This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCF chapter.
On January 26, 2020, the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards aired in over 150 countries,bringing people together worldwide to celebrate music’s biggest night of the year.Newcomers Billie Eilish andLizzomarked their Grammydebut and represented the new faces and freshness the music industry has in storeforthe new decade, Ariana Grande said goodbye to her biggest chapter in music yetandon a night filled with emotions of mourning and loss, musicwasindeed astrong antidoteto beginthe healing process.
Lizzoopened the showwith a heartfelt and energetic performance of “CuzI Love You”and her Top10 hit “Truth Hurts.”Before diving her emotions into song, the Grammy award-winning artistfor Best PopSolo Performance proclaimed to the audience that “Tonight is for Kobe!” The tone was then set for the night. It was clear where everyone’sthoughts and prayerswere on such a heavy night.That morning, the horrific news ofthe death of NBA star Kobe Bryant in a Calabasas helicopter crash, which also took the lives of eightother passengers on board, including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna, hit the world.Following the performance, host Alicia Keys tookthe stage to respond to the tragic news that shocked people around the worldand made sure that this night would be to celebrate the lives of those lost, show how powerful the language of music really is and to honor the people who do it so well.
One of the most talked-about names following the night of the 62ndAnnual Grammy’s was that of the 18-year-old phenomenon, Billie Eilish. Eilish swept up the awards,winningfive out of her six nominations, four of them beingthe major categoriesof the night: record, album, and song of the yearandBest New Artist. She is the first artist to sweep all the major categories since Christopher Cross in 1981.With a humble speech followed by another and another, it was of genuine reaction that Billie never in a million years expectedsuch major recognition for a body of work and a group of songs shemade in her childhood bedroomthat she stills resides in today. Taking the stage with herto accept the awards, brother/collaboratorFinneasO’Connell describes their intentions ofwritingthe album,when we all fall asleep, where do we go?, asnotto win a Grammy buttheysimply just“wrote an album aboutdepression, suicidalthoughts, climate change, and being the bad guy, whatever that means.”In my opinion, it was agreat decision for the Recording Academy to look at such an authentic piece of work and see it as deserving of history-making recognition.
However, to be expected,public opinion was split on some of the winnings, including that of Album of the Year, won by Billie Eilish. In the realm of social media, a lot of users voiced theiropinionthat ArianaGrande was just as deserving and should have taken homethe award forher fifth studio album, thank u, next.Billie Eilish did not seem to disagree. As she took the stage once again to accept her award, she declared that she believed that thank u, nextdeserved this award “more than anything in the world.”Ariana, on the other hand, humbly shouted from the audience, telling Billie to “take her moment.”Nobody,noteven Ariana herself, can deny that her last album was the most honest and record-breaking one to date, soshe honored itin another way aside fromwinning an award. Midway through the ceremony, Grande took the stage to perform three songs off the #1 album including“imagine,””7 rings”and“thank u, next.”She ended the performance by sweetly slipping a diamond ring offher left hand and placing it back into the box, saying goodbye to what Grande describes as her most healing era.
More and more performances marked a memorable show, including that of Tyler, The Creator, who was joined byBoyzII Men and Charlie Wilson to performs songs off his albumIGOR. The albumtook home a Grammy for Best Rap Album, making it Tyler’s first Grammy win. Camila Cabello also took the stage to sing a heartfelt and tear-jerking ballad to her fatherandLilNasX performed his record-breaking hit “Old Town Road” in what I would call meme culture in a performance. The most powerful performance of the night was theNipseyHussle Tribute.Hussle, who was killed lastMarch, was honored witha Grammy for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap/Sung Performance.John Legend, DJ Khaled, and more took the night to pay respects to Hussle and his family who werealsoin attendanceand brought on stage.The tribute closed withpictures of Hussle and Bryant displayed above the stage, honoring the impact of both California-based heroes.
The 62ndAnnual Grammys wasa night with heavy hearts and mindsin a roomfilled with people who love music and the power it holds. No matter who you thought should’ve or shouldn’t have taken home an award, it is hard to deny the energy and commonality that music speaks to everyone and itwas nice to take a moment and celebrate the beautiful year music gave all of us.So, until next year, plug in your headphones and hope for your favorites to take it home in 2021.
- Ariana Grande
- awards
- Billie Eilish
- grammy
- kobe bryant
- lizzo
- music
- Nipsey Hussle
- Tyler
