards: It’s that only one of the four artists with the most nominations this year (Carlile) performed on the telecast. Beyoncé, who led the pack with nine nods; Lamar, who finished second with eight; and Adele, who tied with Carlile with seven nods, all declined invitations to perform.
Trevor Noah hosted the Grammys for the third year in a row. But it’s the first time he’s hosted them in their usual home, Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the result of pandemic-triggered changes the last two years.
Here are the biggest snubs and surprises of Grammy night 2023.
And that’s a wrap on the 65th annual Grammy Awards!
Music’s Biggest Night finally returned to Los Angeles, at Crypto.com Arena, on Sunday night (Feb. 5) for the first time since 2020 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was certainly a full house. Billboard was positioned on the red carpet, backstage in the media center, and in the audience to bring you all the scoop behind this year’s telecast. (All times in PT.)
12:30 p.m.: Nominees for best Americana performance (The Blind Boys of Alabama), best tropical Latin album (La Marisoul), instrumental jazz album (Bob Mintzer), musical theater album (Shoshana Bean), traditional blues album (Buddy Guy) and gospel album (Maranda Curtis) kick off the Grammy Premiere Ceremony with a stirring performance of “I Just Want to Celebrate.”
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12:45 p.m.: Randy Rainbow, the host of the Grammy Premiere Ceremony, reads through the laundry list of rules for tonight’s pre-celebration before giving the first award of the evening to Encanto for best compilation soundtrack for visual media. Encanto also takes home the trophy for best score soundtrack for visual media, which is awarded to composer Germaine Franco.
12:56 p.m.: Beyoncé wins her first award of the night for best dance/electronic recording with her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash “Break My Soul.” She’s now surpassed Quincy Jones as the living artist with the most Grammys with 29 trophies. If she wins two more awards out of her nine nominations, she’ll tie the late classical conductor Sir Georg Solti for the most wins by anyone in Grammy history. If she wins three more, she’ll set a new record.
1 p.m.: Harry Styles‘ Billboard 200-topping album Harry’s House wins its first award of the night for best engineered album, non-classical. Harry’s House is also up for album of the year and best pop vocal album.
1:13 p.m.: Samara Joy, who’s up for best new artist and best jazz vocal album, gets the audience in a sultry mood with her swoon-worthy performance of her single “Can’t Get Out of This Mood.” Not even 10 minutes later, she wins the Grammy for best jazz vocal album with Linger Awhile.
1:31 p.m.: Reporters excitedly clap and cheer for Viola Davis from the media center while she tearfully accepts her first Grammy for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording during the Grammy Premiere Ceremony. She now officially achieves EGOT status, becoming the 18th person in history to do so.
1:33 p.m.: Muni Long beats Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Lucky Daye and Jazmine Sullivan for best R&B performance with “Hrs and Hrs.” She’s also nominated for best new artist and best R&B song.
1:35 p.m.: Beyoncé wins her second Grammy of the evening for best traditional R&B performance with “Plastic Off the Sofa.” She needs to win one more to tie Solti for the most wins by anyone in Grammy history and two more to set the record.
1:36 p.m.: Steve Lacy wins his first Grammy of the evening for best progressive R&B album with Gemini Rights. He’s also nominated for record of the year, song of the year and best pop solo performance for his Hot 100 chart-topper “Bad Habit.”
1:38 p.m.: Purple Disco Machine visits the media center while holding his Grammy for best remixed recording for his remix of Lizzo‘s Hot 100 No. 1 “About Damn Time,” which took him about a week to do. “Her voice was so outstanding, so I just had to remix this one. I thought I’d do it a little bit more disco for DJs,” he said. “I listened to the original version a few times and each would be something in it I really like or I can work with, some funky elements. And then I start thinking of the remix, and once I have an idea, I start doing the remix.”
1:39 p.m.: Kendrick Lamar wins two Grammys for best rap performance and best rap song with “The Heart Part 5,” which will also be up for record and song of the year during the primetime telecast. He’s trailing behind Beyoncé as the second-most nominated artist during this year’s awards show with eight nods.
1:41 p.m.: Producer ATL Jacob accepts the Grammy on behalf of Drake, Future and Tems for best melodic rap performance with “Wait for U.”
1:43 p.m.: Brandi Carlile wins two Grammys of her seven nominations for best rock performance and best rock song with “Broken Horses.”
1:48 p.m.: Andrew Watt and Robert Trujillo accept Ozzy Osbourne‘s Grammy on his behalf for best metal performance with the Tony lommi-assisted “Degradation Rules.” Watt says the Prince of Darkness had only two messages to pass along: “I love you all, and f— off!” Osbourne also wins best rock album with Patient Number 9.
1:52 p.m.: Wet Leg wins back-to-back Grammys for best alternative music performance with “Chaise Longue” and best alternative music album for Wet Leg. The group will also be up for best new artist during the telecast.
2 p.m.: The engineers behind Harry’s House — Jeremy Hatcher, Randy Merrill, Nick Lobel and Oli Jacobs — describe the remote process of mixing of the album during COVID in the media center. “Harry has really high expectations for himself, and obviously, that’s really great to be around,” said Lobel.
2:26 p.m.: Robert Glasper casually strolls into the media room while wearing sunglasses and carrying his Grammy for best R&B album with Black Radio III. “The only thing I feel like I’ve done to bring music to young people is just play music that’s my age. A lot of people when they play jazz, they’re trying to play music that’s 40, 50, 60 years prior to them, and that’s not necessarily their story. I study jazz, I’m aware of the history, but I also have to tell my own story. So by being present and by acknowledging what’s around me and being in my vibe and being influenced by what’s now, I’m making history. And I’m influencing younger people,” he says, adding that he wants his legacy in this industry to be “someone who had the keys to the house of Black music and wandered room to room.” He also teases that there’s a possibility of a joint jazz album between him and Mary J. Blige, whom he defeated in the star-studded category alongside PJ Morton, Chris Brown and Lucky Daye. Glasper was met with a sympathetic “awww” from reporters when he said he was filming the category announcement and telling the camera he was going to lose but happy to be here before eventually winning.
2:46 p.m.: Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers of Wet Leg carry one trophy each while timidly answering questions from reporters. When asked if they’re experiencing a “storybook beginning” regarding their journey from the Isle of Wight to Los Angeles, Chambers whispers that they didn’t “expect anything like this to happen” while Teasdale said she “cannot compute” their double wins before giggling to herself.
3:13 p.m.: Carly Pearce — who won the Grammy for best country duo/group performance alongside Ashley McBryde with “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” — explains how this is the first time all women have won in this category. “I’ve always loved Ashley’s music and just was a fan and asked her if she’d write a song with me. So to see this song do what it’s done over the last year and a half for us and just continue to show the girls that are coming up behind us that you can write your truth and you can do everything that you want in this business, I feel very, very lucky,” she said.
3:31 p.m.: Bonnie Raitt wins back-to-back Grammys for best Americana performance and best American roots song for “Made Up Mind” and “Just Like That,” respectively, bringing her overall total to 12.
3:41 p.m.: Dave Chappelle wins best comedy album for the fourth time in his career with The Closer.
3:46 p.m.: Taylor Swift wins her first Grammy of the evening for best music video with All Too Well: The Short Film. She’ll be up for song of the year with “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film)” in the telecast.
I can’t put into words what this means to me. For the @RecordingAcad and my peers to acknowledge me as a director, and in doing so, acknowledge my work to try and reclaim my music… I’m blown away. Thank you to all the fans who willed this to happen. https://t.co/nVoR1myP1f— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) February 6, 2023
3:49 p.m.: Tobias Jesso Jr. wins the inaugural Grammy for songwriter of the year and thanks “all of the wonderful artists I’ve gotten to work with” during his acceptance speech. Some of the recent songs he’s received writing credits on include “Boyfriends” by Harry Styles; “Can I Get It” and “To Be Loved” by Adele; “C’mon Baby Cry” by Orville Peck; and “Careless” and “Thank You Song” by FKA Twigs.
3:53 p.m.: Jack Antonoff wins producer of the year, non-classical for the second year in a row.
3:56 p.m.: Bonnie Raitt takes a deep breath before being met with a round of applause from reporters, one of whom reminds her she won her first award as a songwriter with best American roots song. But the icon misunderstands the question and corrects her by saying she didn’t win songwriter of the year. “Ok, let me start over. I’m still a little clammy from winning, geez,” she says nervously. “I don’t write that often, so to be recognized… it’s great to get this kind of reception.”
4:36 p.m.: Saul Germaine tells reporters he’s “super honored and so grateful” to have produced Swift’s All Too Well: The Short Film. “Telling this story with Taylor was such an honor. She’s such a gifted filmmaker and to see her step into such a powerful position as both writer and director of the film, it made it very natural to produce,” he said after the short film wins best music video. “I’d be honored to work on everything with her for the rest of my life.”
4:53 p.m.: When asked about the male-dominant producer of the year, non-classical category, Antonoff reminds reporters that they should “look at the fine print,” because he’s co-producing records with Swift, Lana Del Rey, Clairo, Lorde and more female superstars rather than working solo. “In truth, we’re doing them together,” he explained.
5 p.m.: Host Trevor Noah kicks off the main ceremony from a platform overlooking Crypto.com Arena by introducing the evening’s opening performer, Bad Bunny.
5:07 p.m.: Jesso comes back to the media center holding the songwriter of the year Grammy, saying, “I think this is a big step forward. I don’t really think this is for me, this is more for the community of songwriters that I was able to work with. I learned a lot from a lot of people who I’m sure would be equally deserving to be standing right here right now. And I owe a lot of it to a lot of the artists I’ve got to work with. I hope it’s moving in the right direction.”
5:31 p.m.: The media center erupts in applause when Beyoncé’s “Cuff It” wins best R&B song, officially giving the superstar her 31st Grammy and tying the record for the most wins by any individual. She has four more chances during the telecast to break the record for most Grammy wins.
5:55 p.m.: Reporters clap during Kim Petras‘ acceptance speech during the telecast as she announces that she’s the first transgender woman to win best pop duo/group performance, thanks to her and Sam Smith‘s Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Unholy,” which they’ll perform later on in the show.
6:29 p.m.: Applause within the media center hits a new decible once Cardi B announces Lamar won his third best rap album Grammy with Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, which will also be up for album of the year during the main telecast.
6:31 p.m.: Lizzo‘s choir of backup singers are heard harmonizing backstage shortly after her performance of “About Damn Time” and “Special.”
7:04 p.m.: The cheering and clapping heard ’round Crypto.com Arena began before James Corden could even announce that Beyoncé made Grammys history when she won best dance/electronic music album for Renaissance, now giving her the all-time record for most Grammy wins with 32 Golden Gramophones to her name.
7:33 p.m.: The reverberations of the arena from the Grammys’ all-star hip-hop tribute underscores reporters’ cheering during Busta Rhymes‘ lightning-speed performance of his verse from Chris Brown‘s “Look at Me Now,” their echoing of Too $hort‘s “B—-!” from his “Blow the Whistle” performance, and their laughter at Lil Uzi Vert‘s spiky hairdo during his “Just Wanna Rock” performance. This was arguably the loudest and cheeriest the media center had been all day.
7:45 p.m.: Looking gorgeous in a bedazzled red-and-black gown, Kim Petras pulls up to the incredibly jazzed media center with her history-making first Grammy win, exclaiming, “All these years are going through my head of people saying I would be a niche artist because I’m transgender and my music would only ever play in gay clubs and what’s wrong with that? I love gay clubs, they raised me. Anyways, I got a Grammy for making gay club music with my friend, and that’s the best feeling in the world. I just think that people need to judge less, and I hope that there’s a future where gender and identity and all these labels don’t matter that much and for people to just be themselves.” She also describes Smith as “a very special friend and supporter of mine for years” and says they’ve sent a lot of songs back and forth to each other over the years that “weren’t the right fit” until their “little baby” “Unholy” was born. “Sam will never get rid of me, and we’ll always sing this song for eternity,” she rejoiced. Petras also pondered aloud if one can take a shot from the Golden Gramophone, and someone assured her she could, much to her delight. Before she could experiment and “get really, really drunk to process this,” Petras also explained the concept behind her and Smith’s Grammys performance of “Unholy.” “I think a lot of people honestly have labeled what I stand for and what Sam stands for as ‘religiously not cool,’ and I personally grew up wondering about religion and wanting to be a part of it but then slowly realizing it doesn’t want me to be a part of it,” she explained. “It’s a take on not being able to choose religion and not being able to live the way that people might want you to live because as a trans person, I’m kind of not already wanted in religion. And I was kind of Hellkeeper Kim.”
8:06 p.m.: Everyone in the media center erupts, “What?!” nearly in unison as first lady Jill Biden announces Raitt has won the Grammy for song of the year with “Just Like That.” She’s the only nominee in the Big Four category who’s the sole songwriter of their nominated song.
8:13 p.m.: It’s about damn time! Applause erupts when Lizzo is announced as this year’s Grammy winner for record of the year with “About Damn Time,” and the pop star ends her joyous acceptance speech by jumping up and down and screaming, “We won a f—ing Grammy!”
8:21 p.m.: “I’m just so surprised, I don’t know what to say,” Raitt tells reporters humbly when she returns to the media center with her surprising song of the year award, but she visibly becomes more amped as the win settles in. “I can’t believe this is happening! I just can’t. It’s like when I went for Nick of Time [in 1990], I just could not believe that they called my name. And Dr. Biden gave me my damn award! Get the hell out of Dodge! Sorry, I’m losing it,” she exclaims as reporters respond with laughter. “I’m pinching myself. It’s a wonderful thing.”
8:31 p.m.: Reporters are audibly shocked to hear last year’s best new artist winner Olivia Rodrigo call out Samara Joy’s name as this year’s winner.
8:40 p.m.: There’s a mix of joy yet slight confusion when Styles is announced as the winner for album of the year for Harry’s House.
8:52 p.m.: Wearing an all-black leather ensemble with a matching black eye mask, Lacy is the first Grammy winner to come into the media center after the telecast has officially wrapped. He talks about his best progressive R&B album win, defining the category as the “gray area when it comes to Black music. It doesn’t always get acknowledged. I’m grateful for this category to acknowledge those more weird Black artists,” he said, later shouting out his collaborator Fousheé as one of the artists who’s currently inspiring him and calling Static Major his “biggest R&B influence.”
9:02 p.m.: Longtime hitmaker Muni Long — who’s written for superstars like Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Chris Brown and more as Priscilla Renea before embarking on her solo career with the moniker Muni Long — celebrates her first Grammy win, best R&B performance for “Hrs & Hrs,” in the media center. “To be the winner, it just means to me that as long as you trust your heart and go where the joy is that that is always going to be the highest vibration,” she says. “My deepest desire is that somebody is following my story, there’s a little one out there that’s going to see me and understand what it took for me to get here and realize that they can do it, too. Also, hopefully, this means that people will listen to me the first time when I say something and I don’t have to continue to fight to get my vision across.”
9:15 p.m.: An incredibly grateful and joyous Samara Joy walks into the media center to celebrate both wins for best new artist and best jazz vocal album. When asked by Billboard what it means to win best new artist as a Black woman, she sighs with relief before responding, “It means everything because some of my biggest inspirations were in the room, as far as being confident in who you are and… being their own boss — Beyoncé, Lizzo, to name a few. So for me to be able to win this and look at my niece and my little brother and my siblings, my family, my cousins and be like, ‘You can do this. Whatever dream you have, whatever goal that you have, whatever you’re passionate about, go after it no matter what,’” she says.
9:21 p.m.: Styles walks into the media center following his surprise album of the year win with Harry’s House, the last award of the night. When asked by Billboard if he, too, was surprised to win over Beyoncé, whose Renaissance album was expected by many to take home the album of the year award and rectify the many years it took for her to do so, he was visibly stunned. “You never know with this stuff. I don’t think you can look at any of the nominees and not feel like they’re deserving. When I look at this category, it’s all the people that’ve inspired me different times, so it’s not like — you would understand anyone winning. And yeah, I’m really grateful they chose us,” he answered. Styles, accompanied by Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson, spoke for the three of them when he expressed how “overwhelmed” they all felt about the win. “Being nominated for stuff like this kind of really feels like the winning part — being recognized by your peers. It’s obviously incredibly nice to receive this. I don’t think it’s the reason any of us in the room do it. I’m so, so grateful that they thought our album was worthy of it. I think more than anything it just kinda feels like validation that you’re on the right path.”
9:53 p.m.: “About Damn Time” producer Ricky Reed tells reporters about when he first knew that Lizzo’s record would be special, while holding the record of the year trophy. “It started on that big piano chord,” he explains, later identifying it as an E flat, minor 9. “It’s an interesting chord — it’s not major, it’s not really minor, it doesn’t really tell you how to feel, but it has intensity and it has intention. We started there, but when I hit the bass part, when the bass line came in was when [co-producer] Blake [Slatkin], that was when we screamed.”