2018 Grammy Moments: Highs and Lows

B-Sides Staffon

The 60th annual Grammy Awards returned to New York City after a 15 year absence and came back with a bang. CBS Late Late Show host, James Corden returned to host the event and allowed the musicians and artists to be the star. Outstanding performances from Kesha and Kendrick Lamar were moving, while collaborations of Cardi B and Bruno Mars along with Elton John and Miley Cyrus turned out to be fun, joyous and entertaining. Here are some of our highs and lows from “Music’s Biggest Night”.

  1. HIGH – Kesha performs “Praying” with several strong female artists including, Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Bebe Rex, Andra Day, Julia Michaels and the Resistance Revival Chorus. The singer had accused producer Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald), whom she had worked with, of sexual and emotional abuse and gone through a long legal battle. She was visibly emotional throughout the performance, at times angry as she sang through her moving lyrics and ended in tears while embracing her supporting cast.

via GIPHY

  1. HIGH – Kendrick Lamar opened the show with a medley of songs including “DNA”, “XXX”, “King’s Dead” and “American Soul” in which U2 accompanied him on. There was commentary between songs by Dave Chappelle.

via GIPHY

  1. LOW – Jay-Z was nominated for eight awards and SZA nominated for five but neither won any awards throughout the night.

  1. HIGH – Bruno Mars surprised many by beating out heavy favorites like Kendrick Lamar and Lorde by taking home the awards for Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Records of the Year.

  2. LOW – The lack of current rock artists continue to be a sore point for a balanced show and alternative/rock fans. Although talented and deserving, multiple appearances by classic rock artists Sting and U2 was too safe and disappointing, considering current alternative rock acts like Portugal. The Man crossed over to the mainstream and won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Feel It Still”.

  3. LOW – In keeping with the lack of balance for rock and electronic(two genres that are quite relevant) artists, instead of running a montage of sorts of winners in the respective categories backed by one of the winners performing, host James Corden modified his Carpool Karaoke for a New York City version of Subway Karaoke. The segment included Sting and Shaggy and actors in a New York subway but flopped.

  4. HIGH – The positivity, enthusiasm and energy brought forth by award winner Bruno Mars was contagious. Even when accepting an award, Mars was clearly stoked to win and didn’t go through the usual elongated prepared speech. That enthusiasm was demonstrated further during his performance with Cardi B.

via GIPHY

For the record, here are some highlights in the rock and electronic categories:

War on Drugs – Best Rock Album for A Deep Understanding
Kraftwerk – Best Dance/Electronica Album for 3-D The Catalogue
LCD Soundsystem – Best Dance Recording for Tonite
Foo Fighters- “Run” – Best Rock Song
The National – Best ALternative Album for Sleep Well Beast