The 55th annual Grammy Awards featured a large number of indie and urban artist winners Feb. 10.
Among a male-dominated nomination pool, artists Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, Gotye, Jay-Z, Skrillex and Kanye West raked in awards on music’s biggest night. The three and a half hour award show, hosted by LL Cool J, mixed performances with award-giving.
The evening was exciting right from the start as a sepia-toned and tuxedo-clad Justin Timberlake returned to the stage for the first time in five years to perform. The audience went wild while he serenaded everyone with his song “Suit & Tie,” accompanied by a full brass band, back-up singers and Jay-Z.
One highlight performance featured Maroon 5 and Alicia Keys performing a mash-up of their respective songs “Daylight” and “Girl on Fire.”
Other memorable performances included Elton John and Ed Sheeran’s duet of Sheeran’s hit record “The A Team” and Carrie Underwood’s rendition of “Blown Away,” during which her dress lit up in different designs. After such a performance, it’s no surprise that Underwood won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance.
On the other end of the spectrum, “Fun.” won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best New Artist. The band members, who toured for 12 years before making it big, humorously juxtaposed their old age with the song that brought them success, “We Are Young.”
English folk rock band Mumford and Sons’ electric performance of “I Will Wait” preceded its wins for Best Long Form Music Video and Album of the Year, “Babel.”
Although she seemed frazzled earlier in the night when she received Best Pop Vocal Album for “Stronger,” Kelly Clarkson finally seemed at ease as she effortlessly performed “The Tennessee Waltz” and “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman.”
The Black Keys received awards for Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album. Dan Aurbach, the band’s frontman, took the Grammy for Best Non-Classical Producer, to bring the band’s wins up to four.
If you haven’t had “Somebody That I Used to Know” stuck in your head for months, you must live under a rock – or at least somewhere without access to Hot 99.5. Gotye and Kimbra won Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their popular track. Gotye’s album “Making Mirros” won Best Alternative Music Album.
Another winning duo was Jay-Z and Kanye West. The pair won three awards for their songs “N***as in Paris” and “No Church in the Wild,” both from their collaboration album “Watch the Throne.”
Skrillex dominated the dance/house genre with his album “Bangarang,” which won awards for Best Dance Recording, Best Dance/Electronica Album and Best Remixed Recording (Non-Classical).
And as if her six-time success at last year’s show wasn’t enough, Adele brought in another Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance for her song “Set Fire to the Rain.”
The show also paid tribute to some of music’s finest, including Bob Marley and Levon Helm. Bruno Mars, Rihanna and Elton John were among the artists who honored Marley and Helm with musical performances.
Frank Ocean was less successful than many critics expected, but won Best Urban Contemporary Album for “Channel Orange.”
Rihanna, who also performed, received her seventh Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video.
From pop to rock to country, the Grammy Awards celebrated the best in music for the 55th time. The night was classy, scandal-free and entertaining. For a group of diva artists, that’s the best one can ask for.
