Written by Alexandra Gautier
When many people think about the Grammys, they think classic Hollywood – beautiful gowns, stretch limousines and phenomenal talent. The 60th Grammy Awards that premiered Jan. 28 were no exception to these glittering expectations.
This year, celebrities traveled to Madison Square Garden in New York City to discover who would be walking away with the iconic gramophone trophies. British comedian James Corden hosted the awards show for the second year in a row. Corden is no stranger to musical performances, as he hosts (and often participates in) his popular YouTube comedy segment Carpool Karaoke.
The awards show, in total, consisted of 84 categories of music genres, ranging from pop and jazz to musical theatre and classical. Bruno Mars swept many of these categories, as he took home a total of six awards: Album of the Year, Best R&B Album, Record of the Year for 24K Magic, Best R&B Performance, Best R&B Song, and Song of the Year for “That’s What I Like.”
The year 2017 was a year of social activism, and the Grammy performances characteristically resembled this. A main example of this was singer/songwriter Kesha’s performance of her hit song “Praying.” Janelle Monae introduced Kesha by delivering a heartfelt speech in solidarity to the Time’s Up movement, which sheds light on social issues of sexual assault and harassment.
Kesha sang “Praying” – a song that reflects her own experience with sexual assault – and was accompanied by Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Bebe Rexha, Julia Michaels and Andra Day, all who exhibited support for both Kesha and the overall Time’s Up movement.
In a similar spirit, Logic, Khalid and Alessia Cara performed “1-800-273-8255” to advocate suicide prevention and to demonstrate reverence to survivors.
