Kacey Musgraves
Country-pop singer Kacey Musgraves closed out the 61st Annual Grammy Awards by earning Album of the Year for Golden Hour, wrapping up a diverse night of performances and awards on “Music’s Biggest Night.” Musgraves won four Grammys overall for her critically acclaimed album, which was also named Best Country Album, while “Space Cowboy” won for Best Country Song and “Butterflies” won Best Country Solo Performance.
“This is America” from Childish Gambino scored an upset of sorts, nabbing both Song of the Year and Record of the Year for the politically-charged track. Also, “This is America” became the first rap song to ever be named Song of the Year. It earned Best Rap/Sung Performance and the instantly iconic video won for Video of the Year, though Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) was not on hand to accept the awards.
Lady Gaga‘s duet with Bradley Cooper from A Star is Born, “Shallow,” won two Grammys while Gaga herself won a third for “Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?)” off her 2016 record Joanne.
Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile was another big winner, earning Best Americana Album for By the Way, I Forgive You, while her single “The Joke” won as Best American Roots Song and Best American Roots Performance.
Childish Gambino
Additionally, Cardi B won Best Rap Album for her Invasion of Privacy and British Pop singer Dua Lipa was named Best New Artist. She also won Best Dance Recording for “Electricity,” her collaboration with Silk City. H.E.R. won Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance. Best Rap Song went to Drake for “God’s Plan.” Greta Van Fleet‘s From the Fires was named Best Rock Album and The Carters‘ Everything is Love won Best Urban Contemporary Album.
St. Vincent won two Grammys; Best Rock Performance for the title track from her 2017 album Masseduction and Best Recording Package for the record. Beck‘s Colors was named Best Alternative Music Album and also won as Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
However, the vast majority of these awards were handed out in advance of the Grammys broadcast on CBS, which was overwhelmingly about the performances.
Alicia Keys hosted the event, often singing herself, and bringing out Michelle Obama alongside Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jennifer Lopez at the opening of the show.
Camilla Cabello started the evening with a Broadway-style staging of her hit “Havana.” Lady Gaga rocked out with a glittery performance of “Shallow,” Cardi B performed “Money” surrounded by an army of dancers and Janelle Monae mixed “Make Me Feel” with her track “Pynk” in a choreographed spectacle. Post Malone teamed up with Red Hot Chili Peppers, an all-star mix of artists (including Musgraves) dueted with Dolly Parton on a series of songs. Diana Ross was honored for her upcoming 75th birthday, JLo led a tribute to Motown and towards the end of the nearly four-hour show, the late Aretha Franklin was honored. St. Vincent and Dua Lipa teamed up for a surprising, stripped-down mashup of “Masseduction” and “One Kiss.” Musgraves, Carlile, Travis Scott and Shawn Mendes & Miley Cyrus also performed throughout the evening.
