Social media’s favorite power couple, Beyonce and Jay-Z opened The 56th Grammy Awards. Their “Drunk In Love” performance was both revealing and explicit with lacy lingerie and Beyonce’s signature twerking. The husband and wife duo were placed on an even higher pedestal than usual. With a handful of compliments to follow from the Grammy’s host, LL Cool J and presenters Pharrell and Anna Kendrick, it seems the industry has built Beyonce and Jay-Z up to be an untouchable brand. But, “Jayonce” aside, the night turned into a well-paced evening of talented performances and merited awards.
Seventeen year-old Lorde gave a beautiful performance of her “Song of the Year,” “Royals.” Country-pop singer Hunter Hayes delivered his emotional anti-bullying song, “Invisible.” You can never expect anything less than a great stage production and unique wardrobe from Katy Perry, who literally lit the stage on fire with her new witchy “Dark Horse” single. While Chicago sounded great during their medley, Robin Thicke proved to be a bit out of his range, sounding off-key at times. Some of the best moments of the night were the “back to basics” performances from Taylor Swift and John Legend with no special effects; just a piano and a mic. Once again, P!nk absolutely knocked it out of the ballpark with her acrobatic tissue dance in the air, singing “Try” and then joining fun. lead singer, Nate Ruess on stage for “Just Give Me a Reason.” And of course, it is always legendary to watch Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr take the stage together again. The most talked about moment of the 2014 Grammys will be the 33 marriages of gay, straight and mixed ethincities that took place in the aisles during Mary Lambert and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love” performance. Queen Latifah delivered the vows as Madonna sang an excerpt of “Open Your Heart.”
All performances aside, the night belonged to Daft Punk, Pharrell and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for taking home the golden gramaphone for some of the most esteemed music awards.
Record of the year
“Get Lucky” — Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers
Album of the year
“Random Access Memories” — Daft Punk
Song of the year
“Royals” — Lorde
Best new artist
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Best pop solo performance
Lorde — “Royals”
Best pop duo/group performance
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers — “Get Lucky”
Best pop instrumental album
Herb Alpert — “Steppin’ Out”
Best pop vocal album
Bruno Mars — “Unorthodox Jukebox”
Best dance recording
“Clarity” — Zedd featuring Foxes
Best dance/electronica album
“Random Access Memories” — Daft Punk
Best traditional pop vocal album
“To Be Loved” — Michael Bublé
Best rock performance
Imagine Dragons — “Radioactive”
Best metal performances
Black Sabbath — “God is Dead?”
Best rock song
“Cut Me Some Slack” — Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Pat Smear
Best rock album
Led Zeppelin — “Celebration Day”
Best alternative music album
Vampire Weekend — “Modern Vampires of the City”
Best R&B performance
Snarky Puppy with Lala Hathaway — “Something”
Best traditional R&B performance
Gary Clark Jr. — “Please Come Home”
Best R&B song
“Pusher Love Girl” — Justin Timberlake
Best urban contemporary album
Rihanna — “Unapologetic”
Best R&B album
Alicia Keys — “Girl on Fire”
Best rap performance
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz — “Thrift Shop”
Best rap/sung collaboration
Jay Z featuring Justin Timberlake — “Holy Grail”
Best rap song
“Thrift Shop” — Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Best rap album
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis — “The Heist”
Best country solo performance
Darius Rucker — “Wagon Wheel”
Best country duo/group performance
The Civil Wars — “From This Valley”
Best country song
“Merry Go ‘Round” — Kacey Musgraves
Best country album
Kacey Musgraves — “Same Trailer Different Park”
Best Latin pop album
Draco Rosa — “Vida”
Best Latin rock, urban or alternative album
La Santa Cecilia — “Treinta Dias”
Producer of the year, nonclassical
Pharrell Williams
Best compilation soundtrack for visual media
“Sound City: Real to Reel”
Best score soundtrack for visual media
“Skyfall”
Best song written for visual media
Adele — “Skyfall” — “Skyfall”
Best music video
Justin Timberlake featuring Jay Z — “Suit & Tie”
Best music film
Paul McCartney — “Live Kisses”
