Bruno Mars Wins Big: 60th Grammy Awards

Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty

The Grammys returned to New York for the first time in 15 years, and producers made sure to make this year’s awards ceremony worthy of the city that never sleeps.

In case you missed the show, here are a few highlights of the evening.

Bruno Mars Has The Best Night Ever

“Finesse” was a major mood when Bruno and Cardi B debuted the In Living Color-inspired visual.

The only thing missing from the video was some Cross Colors, but they corrected the oversight at the Grammys. When Bruno and Cardi B. took the stage to perform their hit, EVERYONE was wearing it! Since fans loved the visual, Bruno and Cardi delivered more of the 90s-steeped vibe. The performance took us way, way back. It was live!

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That was just the beginning of a great night for Bruno. He took home the three top prizes of the night as he won “Song of the Year,” “Record of the Year,” and  “Album of the Year.”

While producers cut him off during his acceptance speeches for his first two awards, they gave him a bit more time to say his thank yous and share his story while accepting his final award and closing out the show.

Kendrick Lamar Electrifies With Opening Performance

The 60th Grammys started out on a high note for Kendrick Lamar as he opened the awards show with a performance that would stop anyone in their tracks. Starting with a troop of soldiers marching in time to his music, Kendrick had a slick entrance on stage. There were whole movements to his set, punctuated by cameos from U2 and Dave Chappelle.

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Moments later, he won the “Best Rap/Sung Performance” award for “Loyalty,” his duet with Rihanna. He was gracious enough to share the moment with its guest star, who was nothing but excited for the lyricist and thanked him for the opportunity to work together.

Kendrick didn’t need to stray too far from the stage since he’d get called back up to the podium as for the “Best Rap Album” award. He promptly thanked God. However, he also articulated why hip-hop has always been an art form and how it has shaped his world.  All told, Kendrick won five of the seven awards he was nominated for this year,  including Best Music Video and Best Rap Song for Humble. Not too bad!

Childish Gambino Supplies Sweet Sounds

In case you forgot how talented Donald Glover is, he put on his finest all-white ensemble to sing “Terrified.” It was a simple set up, but he didn’t need more than a stage and a mic to mellow the audience out with his solid falsetto. Towards the end, however, Donald had JD McCrary come up on stage, and they got into a little vocal battle.  The winner? Everyone blessed enough to listen in!

Dave Chappelle Keeps It Short & Sweet

Dave Chappelle didn’t have much to say when he won “Best Comedy Album.” From beginning to end, he had to have had the shortest acceptance speech of the night.

Major Key Meets Miami Vibes

Dj Khaled, Rihanna, and Bryson Tiller took us to Miami and gave us something really artsy with their “Wild Thoughts” performance. The lighting made everything look like a moving portrait, and there were a number of different art styles to enjoy.

The Sisterhood Storms The Stage

Janelle Monae brought the music industry into accountability in the #TimesUp movement as she introduced Kesha’s performance. In a time when women are really pushing through to be open about their experiences coping with sexual assault, demanding more accountability and an end to predatory behavior, Kesha’s performance was particularly poignant. Considering Kesha’s own difficult battle to detach her career from Dr. Luke, it was powerful to see her lead a chorus of women during her performance of “Praying.”

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SZA Takes Us To Class

SZA graced the Grammy stage for “Broken Clocks.” She had a few issues keeping her monitors in place, but she didn’t miss a beat. She simply made her adjustments and continued on with her melody as if nothing happened. Her performance was so good, we had to watch it again.

Hillary Clinton Reads Donald Trump

Grammy host James Corden mused about what auditions for the audio version of the latest tome on Trump, Fire & Fury might sound like, and he brought in some famous friends to bring his vision to life. John Legend made it sound too refined. DJ Khaled got way too hype. Snoop Dogg couldn’t have cared less. Cardi B. couldn’t believe what she was reading. But, Hillary Clinton hit just the right note. If the author could get her to read for the audiobook, that might be something we’d consider buying!

Politics Take Center Stage

Over the course of the last year, several political issues have occupied the consciousness of the American people. We’ve had to stop pretending like we can only care about one thing at a time–or that one issue is more important than another.

Throughout the evening there were calls to actions about immigration, sexual misconduct and exploitation, and even racial inequality. But Logic summed everything up as he ended the last performance of the night by reaching out to as many marginalized communities as possible to make it known that there are people who support them.

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The Carters Came To Slay

Jay-Z may never have gotten an award Sunday night, but his family got lots of love from the camera. Seeing their looks for the night, we can see why! Best of all, Blue Ivy could be seen telling her parents to chill out at one point. Apparently, they were at an eight, and she needed them at a five.

Blue Ivy telling Beyoncé and Jay Z not to clap at the #Grammys is internet gold https://t.co/sUs5oPxy7J pic.twitter.com/J1VYQ9U3we

— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) January 29, 2018

Bruno Mars Wins Big, Jay-Z’s ‘4:44’ Snubbed: 2018 Grammy Awards was originally published on ionehellobeautiful.staging.go.ione.nyc