Everything That Happened At The 2023 Grammys 

The 65th Grammys happened this past Sunday, Feb 5th. Comedian Trevor Noah returned to host the event for the third year in a row. Follow along as 101 Mag recaps music’s biggest night.

WHAT’S NEW

The Grammys have changed quite a bit over their 65 years of history. The Recording Academy seeks to constantly evolve, whether that be in categories or Academy membership. In 2023, five new categories were added. Two of these have been renamed after the Academy was accused of using them as a catch-all for Black artists; Best Urban Contemporary Album became Best Progressive R&B album, and Best Rap/Sung performance became Best Melodic Rap Performance. 

The Recording Academy also welcomed 2,000 new “diverse” members in the past year, using their new community-driven membership model. This came in response to findings from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative studies which revealed that despite 38% of all artists on the Billboard Hot 100 being Black, only 26.7% received Grammy nominations. 

FAVES

Kendrick Lamar cleaned up in the rap categories, taking home two trophies – Best Rap Album for Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, and Best Rap Performance for “The Heart Part 5”. Best Melodic Rap Performance went to Future, Drake, and Tems for “Wait for U”. Adele won Best Pop Solo Performance for “Easy on Me”. Harry Styles snagged Best Pop Vocal Album for Harry’s House.

HISTORY 

A lot of history was made Sunday. The biggest was Queen Bey ascending her throne by taking the title for most Grammys won of all-time with a record-breaking 32. Her acceptance speech for Best Electronic/Dance album saw a teary-eyed Knowles-Carter in gratitude and dedicating the award to the queer community and her Uncle Johnny. The ceremony also saw her tying her husband, Jay-Z, for most Grammy nominations of all time. 

Viola Davis became the third Black woman to win an EGOT [Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony] with her Grammy for the narration of her autobiography. 

Kim Petras became the first Trans woman to win a Grammy for “Unholy”, her collaboration with Sam Smith. 

HBCU Tennessee State University Marching Band became the first collegiate band to win a Grammy. 

Bad Bunny received the first-ever Spanish-Language Album of the Year nomination.

Dr. Dre became the first recipient of the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award for his work in Hip-Hop, despite a long rap sheet of abuse.

Iranian singer/songwriter Shervin Hajipour and his song “Baraye” was presented the first Special Merit Award for Best Song For Social Change by First Lady Jill Biden.

FIRST-TIMERS 

Steve Lacy won his first solo Grammy for his album, Gemini Rights. 

Singer Samara Joy won her first two Grammys and became the 2nd Jazz singer to ever win the Best New Artist award.

Beyonce’s Best R&B Song win for “Cuff It” posthumously awarded Teena Marie her first Grammy.

Nigerian artist Tems won her first Grammy for “Wait for U”.

UPSETS

After Beyonce’s storied night in which she snagged four trophies to break the record, she lost in the top three categories. Most notably, she lost Album of the Year to Harry Styles for Harry’s House. Although his album has the success to warrant the nomination, many felt that RENAISSANCE was a shoo-in. Her loss reignited the existing conversation surrounding the Grammys and their racial biases. Despite all her acclaim, Beyonce has lost album of the year four times now. Only one of Beyonce’s 32 trophies has come from the top categories. Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti dominated 2022, yet was awarded solely in the Latin music categories. Fuel was added when Styles said during his acceptance speech, “This doesn’t happen to people like me very often.” The last Black woman to win was Lauryn Hill in 1999 for Miseducation. 

Other surprises came with the Song of the Year going to Bonnie Rait for “Just Like That”, and Record of the Year going to Lizzo for “About Damn Time”.

PERFORMANCES

Chart-topper Bad Bunny opened the show, with a fiery performance of two songs off the longest-running Number 1 album of 2022, Un Verano Sin Ti. He paid homage to his home of Puerto Rico with a full merengue band and dancers that stormed the audience. 

Lizzo performed her hits “About Damn Time” and “Special”. Harry Styles followed up with his pop smash, “As It Was”. 

Steve Lacy made his debut as a Grammy performer with his viral hit “Bad Habit” with the assistance of Thundercat.

Tributes during the show included an emotional, heartfelt in-memoriam performance from Quavo and gospel group Maverick City Music for the rapper’s late nephew and fellow Migos member, Takeoff. Sheryl Crow, Mick Fleetwood, and Bonnie Raitt gathered to honor Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie. 

The performance that became the talk of the town was the massive 50 Years of Hip-Hop tribute. Introduced by LL Cool J, some of hip-hop’s biggest stars from all decades gathered to perform snippets of their hits and salute the genre. 

Lastly, the show closed with a full performance of DJ Khaled’s collaborative hit, “God Did”. Rap Legends Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross all performed their verses along with John Legend and Fridayy.