The 2016 Grammy Award Goes to…

Rachel Kim, Editor-in-Chief

Paparazzi, reporters, and fans waited anxiously outside the Staples Center as Hollywood’s most raved celebrities made their way onto the red carpet. The stage was set for music’s biggest night on Monday, February 15. The 58th annual Grammy Awards was held in Los Angeles and for the fifth year in a row, LL Cool J hosted the festivity. Performances from a staggering list of superstars, including Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Adele and more were made throughout the night.

  The Grammys this year mainly paid tribute to music’s biggest heroes. Lionel Richie received a tribute from Meghan Trainor, Luke Bryan, John Legend, Demi Lovato and Tyrese. They performed a medley of his songs and Richie was granted the title of MusiCares Person of the Year.

  Gaga paid respect to David Bowie, singing parts of some of Bowie’s greatest hits, such as “Space Oddity,” “Rebel Rebel,”and “Let’s Dance.”

  Super-group The Hollywood Vampires made their TV debut on Monday paying tribute to Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister. According to Music Times, despite the band’s superstar image (thanks Johnny Depp), “there are plenty of rock acts that are capable of paying tribute to the unmatchable Lemmy. Instead of honoring Lemmy and his legacy with a medley of Motorhead songs, The Hollywood Vampires opened up with their original song… it wasn’t what we signed up for. Lemmy deserved better.  

  The three biggest awards of the night went to Taylor Swift‘s album, 1989, for Album of the Year, Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk” for Record of the Year, and Ed Sheeran won Song of the Year for “Thinking Out Loud.”  Michelle Kim (9) was excited that Sheeran won an award because “he lost two years in a row and deserves to be recognized and awarded.”

  Kendrick Lamar, with 11 nominations, won best rap album, rap performance, rap song, rap collaboration and music video (which was shared with Swift). According to Madelynn Robison (10), Lamar “was the best part of the night, giving the Grammys one of its best live performances.”

     The cast of the Broadway hit Hamilton performed the musical’s opening number live from New York and received a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.

  Some other winners included Alabama Shakes (for alternative music album and best rock song) and Chris Stapleton (for country solo performance).

  Overall, the night was fun-filled with many laughs and tears. Who has what it takes to win a Grammy next year?