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2016 Grammy Awards: Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, The Weeknd & Justin Bieber Rule The Night
2016 Grammy Awards: Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, The Weeknd & Justin Bieber Rule The Night
Entertainment Feb 16, 2016
The Grammy Awards were a night to cherish for all music lovers. Here are some of the highlights.
Music's biggest night rolled out all the stops to celebrate the songs, artists and albums that rocked our social media accounts, iPhones, computer screens and radio stations this year. The 58th Annual Grammy Awards were a show to remember.
Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd led the pack with multiple nominations each coming into Monday night's glamorous music spectacle. Lamar earned 11 nominations, and Swift and the Weeknd were up for seven each. While each artist walked away with golden hardware, as expected, the night also included many more memorable moments and performances.
LL Cool J was the host of the evening for the fifth year in a row. While many naysayers claimed that having him back for a fifth year was the reason for much "non-excitement," the singer did his best to lead the award show with his commanding presence.
Grammy award show host LL Cool J arrives on the red carpet at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Photo Credit: Reuters
Lamar led the Grammys 2016 ceremony with 11 nominations and won three awards for To Pimp A Butterfly before the broadcast even began on CBS: Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for “Alright,” and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “These Walls.” His fifth award was for Best Music Video as part of Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” video.
Kendrick Lamar performs at the 58th annual Grammy Awards.
Photo Credit: Reuters
Kendrick Lamar's awe-inspiring performance began with him walking out leading a line of people in chains and prison outfits. Other performers were locked in jail cells. He started "The Blacker the Berry" as one of the prisoners in the cell played the saxophone. Then they broke the chains off and started dancing as the lights shut off and revealed neon costumes.
As Kendrick transitioned into "Alright," the scene changed to a bonfire with tribal drummers in facepaint. Then he ended it back at the mic and debuted a brand-new (incredible) song. The performance ended with an outline of an African map that read "Compton." Maybe just a bit better than an Imagine Dragons collaboration.
Taylor Swift opens the show with her performance of "Out of the Woods."
Photo Credit: Mario Anzuoni / Reuters
It was Swift who started the ceremony off in earnest. The 26-year-old performed “Out of the Woods” with Jack Antonoff on guitar and ended her performance by dropping a glitter bomb on the crowd of assembled music dignitaries. She later won Album of the Year for 1989, one of three awards for the pop megastar for the night.
The Weeknd performs a medley of his chart toppers.
Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images for NARAS
The Weeknd hit the 2016 Grammy stage to perform his smash hit "Can't Feel My Face" and a slowed-down version of "In The Night," off his hit album Beauty Behind the Madness. The Toronto native picked up the Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album for his second album during the pre-show and was also nominated for Album of the Year.
Justin Bieber performs on the Grammy Award stage.
Photo Credit: Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images
The other Canadian to own the stage that night was heartthrob Justin Bieber. It was a night for all Beliebers to celebrate as the Canadian crooner won the very first Grammy award of his career. Hard to believe, we know! On a high this year with multiple back-to-back #1 chart toppers, Bieber hit the stage with a solo, acapella performance of "Love Yourself." He was later joined by Skrillex and Diplo for a high-octane rendition of the hit "Where Are You Now?"
Lady Gaga pays tribute to legendary singer-songwriter David Bowie.
Photo Credit: Kevin Winter / Getty Images
Everyone expected nothing short of spectacular when it came to Lady Gaga's tribute to legendary singer-songwriter David Bowie — and, boy, was it amazing. Lady Gaga didn't just sing Bowie's classic numbers. She even channelled her inner Bowie on stage, gyrating to his iconic dance steps, mimicking his posture and expressions and dressing like Bowie too. This was definitely a highlight.
Adele performs at the Grammys
Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images for NARAS
And, of course, the Grammys would be nothing without the music powerhouse that is Adele. Although her performance was riddled with audio issues, the singer still came out on top and even received a standing ovation for her performance of "All I Ask."
Grammy Award Winner Highlights
Album of the Year
Taylor Swift, 1989
Song of the Year
Ed Sheeran, "Thinking Out Loud"
Best New Artist
Meghan Trainor
Best Pop Vocal Album
Taylor Swift, 1989
Best Dance Recording
Skrillex, Diplo and Justin Bieber, "Where Are Ü Now"
Best Dance/Electronic Album
Skrillex and Diplo, Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack Ü
Best R&B Performance
The Weeknd, "Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)"
Best R&B Song
D'Angelo and Kendra Foster, "Really Love"
Best Urban Contemporary Album
The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
Check out this link for a full list of winners.
Main Image Photo Credit: Reuters / Associated Press
Daniel Pillai
Author
Daniel is the Digital Media Manager for ANOKHI MEDIA and the host for ANOKHI's entertainment channel, PULSE TV. As part of the dream team, Daniel manages all multiple channels under ANOKHI’s portfolio, while also training new on-air talent, and showing budding p...
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