The 57th GRAMMY Awards: The Winners and Highlights

GRAMMY

Last night’s Grammy awards was a lucky night for Sam Smith, with some Kanye Shenanigans and a long line of powerful performances!

The 57th annual Grammy awards were started off by the rock legend AC/DC and the night went on to deliver a series of stellar performances from different artists. The night wasn’t as much about the Grammy winners as it was about the musical performances and only nine awards were presented from the total of 83 awards during the event. The rest of the Grammy were announced and awarded before the main event in a pre-show event.

Katy Perry took to the podium of the Grammy’s not only to give a performance but to spread awareness about domestic abuse. A monologue from President Obama was shown before the performance and a domestic violence survivor, Brooke Axtel, introduced Perry’s powerful performance of ‘By the Grace of God’.

On a sombre note Pharrell Williams took the chance to perform on the Grammy stage to shed some light on racial stereotyping in American culture. He sang an orchestral version of the hit song ‘Happy’ in a bellboy costume. The song had earlier scored the winning of ‘Best pop solo performance’ in the Grammy’s.

However the most charged performance of the night was delivered by an oldie but a goodie, none other than Madonna. The material girl performed her new song ‘Living for Love’ and undoubtedly sealed the deal as the best performance of the night. Madonna proved her Queen of Pop title isn’t just an empty title.

In another shocking turn of events, Kanye West playfully tried to snatch the ‘Album of the year’ award from Beck, a dig at his notorious interruption of Taylor Swift’s Grammy speech. Kanye then went on to pose with Taylor like the two mature adults they both are and proved that time heals all wounds. Taylor Swift for her part was one of the most nominated artists of the night and although she didn’t score a Grammy, she sure did sizzle in her Ellie Saab turquoise gown and the ambiance of her ‘1989’ album’s commercial success. The Kanye chronicles didn’t simply end there but he went on to perform the hit duet ‘FourFiveSeconds’ with former Beatles alum Paul McCartney and Rihanna.

British singer Sam Smith won the most Grammy awards last night, a total of three. Smith snagged the most coveted titles of ‘Song of the year’ and ‘Record of the year’ along with his compulsory ‘Best new artist’ award. After last night Smith’s songs /4/have a melancholy vibe but not his spirit. Beyonce as usual solidified her status as queen bee by winning two major awards ‘Best R&B performance’ and ‘Best surround recording technology’. Not one to be left behind the song ‘Let it Go’ snagged the ‘Best song written for visual media’ category. The ‘Best country album award’ was subsequently handed over to none other than Miranda Lambert, who gave the awards a dose of some pure country swag by performing her current single ‘Little Red Wagon’. Another potent piece fueled by estrogen was delivered by Annie Lennox in a rendition of the classic song ‘I put a spell on you’ and she killed the competition with her voice.

The world loves the Grammys and all of its quirks, as was witnessed on Twitter last night as the top 5 trends are about the Grammys. The most favorite topic of tweets range from a simple general overhaul of the ‘#GRAMMYs’ event to the more pointed ‘#Who is Beck’! Proving her worth #AnnieLennox has also secured her spot in the international tête-à-tête forum of Twitter. However the most substantial but undermined trend seems to be #PHARRELL, with tweets more concerned about his outfit than his message behind the outfit.

Complete list of winners of the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards is given below.

Grammy Awards 2015 Winners

RECORD OF THE YEAR

“Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” Sam Smith

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

“Morning Phase,” Beck

SONG OF THE YEAR

“Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters (Sam Smith)

BEST NEW ARTIST

Sam Smith

BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE

“Happy (Live),” Pharrell Williams

BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE

“Say Something,” A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera

BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM

“Cheek To Cheek,” Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga

BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM

“In The Lonely Hour,” Sam Smith

BEST DANCE RECORDING

“Rather Be,” Clean Bandit Featuring Jess Glynne

BEST DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUM

“Syro,” Aphex Twin

BEST CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM

“Bass & Mandolin,” Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer

BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE

“Lazaretto,” Jack White

BEST METAL PERFORMANCE

“The Last In Line,” Tenacious D

BEST ROCK SONG

“Ain’t It Fun,” Hayley Williams & Taylor York, songwriters (Paramore)

BEST ROCK ALBUM

“Morning Phase,” Beck

BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM

“St. Vincent,” St. Vincent

BEST R&B PERFORMANCE

“Drunk In Love,” Beyoncé Featuring Jay Z

BEST TRADITIONAL R&B PERFORMANCE

“Jesus Children,” Robert Glasper Experiment Featuring Lalah Hathaway & Malcolm-Jamal Warner

BEST R&B SONG

“Drunk In Love,” Shawn Carter, Rasool Diaz, Noel Fisher, Jerome Harmon, Beyoncé Knowles, Timothy Mosely, Andre Eric Proctor & Brian Soko, songwriters (Beyoncé Featuring Jay Z)

BEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM

“Girl,” Pharrell Williams

BEST R&B ALBUM

“Love, Marriage & Divorce,” Toni Braxton & Babyface

BEST RAP PERFORMANCE

“I,” Kendrick Lamar

BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION

“The Monster,” Eminem Featuring Rihanna

BEST RAP SONG

“I,” K. Duckworth & C. Smith, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)

BEST RAP ALBUM

“The Marshall Mathers LP2,” Eminem

BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE

“Something In The Water,” Carrie Underwood

BEST COUNTRY DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE

“Gentle On My Mind,” The Band Perry

BEST COUNTRY SONG

“I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” Glen Campbell & Julian Raymond, songwriters (Glen Campbell)

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM

“Platinum,” Miranda Lambert

BEST NEW AGE ALBUM

“Winds Of Samsara,” Ricky Kej & Wouter Kellerman

BEST IMPROVISED JAZZ SOLO

“Fingerprints,” Chick Corea, soloist

BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM

“Beautiful Life,” Dianne Reeves

BEST JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM

“Trilogy,” Chick Corea Trio

BEST LARGE JAZZ ENSEMBLE ALBUM

“Life In The Bubble,” Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band

BEST LATIN JAZZ ALBUM

“The Offense Of The Drum,” Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

BEST GOSPEL PERFORMANCE/SONG

“No Greater Love,” Smokie Norful; Aaron W. Lindsey & Smokie Norful, songwriters

BEST CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC PERFORMANCE/SONG

“Messengers,” Lecrae Featuring For King & Country; Torrance Esmond, Ran Jackson, Ricky Jackson, Kenneth Chris Mackey, Lecrae Moore, Joseph Prielozny, Joel Smallbone & Luke Smallbone, songwriters

BEST GOSPEL ALBUM

“Help,” Erica Campbell

BEST CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC ALBUM

“Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong.,” For King & Country

BEST ROOTS GOSPEL ALBUM

“Shine For All The People,” Mike Farris

BEST LATIN POP ALBUM

“Tangos,” Rubén Blades

BEST LATIN ROCK, URBAN OR ALTERNATIVE ALBUM

“Multiviral,” Calle 13

BEST REGIONAL MEXICAN MUSIC ALBUM (INCLUDING TEJANO)

“Mano A Mano – Tangos A La Manera De Vicente Fernández,” Vicente Fernández