The 66th Grammy Awards featured a star-studded line up of performances, presenters, and honorees to wrap up the 2023 music season with a bang.
Trevor Noah hosted the awards, cracking jokes about the year’s advances in music and its controversies.
Performances included Dua Lipa, who performed her new song “Houdini” dancing with a moving cube, and SZA, performing two of her hit songs “Snooze” and “Kill Bill” from her nominated album SOS. Travis Scott performed three songs from his hit album “Utopia” Luke Combs performed his cover “Fast Car” with the original artist Tracy Chapman, paying homage to her work.
Billie Eilish sang her song “What I Was Made For” from the new Barbie movie, alongside her brother and producer Finneas on piano. Miley Cyrus performed her hit song “Flowers” after winning her first ever Grammy, a fact which she included in her song, singing “I just won my first Grammy!” while dancing on stage.
U2 Performed their song “Atomic City” at Las Vegas in The Sphere, the first time cameras were allowed in the facility. Eighty-year-old Joni Mitchell, sang for the first time at The Grammys ever, singing her song “Both Sides Now” alongside singer-songwriter Brandie Carlile.
Nigerian artist Burna Boy performed his songs “Level Up,” “Onyeka,” and “Ye” with appearances from Brandy and 21 Savage, and Billy Joel sang his first single in over thirty years, “Turn the Light Back On.”
The tribute segment featured Stevie Wonder paying homage to Tony Bennet, singing alongside a recorded clip of him which played on the screen. Annie Lenox sang “Nothing Compares 2 U” for Sinéad O’connor, an emotional performance in tribute for the late artist. Lenny Hravitz introduced Jon Batiste, who sang a combination of Clarence Avant songs, followed by Fantasia’s performance of “Rollin on the River (Proud Mary),” introduced by Oprah in honor of Tina Turner.
Jay Z received the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, accepting the award with daughter Blue Ivy. While making his speech, he mentioned one artist, who fans are speculating to be his wife Beyoncé, never having won album of year while holding the record for most Grammys.
Presented awards included Best Solo Performance, won by Miley Cyrus, Best Music Urbana Album, won by Karol G, Best Country Album, won by Laney Wilson, Best R&B Song, won by SZA, and Best Record of the Year, won by Miley Cyrus. Taylor Swift won for Best Pop Vocal album, announcing the release of her new album in her acceptance speech.
The Best New Artist award tradition continued, as Samara Joy, last year’s winner, passed on the award to Victoria Monet.
Celine Dion presented the final award of the night: Album of the Year. It was awarded to Taylor Swift, making her the artist to have won Album of the Year four times. Before this, she tied the record wins with Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, and Paul Simon.
The show came to a close with another performance by Billy Joel, who came back out to perform his 1980 hit “You May Be Right.”
The Grammys hold a special place in the hearts of all artists. As Celin Dion said, “Those who have been blessed enough here at the Grammy Awards must never take for granted the tremendous love and joy that music brings to our lives and to people all around the world.”