Bruno Mars sweeps top Grammy prizes
Bruno Mars accepts the award for record of the year for “24K Magic” at the 60th annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)
NEW YORK — Bruno Mars owned the Grammys with his R&B-inspired album “24K Magic,” winning all six awards he was nominated for at a show where hip-hop was expected to have a historical night.
Jay-Z, the leading nominee with eight, walked away empty handed on Sunday — a year after his wife lost album of the year to Adele, causing fans and peers to criticize the Recording Academy for not properly rewarding Beyonce’s bold “Lemonade” project.
And though Kendrick Lamar won five awards, he lost in the top categories, marking another year when rappers were restricted to wins in the rap categories, instead of earning coveted prizes like album of the year.
Mars picked up album of the year for “24K Magic,” record of the year for the title track, and song of the year — shared with seven cowriters — for the No. 1 hit, “That’s What I Like.”
Jay-Z and Lamar could have become the first rapper to win song or record of the year, and the third rap-based act to win album of the year.
But Mars’ win still marked some growth for the Recording Academy: His is one of the few R&B albums to win the top prize.
He dedicated his win to songwriters who have made history in R&B music, including Babyface, Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
Best rap album
Lamar’s wins at Madison Square Garden in New York City included best rap album, best rap song, best rap performance, best rap/sung performance and best music video. He has a career total of 12 Grammys.
Lamar also won with his performance: He kicked off the Grammys with a powerful and poignant performance featuring video screens displaying a waving American flag behind him, as background dancers dressed as Army soldiers marched and moved behind him.
At one point, Lamar’s background dancers, dressed in red, were shot down as he rapped lyrics, later coming back to life as fire burst to end the six-minute performance.
Kesha is top performer
But the night’s top performer was Kesha, who was passionate and striking onstage with the help of powerful women behind her, including the Resistance Revival Chorus, Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Julia Michaels, Andra Day and Bebe Rexha.
Dressed in white, they won over the audience while singing Kesha’s “Praying” and hugged at the song’s end as some audience members cried, including Hailee Steinfeld.
Kesha, who earned her first pair of Grammy nominations this year, has been in a legal war with her former producer and mentor, Dr. Luke. Janelle Monae introduced the performance with strong words.
“We come in peace but we mean business. To those who would dare try to silence us, we offer two words: Time’s Up,” Monae said.
“It’s not just going on in Hollywood. It’s not just going on in Washington. It’s here in our industry, too,” she added.
Dozens of artists and music industry players sported white roses in support of the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements against sexual abuse and harassment.
Sting’s performance was somewhat political as he sang his 1987 song, “Englishman in New York,” which includes the lyrics, “Oh, I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien, I’m an Englishman in New York.”
Best country album
Chris Stapleton won three awards, including best country album, best country song and best country solo performance.
Little Big Town, who beautifully sang their Taylor Swift-penned No. 1 hit “Better Man,” won best country duo/group performance with the song.
Others who shone onstage included Lady Gaga, who won over the audience with a rousing performance of the songs “Joanne” and “Million Reasons”; Sam Smith gave a powerful performance of the song “Pray”; and Pink was a vocal powerhouse while she sang “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken.”
During the pretelecast, The Rolling Stones picked up their third career Grammy—for best traditional blues album for “Blue & Lonesome”—while Ed Sheeran won best pop vocal album.
Emmy and Golden Globe winner Childish Gambino, who picked up best traditional R&B performance, gave a smooth and sultry performance of “Terrified” in all-white featuring screeching high notes.
Best comedy album
The show, hosted by James Corden, also featured some comedy. Hillary Clinton, John Legend, Cher, Snoop Dogg, Cardi B, and DJ Khaled won over the audience in a skit when reading lines from Michael Wolff’s book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.”
Corden said the book could compete for the best spoken world album Grammy next year.
“That’s the one,” Corden said in the video after Clinton, a 1997 spoken word Grammy winner, spoke. It earned a rousing applause from the crowd.
Dave Chappelle, who was part of Lamar’s opening performance, won best comedy album during the televised show.
Posthumous Grammys were awarded to actress Carrie Fisher, singer Leonard Cohen and engineer Tom Coyne, who worked on Mars’ “24K Magic” album.
Double winners included Jason Isbell, Justin Hurwitz and CeCe Winans.
