Grammy’s 60th
The 60th annual GRAMMY AWARDS returned to NEW YORK CITY for the first time in 15 years, kicking off with KENDRICK LAMAR joined by U2 for a snippet of “American Soul” and DAVE CHAPPELLE for some on-stage encouragement for a rousing opening tonight.
LAMAR got the evening off to a fiery start with his jolting rap, which included snippets from “XXX,” “DNA,” “The Heart Part 4” and even JAY ROCK’s “King’s Dead,” whiile comedian DAVE CHAPPELLE, up for a GRAMMY in the BEST COMEDY ALBUM category, was amazed at the opening salvo. “The man is taking enormous chances,” he said as an aside.
LADY GAGA went straight into a medley of “Joanne” and the GRAMMY-nominated “Million Reasons” at a LIBERACE-like white piano festooned with feathers left over from Victoria’s Secret with producer MARK RONSON before TONY BENNETT and JOHN LEGEND presented the evening’s first award, BEST RAP/SUNG PERFORMANCE to KENDALL LAMAR’s “Loyalty,” with featured vocalist RIHANNA joining him to accept. “She gassed me on my own record,” said KENDRICK, now up to four GRAMMYs and ready to claim the night.
SAM SMITH in a long, white jacket that looked like a lab coat, was up next with a stirring “Pray,” complete with gospel choir, before KELLY CLARKSON and NICK JONAS gave out the BEST NEW ARTIST award to a remarkably poised ALESSIA CARA, beating out favorite SZA for the night’s first big honor. LITTLE BIG TOWN rounded out the segment with a performance of the GRAMMY-nominated TAYLOR SWIFT collab, “Better Man,” against a glittering NEW YORK skyline.
GUY CLARK JR. and NEW ORLEANS native JOHN BATISTE from STEPHEN COLBERT’s late-night band then paid tribute to CHUCK BERRY and FATS DOMINO with spirited versions of “Maybelline” and “Ain’t That A Shame.”
ED SHEERAN then won BEST POP SOLO VOCAL PERFORMANCE for “Shape Of You,” and proved a no-show, perhaps an answer to his being snubbed in the major categories, before CHILDISH GAMBINO performed “Terrified” with soprano JD McCRARY, his young Simba co-star from “The Lion King,” who sang the song on the BEST ALBUM contender, “Awaken, My Love!” “ATLANTA” creator and actor DONALD GLOVER is just a true renaissance man.
PINK took the stage next, in dressed-down T-shirt and jeans with a sign language interpreter, singing ,”There’s not enough rope to tie me down,” But this time, the gravity-defying flier stayed grounded and delivered a powerful “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken” in one of the evening’s highlights.
DAVE CHAPPELLE then presented KENDRICK LAMAR with his second GRAMMY of the night, and fourth overall for BEST RAP ALBUM for “DAMN.,” while CHAPPELLE took home BEST COMEDY ALBUM, presented to him by TREVOR NOAH, who noted the category hadn’t been televised in the past. “Because ADELE didn’t put out a comedy record,” he mused.
CARDI B then grabbed the evening by the throat with a wild primary color rap, all oranges, reds, greens and yellows, joined by a high-stepping BRUNO MARS for their remix of “Finesse,” another show-stopper. STING and SHAGGY, who appeared in a brief, amusing film with JAMES CORDEN in which they tried to busk on a subway, then came on, with the former’s “Englishman in New York” wrapped around their sprightly reggae collab. “Don’t Make Me Wait.”
CHRIS STAPLETON then took home BEST COUNTRY ALBUM for “From A Room, Volume 1,” giving him a total of three GRAMMYs for the night.
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.allaccess.com