ICYMI – GRAMMY AWARDS 19 BEST PERFORMANCES & WINNERS

Music’s biggest night (according to the Recording Academy, anyway) has officially come and gone.

Michelle Obama brought the show to a halt. She made a surprise appearance by forming a new supergroup with Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, and Jada Pinkett Smith for a collective pep talk on the power of music and lifting your voice.

Dolly Parton was named the MusiCares Person of the Year for 2019, So the Grammys gave Dolly a full tribute during the show with all her best gal pals/successors/spiritual children and Katy Perry.

Cardi B introduced us to our new favorite pianist Chloe Flower and made rap history as the first female solo artist to win Best Rap Album at the Grammys, for her debut, Invasion of Privacy. Lauryn Hill was the last woman to win the award (over 20 years ago), with the Fugees.

Brandi Carlile, Lady Gaga, and Kacey Musgraves were some of the night’s biggest winners, and no-show Ariana Grande also beat out Taylor Swift to pick up her first-ever Grammy. If you are still somehow hungry for more Grammys content after that almost-four-hour show, you can see the complete list of awards below.

PERFORMANCES

Camila Cabello started the show with a typically lively, elaborately staged and color-coded rendition of her Hot 100-topping smash ‘Havana’. She brought along an all-star supporting cast to perform ‘Mi Gente’, including Arturo Sandoval, Young Thug, Ricky Martin & J Balvin, who combined to make the performance one of the biggest parties of the evening. 

Janelle Monae moonwalked across the stage as she sang ‘Make Me Feel’. Perhaps the evening’s most explosive performance, a ripping rendition in which Monae was flanked by dozens of fellow dirty computers. She rolled on the floor, she toggled between gender pronouns, she even briefly mimed masturbation. Prince would’ve been proud. 

WATCH: Janelle Monae perform Look What You Made Me Do #Grammys pic.twitter.com/7hNMh6yJhS

— Opinionated Me (@opinion8dmecom) February 11, 2019

A guitar-playing Post Malone took the stage opening his set with ‘Stay’ before delivering the Record of the Year-nominated ‘rockstar’. The Red Hot Chili Peppers then joined Post onstage to perform ‘Dark Necessities’. Anthony Kiedis and Flea rocked out alongside Posty, who played guitar.

H.E.R.‘s performance showed her to be one of the evening’s biggest rock stars as well. Armed with her signature sunglasses and a translucent six-string, the singer-songwriter exuded natural cool and charisma for a performance of her anthemic ‘Hard Place’.

J-Lo performed a medley tribute to the legendary pop and soul label Motown with some surprises, like Lopez dipping into Teena Marie’s ’80s Motown hit ‘Square Biz’ or Ne-Yo showing up for a quick detour into Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life classic ‘Another Star’.

Dolly Parton was named this year’s Music Cares Person Of The Year, and on Friday night there was a whole tribute concert where a bevy of artists honored her with performances and speeches. Kacey Musgraves, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Maren Morris, Little Big Town & Dolly Parton herself, united for a worthy tribute to the Queen of Country.

Diana Ross celebrated her 75th birthday 6 weeks earlier this yeas singing ‘Best Years Of My Life’ and ‘Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)’.



Yolanda Adams, Fantasia & Andra Day, hit the stage for another powerful tribute, this time to the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklyn, singing ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’.

Powerful tribute to the late Aretha Franklin! Yolanda Adams, Fantasia, and Audra Day did that! #Grammys pic.twitter.com/jCbtpcw0M5

— Opinionated Me (@opinion8dmecom) February 11, 2019

After performing with Bruno Mars at last year’s show, Cardi B returned to deliver her own show-stopping set at Sunday’s show. Performing her latest hit ‘Money’ she turned the Staples Center into Club Cardi as she danced on top of a glittering piano alongside her squad of female dancers. Only Cardi could make a proclamation like “Welcome to the Grammys!” nearly 90 minutes into the telecast and have it not sound ridiculous.

Cardi B’s full performance of “Money” at the #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/2fSeApQZKY

— Music News Facts (@musicfactnews) February 11, 2019

Lady Gaga performed ‘Shallow’ from A Star Is Born wearing a silver bodysuit becoming the meme of the night very quickly.



Straddling two pianos, host Alicia Keys showed some of the talents that originally brought her 15 Grammys, performing a variety of mini-covers from the past (Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and Nat King Cole’s “Unforgettable”) right up to modern day (Ella Mai’s “Boo’d Up” and Drake’s “In My Feelings”). She also hit Juice WRLD and Kings of Leon.



Travis Scott tore up the Grammys with a medley of Astroworld hits. He started off slow, performing “Stop Trying to Be God” while joined by Earth, Wind, & Fire and James Blake. He then turned all the way up. Performing inside a cage, Travis launched into ‘No Bystanders’. “Tear the club up” he chanted as fans climbed the metal bars in their Astroworldgear. Travis then climbed out of the cage himself and dived into the arms of fans.

WINNERS