The 58th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 15, 2016 at 8 pm eastern standard time at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California and hosted by the rap legend LL Cool J.
Courtesy photo
LL Cool J
The audience sat as they awaited singer Taylor Swift as she took the stage to open the ceremony.
The award ceremony recognizes the best recording artists and compositions while also showcasing different artists at the show.
The eligibility year was from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015. Unlike years in the past, the show was held on a Sunday to take advantage of the U.S. President’s Day three-day weekend.
The competition for every category was very tough this year as there were a lot of great candidates.
Even though there were numerous awards and nominees for the show this year, there were a few main categorizes that were the most memorable.
Nominated for Record of the Year was “Really Love” by D’Angelo and The Vanguard, “Uptown Funk” by Malk Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran, “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift and “Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd.
ADELE
The winners of that award was “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars.
Even though she did not win, Taylor Swift’s reaction for Mark and Bruno was amazing as she jumped up and immediately congratulated them.
Swift was even more joyful when she actually took home the award for Album of The Year for her album 1989. She was up against Alabama Shakes Sound and Color, To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar, Traveller by Chris Stapleton and Beauty Behind The Madness by The Weeknd.
Song of the Year was taken home by Ed Sheeran for his song, “Thinking Out Loud.” He was up against Kendrick Lamar’s song “Alright,” “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift, “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town and “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth.
Meghan Trainor took home the award for Best New Artist. Her competitors were Courtney Barnett, James Bay, Sam Hunt and Tori Kelly.
Other categories included Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, Best Dance Recording, Best Dance/Electronic Album, Best Contemporary Instrumental Album and Best Rock Performance.
The best performances of the night was done by Kendrick Lamar as he brought the nights best hip-hop musical.
Lamar definitely conquered the stage and shut the Staples Center down with his theatrical hip-hop musical that paid a tribute to Alexander Hamilton’s “America.”
Swift, who won Album of The Year, quickly celebrated with her best friend Selena Gomez and took the stage to deliver a fiery speech that really grabbed the attention of viewers.
It screamed girl power, and she also flat out called out Kayne West who talked badly about her in his new song, “Famous”. West rapped, “I feel like me and Taylor Swift might still have sex/why? I made that b**** famous.” Swift had something to say about that and made herself loud and clear. “……and as the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice, I want to say to the young women out there, there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take your credit for your accomplishments of your fame, but if you focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday, when you get to where you are going, you will look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you will be there. And that will be the greatest feeling in the world. Thank you for this moment.” Almost everyone in attendance stood and clapped for the singer.
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamiltonshowcased their opening number “Alexander Hamilton.” For those who missed out on the Broadway performance this year, watching it being performed on network television was the next best thing.
Just as there are good and memorable moments, there are bad moments that go with that.
Adele, who wasn’t even eligible for any Grammy Awards this year, made her appearance as she performed at this year’s event.
She appeared in the middle of the audience to sing her piano ballad “All I Ask.” The performance was a mixture of poor sound mixing, dissonant tones that sounded like a fork on a guitar and a volume drop that nearly silenced the singer mid-performance.
Adele took to Twitter to explain. She stated, “The piano microphone fell on the piano strings; that’s what the guitar sound was. It made it sound like it was out of tune. S*** happens. Because of it though I’m treating myself to an In N Out Burger, so maybe it was worth it.”
Another terrible moment was when the Caribbean pop star Rihanna dipped out on not only attending but also performing at the ceremony.
A spokesperson revealed that the singer had been suffering from bronchitis and her doctor advised her not to sing so she can avoid vocal hemorrhaging, which means that fans of “Anti” did not get to see the first performance live on television.
Aside from the celebrities and activities mentioned above, several other famous faces brought the star power to the stage and the audience for millions to see.