Review: The 57th Grammy Awards

Paul McCartney, Kanye West, and Rihanna perform  FourFiveSeconds at the 57th Grammy Awards. Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

Paul McCartney, Kanye West, and Rihanna perform FourFiveSeconds at the 57th Grammy Awards. Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

Evan Welsh, Senior Writing Editor

The 57th Grammy Music Awards took place this past Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The award show, hosted by LL Cool J, honored musicians from all different categories and contained performances from many of the industries biggest stars.

The show began with a performance by the rock band AC/DC, in which they sang their hit song “Highway to Hell,” while the crowd donned light-up devil horns that gave a red glow to the stadium.

Following the opener, many singers took to the stage, including 21-year-old, Ariana Grande, who sang “Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart,” and Tom Jones and Jessie J singing “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”. Other great performances were made by Ed Sheeran, Hozier and Annie Lennox, as well as Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.

Some of the most entertaining performances of the night had the whole crowd getting out of their seats and into the music. The pairing of Pharrell Williams and Hans Zimmer brought the house down with “Happy”, while Kristen Wiig’s surprise cameo in Sia’s performance of “Chandelier” had many in fits of laughter. Some performances however, missed the mark in comparison to others.

Katy Perry had many pitch issues while singing “By the Grace of God,” as did Eric Church while singing “Give Me Back My Hometown.” Madonna’s performance had its problems as well, as the 56-year-old pop star had some troubles with musical aspects, though she gave a great and energetic dance performance.

As far as awards go, singer Sam Smith took home four of the night’s biggest awards, including Best New Artist and Record of the Year, making him this year’s big winner. In his acceptance speech, Smith thanked his ex “for breaking [his] heart because [he] got [him] four Grammys.” Other winners included Beyonce for Best R&B Performance and Pharrell Williams for Best Pop Solo Performance.

One winner who shocked the crowd was Beck, who won Album of the Year for his album Morning Phase. The 44-year-old artist beat out some of the most noteworthy musicians in the category including Beyonce, Pharrell Williams, Sam Smith, and Ed Sheeran. Upon Beck winning the award, rap artist Kanye West walked on stage and pretended to grab the microphone like he did to singer Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Awards, but turned around and took his seat. Many in the audience and at home were shocked by West’s behavior and have looked at it in poor taste.

This years Grammy awards will forever be known as one of the most memorable with its great performances, as well as its drama.