Stars Entertained Audiences at the 2016 Grammy Awards

By Amy Lukac
Opinion Editor

The biggest night for music, hosted by LL Cool J., happened on Feb. 15 at 8 p.m.

Taylor Swift kicked off the 58th Annual Grammy Awards with her song “Out of the Woods,” while wearing a black, sparkly body suit.

The first award of the night went to Kendrick Lamar for Best Rap Album. His album, “To Pimp a Butterfly” was the reason for his shiny trophy.

Arianna Grande announced The Weeknd’s performance with a little speech and a funny impression of one of their songs.

The Weeknd then performed two of his songs, “I Can’t Feel My Face” and “In the Night.”

Unfortunately the best part of the performance was the four seconds of singing “I Can’t Feel My Face.”

Andra Day and Ellie Goulding performed an explosive medley of “Rise Up” and “Love Me Like You Do.”

Gouldings’s raspy voice mixed with Day’s gospel, smooth tone created a great, unique sound.

Best Country Album was rewarded to Chris Stapleton for “Traveller.” During his speech full of thanks he said, “I’d like to thank Taylor Swift for glitter-bombing me before.”

Who knew a soulful, bearded countryman liked glitter?

The amazing tribute to Lionel Richie with Luke Bryan, John Legend, Demi Lovato, Tyrese Gibson and Meghan Trainor slayed the stage.

After each artist took their turn, Richie climbed up on the stage and performed and danced with them.

Stevie Wonder walked onto the stage with the acapella group, Pentatonix. The group and Wonder then paid a tribute to the late Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire.

The big award for Song of the Year went to Ed Sheeran for “Thinking Out Loud.” It was nice to see the young, talented red head since his ban from social media.

Jackson Browne joined the Eagles for a tribute to Glenn Frey. Aside from the lead guitar being a tad bit out of tune, the performance was great and reminded us all of how wonderful the Eagles are and always will be.

Tori Kelly and James Bay performed together on acoustic guitars. The young Johnny Depp look-alike showed what he could do with his voice and guitar skills, and Kelly blew the audience away with her wild blonde hair and fantastic, powerful voice.

“Hamilton” is Alexander Hamilton in a historic, hip-hop combination show on Broadway. “Hamilton” took home the award for Best Musical Theater Album.

As if Beyoncé’s political performance at the Super Bowl wasn’t enough, Kendrick Lamar played with the politics himself. The performance was intense but hard to make out the lyrics.

Adele took the stage in a red, sparkly dress in front of a beautiful light. She performed Bruno Mars-penned “All I ask.”

The worry in her eyes proved that something was going on, and it turned out that there were audio problems.

Justin Bieber appeared on the little circle stage in the center of the audience with an acoustic guitar and began to perform his new single, “Love Yourself.”

The music changed and he ran to the main stage where he met Skrillex and performed “Where Are You Now,” which also won the Grammy for Best Dance Video.

The award for Best New Artist went to Meghan Trainor. She accepted the award in tears and disbelief.

Gaga was the perfect person to perform a tribute for Bowie. Her commitment is always groundbreaking.

Chris Stapleton, Gary Clark Jr. and Bonnie Raitt paid tribute to B.B. King. The blues performance did the genre justice.

Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and Johnny Depp (also known as the Hollywood Vampires) performed a scary, rock n’ roll tune.

Every year each award show takes time to remember those we lost in the music world this year. The loving tribute was put together well.

Album of The Year went to Taylor Swift.

The best part about her speech was the burn towards Kanye West. West basically took credit for all of Swift’s success in one of his new songs, so this was the perfect moment for Swift to get back at him.

“There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your fame,” said Swift.

“Uptown Funk” won Record of the Year for Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars.

Most of the awards were not announced, but if you missed the show and want to know who won, just Google “Grammy 2016 winners” and everything you need to know right at the top!

Email Amy at:
alukac@live.esu.edu