Over the weekend, the 61st annual Grammy Awards seemed more at risk of being notable for its controversies over performances and who wasn’t showing up than for the actual ceremony. Ariana Grande very publicly backed out of performing on this year’s broadcast and called Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich a liar, after Ehrlich told the press Grande “felt it was too late for her to pull something together” for the Grammys. According to Grande, who has one of the most popular songs in the world at the moment, she was told that she couldn’t just sing it, but needed to do a medley with other songs chosen by Grammy officials, which is reminiscent of reports from last year that Album of the Year nominee Lorde was told she couldn’t perform her own music, but could appear if she sang “American Girl” in tribute to Tom Petty. This sort of baffling out-of-touch mindset on the part of Grammy officials is part of the reason why artists like Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Childish Gambino have refused either to appear or to perform at the Grammys.
But only a year after the Grammys came under blistering criticism for the lack of women represented in major categories (e.g., just one woman won a solo award during last year’s telecast), as well as for how they were treating female performers; and after a sexist response from the outgoing head of the Recording Academy, who said women needed to “step up” if they wanted to rise in the industry, the powers that be seemed to want a course correction—at least on the surface.
Alicia Keys hosted a broadcast in which women and people of color were highlighted as presenters, performers, and winners throughout the ceremony, and which included some help from a certain former First Lady of the United States. Similar to some of the steps the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has taken to quell criticisms of the Oscars, the Recording Academy also expanded the number of nominees in its top categories—album, record and song of the year, and best new artist—from five to eight in order to include a more diverse slate of nominees. In truth, the Grammys are usually remembered more for the performances and quirky moments than for who won what. But there were significant moments and wins last night.
There were tributes to both Diana Ross and Dolly Parton. Quincy Jones’ win for Quincy in the category of Best Music Film was his 28th award, giving him the record for most Grammys won by any living artist. Cardi B became the first solo woman ever to win Best Rap Album. Lady Gaga won the first award of the broadcast, Best Pop Duo/Group performance, for “Shallow,” her duet with Bradley Cooper from their movie A Star Is Born, and gave a heartfelt speech about mental health and what the film has meant to her. After deciding to attend and winning for Best Rap Song with “God’s Plan,” Drake was cut off mid-speech while saying the music industry is “a business where sometimes it’s up to a bunch of people that might not understand what a mixed-race kid from Canada has to say, or a fly Spanish girl from New York.” And Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” took home both Record of the Year and Song of the Year, the first hip-hop song to win either award. However, illustrating some of the aforementioned issues, Donald Glover was not in attendance to accept either award.
From Chris Richards at the Washington Post:
Rap remains the dominant pop idiom of the 21st century, but OutKast is the only rap act to have ever won album of the year, the most prestigious of all Grammys — and that happened way back in 2004. Fifteen years later, who could blame rap’s brightest lights for staying away from the microphone? “This Is America” was the first rap tune to win song of the year. Ever. (Later, it won record of the year, too. Also a first.)
And that’s just one of the Grammys’ big, dumb problems of late. Another is denying women proportional airtime during the telecast. So, this year, the academy tried to tackle that one head-on by recruiting the serene R&B singer Alicia Keys to host the show. After sharing her opening monologue with a surprising cast of power-people — Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Jada Pinkett Smith and Michelle Obama — Keys spent the rest of the night oozing sincerity, trying to give this slog of a ceremony a coagulant warmth.
[Kacey] Musgraves won album of the year for her lightly psychedelic country opus “Golden Hour.” Dua Lipa won best new artist. “This year we’ve really stepped up,” the British singer said while accepting her award, taking a shot at outgoing Recording Academy President Neil Portnow, who responded to the gender asymmetry at last year’s Grammys by asking women to “step up.” Moments later, Portnow materialized onstage to address the crowd, saying that his eyes had been opened by last year’s ordeal and that the Grammys must “ensure that there is diversity and inclusion in all that we do.”
Any awards program in any medium is going to be subjective. So there are always going to be some arguments. But many feel the major flaw of the Grammys—and arguably of most of the other major awards in the arts—is that they’re based in a system where the representatives of yesteryear are judging the acts of today through the prism of their biases. And it creates a legitimate question about relevancy.
From Ben Sisario at the New York Times:
The Recording Academy appointed a task force, led by Tina Tchen, a former chief of staff to Michelle Obama, to “identify the various barriers and unconscious biases faced by underrepresented communities” at the academy and in the wider industry.
Working with the task force, the academy has tried to make its voting pool more diverse, inviting 900 new people, from a variety of backgrounds, to be members; of those, 22 percent accepted in time to vote this year, according to Laura Segura Mueller, the academy’s vice president of membership and industry relations. Last week the task force challenged the music industry to hire more women producers and engineers, two jobs that are overwhelmingly male.
Even with these steps, this year’s nominations show just how much work is left to achieve real gender parity. On the eight songs up for record of the year, a total of 48 producers and engineers were credited, and only two were female.
So how has the show tried to deal with these issues in the past?
- Similar to what they did this year in expanding the number of nominees in top categories, the Grammys have tried the “everybody gets a trophy” approach by expanding the number of categories, in order to deflect some of the questioning about why certain artists aren't nominated or honored. It's sort of like how the Oscars gave animated films their own category so they don't have to feel bad about not honoring an animated film that might be better than any of the live-action ones. But the Grammys have even found ways to screw this up in the past. For one thing, it diluted the show into a bloated mess that reached 109 categories at one point, where people were voting on and nominating things they never listened to.
- The inability of the Grammys to adjust to changes in popular music has been an ongoing issue for much of its history. In 1989, the Grammys added a category for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance. In the category’s inaugural year, Jethro Tull's album Crest of a Knave beat Metallica's …And Justice for All, for an album that even Jethro Tull didn't think belonged in that category, but won because it's a name the older voters of the academy recognized. Because when I think “Hard Rock,” Ian Anderson and his goddamn flutes are not what comes to mind.
- The Album of the Year category has a history of being treated as a lifetime achievement award by older voters looking to pat certain people on the back. In 2001, Steely Dan's Two Against Nature beat out Radiohead's Kid A and Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP. In 2008, Herbie Hancock won Album of the Year with an album of Joni Mitchell covers over Amy Winehouse's Back to Black and Kanye West's Graduation.
- As stated above, Childish Gambino’s win for Song and Record of the Year was a first for a rap/hip-hop artist. But in all 61 years of the Grammys' existence, there have been fewer than 10 rap nominees for Song of the Year. Not fewer than 10 winners. Nominees. And that's in an era in which, in the last 30 years, rap and hip-hop singles have dominated the Billboard Hot 100 charts, iTunes downloads, streaming services, and radio airplay.
From Rob Harvilla at the Ringer:
In recent years, the Grammys have been roasted by everyone from Jay-Z (who infamously went 0-for-8 on his nominations last year and took it poorly) to Frank Ocean (who lambasted Ehrlich as “old” in a righteous 2017 Tumblr post about his refusal to even submit his album Blonde for consideration) to Kanye West (a pioneer in this realm, as in all others). The Grammys have no feel for rap, R&B, and upper-echelon pop, and consequently have been bleeding credibility and goodwill for years. It is genuinely impressive that this situation keeps getting worse.
The winners of the 2019 Grammys:
Album of the Year
- Invasion Of Privacy, Cardi B
- By The Way, I Forgive You, Brandi Carlile
- Scorpion, Drake
- H.E.R., H.E.R.
- Beerbongs & Bentleys, Post Malone
- Dirty Computer, Janelle Monae
- Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves
- Black Panther: The Album, Kendrick Lamar
Record of the Year
- “I Like It,” Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin
- “The Joke,” Brandi Carlile
- “This Is America,” Childish Gambino
- “God’s Plan,” Drake
- “Shallow,” Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
- “All The Stars,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA
- “Rockstar,” Post Malone and 21 Savage
- “The Middle,” Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey
Best Rap Album
- Invasion Of Privacy, Cardi B
- Swimming, Mac Miller
- Victory Lap, Nipsey Hussle
- Daytona, Pusha-T
- Astroworld, Travis Scott
Best R&B Album
- Sex & Cigarettes, Toni Braxton
- Good Thing, Leon Bridges
- Honestly, Lalah Hathaway
- H.E.R., H.E.R.
- Gumbo Uplugged (Live), PJ Mortion
Best Country Album
- Unapologetically, Kelsea Ballerini
- Port Saint Joe, Brothers Osborne
- Girl Going Nowhere, Ashley McBryde
- Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves
- Volume 2, Chris Stapleton
Song of the Year
- “All The Stars,” Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Spears, Al Shuckburgh, Anthony Tiffith, and Solana Rowe (Kendrick Lamar and SZA)
- “Boo’d Up,” Larrance Dopson, Joelle James, Ella Mai, and Dijon McFarlane (Ella Mai)
- “God’s Plan,” Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Brock Korsan, Ron Latour, Matthew Samuels and Noah Shebib (Drake)
- “In My Blood,” Teddy Geiger, Scott Harris, Shawn Mendes and Geoffrey Warburton (Shawn Mendes)
- “The Joke,” Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth (Brandi Carlile)
- “The Middle,” Sarah Aarons, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Marcus Lomax, Kyle Trewartha, Michael Trewartha and Anton Zaslavski (Zedd, Maren Morris, Grey)
- “Shallow,” Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt (Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper)
- “This Is America,” Donald Glover and Ludwig Göransson (Childish Gambino)
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
- “Fall In Line,” Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato
- “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” Backstreet Boys
- “Shallow,” Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
- “Girls Like You,” Maroon 5 and Cardi B
- “Say Something,” Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton
- “The Middle,” Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
- Love Is Here To Stay, Tony Bennett & Diana Krall
- My Way, Willie Nelson
- Nat “King” Cole & Me, Gregory Porter
- Standards, Seal
- The Music... The Mem’ries... The Magic!, Barbra Streisand
Best Spoken Word Album
- “Accessory to War (Neil Degrasse Tyson & Avis Lang),” Courtney B. Vance
- “Calypso,” David Sedaris
- “Creative Quest,” Questlove
- “Faith – A Journey For All,” Jimmy Carter
- “The Last Black Unicorn,” Tiffany Haddish
Best Pop Vocal Album
- Camila, Camila Cabello
- Meaning Of Life, Kelly Clarkson
- Sweetener, Ariana Grande
- Shawn Mendes, Shawn Mendes
- Beautiful Trauma, Pink
- Reputation, Taylor Swift
Best Pop Solo Performance
- “Colors,” Beck
- “Havana (Live),” Camila Cabello
- “God Is A Woman,” Ariana Grande
- “Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?),” Lady Gaga
- “Better Now,” Post Malone
Best Americana Album
- By the Way, I Forgive You, Brandi Carlile
- Things Have Changed, Bettye LaVette
- The Tree of Forgiveness, John Prine
- The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone, Lee Ann Womack
- One Drop of Truth, The Wood Brothers
Best Music Video
- “APES***,” The Carters, Ricky Saiz, video director; Mélodie Buchris, Natan Schottenfels & Erinn Williams, video producers
- “This Is America,” Childish Gambino, Hiro Murai, video director; Ibra Ake, Jason Cole & Fam Rothstein, video producers
- “I’m Not Racist,” Joyner Lucas & Ben Proulx, video directors; Joyner Lucas, video producer
- “Pynk,” Janelle Monáe, Emma Westenberg, video director; Justin Benoliel & Whitney Jackson, video producers
- “Mumbo Jumbo,” Tierra Whack Marco Prestini, video director; Sara Nassim, video producer
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
- The Emancipation Procrastination, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
- Steve Gadd Band, Steve Gadd Band
- Modern Lore, Julian Lage
- Laid Black, Marcus Miller
- Protocol 4, Simon Phillips
Best Alternative Music Album
- Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, Arctic Monkeys
- Colors, Beck
- Utopia, Bjork
- American Utopia, David Byrne
- Masseduction, St. Vincent
Best Comedy Album
- Annihilation, Patton Oswalt
- Equanimity & The Bird Revelation, Dave Chappelle
- Noble Ape, Jim Gaffigan
- Standup For Drummers, Fred Armisen
- Tamborine, Chris Rock
Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media
- Call Me By Your Name
- Deadpool 2
- Lady Bird
- The Greatest Showman
- Stranger Things
Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media
- Black Panther, Ludwig Göransson, composer
- Blade Runner 2049, Benjamin Wallfisch & Hans Zimmer, composers
- Coco, Michael Giacchino, composer
- The Shape Of Water, Alexandre Desplat, composer
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi, John Williams, composer
Best Music Film
- Life in 12 Bars, Eric Clapton, Lili Fini Zanuck, video director; John Battsek, Scooter Weintraub, Larry Yelen & Lili Fini Zanuck, video producers
- Whitney, Kevin Macdonald, video director; Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn & Lisa Erspamer, video producers
- Quincy, Quincy Jones, Alan Hicks & Rashida Jones, video directors; Paula DuPré Pesmen, video producer
- Itzhak, Itzhak Perlman, Alison Chernick, video director; Alison Chernick, video producer
- The King, Eugene Jarecki, video director; Christopher Frierson, Georgina Hill, David Kuhn & Christopher St. John, video producers
Best Song Written For Visual Media
- “All The Stars,” Kendrick Duckworth, Solána Rowe, Alexander William Shuckburgh, Mark Anthony Spears & Anthony Tiffith, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar & SZA)
- “Mystery Of Love,” Sufjan Stevens, songwriter (Sufjan Stevens)
- “Remember Me,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Miguel Featuring Natalia Lafourcade)
- “Shallow,” Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper)
- “This Is Me,” Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, songwriters (Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman Ensemble)
Best R&B Performance
- “Long As I Live,” Toni Braxton
- “Summer,” The Carters
- “Y O Y,” Lalah Hathaway
- “Best Part,” H.E.R. and Daniel Caesar
- “First Began,” PJ Morton
Best Traditional R&B Performance
- “Bet Ain’t Worth The Hand,” Leon Bridges (Tie)
- “Don’t Fall Apart On Me Tonight” Bettye LaVette
- “Honest, MAJOR.
- “How Deep Is Your Love,” PJ Morton and Yebba (Tie)
- “Made For Love,” Charlie Wilson and Lalah Hathaway
Best R&B Song
- “Boo’d Up,” Larrance Dopson, Joelle James, Ella Mai, and Dijon McFarlane (Ella Mai)
- “Come Through And Chill, Jermaine Cole, Miguel Pimentel, and Salaam Remi (Miguel with J. Cole andSalaam Remi)
- “Feels Like Summer,” Donald Glover and Ludwig Goransson (Childish Gambino)
- “Focus,” Darhyl Camper Jr, H.E.R., and Justin Love (H.E.R.)
- “Long As I Live,” Paul Boutin, Toni Braxton, and Antonio Dixon (Toni Braxton)
Best Urban Contemporary Album:
- Everything Is Love, The Carters
- The Kids Are Alright, Chloe x Halle
- Chris Dave And The Drumhedz, Chris Dave And The Drumhedz
- War & Leisure, Miguel
- Ventriloquism, Meshell Ndegeocello
Best Rap Performance
- “Be Careful,” Cardi B
- “Nice For What,” Drake
- “King’s Dead,” Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future, and James Blake (Tie)
- “Sicko Mode,” Travis Scott, Drake, Big Hawk, and Swae Lee
- “Bubblin,” Anderson .Paak (Tie)
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
- “Like I Do,” Christina Aguilera and Goldlink
- “Pretty Little Fears,” 6LACK and J. Cole
- “This Is America,” Childish Gambino
- “All The Stars,” Kendrick Lamar andSZA
- “Rockstar,” Post Malone and 21 Savage
Best Rock Performance
- “Four Out Of Five,” Arctic Monkeys
- “When Bad Does Good,” Chris Cornell
- “Made An America,” THE FEVER 333
- “Highway Tune,” Greta Van Fleet
- “Uncomfortable,” Halestorm
Best Rock Song
- “Black Smoke Rising,” Greta Van Fleet
- “Jumpsuit,” Twenty One Pilots
- “MANTRA,” Bring Me The Horizon
- “Masseduction,” St. Vincent
- “Rats,” Ghost
Best Rock Album
- Rainier Fog, Alice In Chains
- M A N I A, Fall Out Boy
- Prequelle, Ghost
- From The Fires, Greta Van Fleet
- Pacific Daydream, Weezer
Best Dance Recording
- “Northern Soul,” Above & Beyond Featuring Richard Bedford
- “Ultimatum,” Disclosure (Featuring Fatoumata Diawara”
- “Losing It,” Fisher
- “Electricity,” Silk City and Dua Lipa with Diplo andMark Ronson
- “Ghost Voices,” Virtual Self
Best Dance/Electronic Album
- Singularity, Jon Hopkins
- Woman Worldwide, Justice
- Treehouse, Sofi Tukker
- Oil Of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides, SOPHIE
- Lune Rouge, TOKiMONSTA
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
- “Shoot Me Straight,” Brothers Osborne
- “Tequila,” Dan + Shay
- “When Someone Stops Loving You,” Little Big Town
- “Dear Hate,” Maren Morris featuring Vince Gill
- “Meant to Be,” Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line
Best Country Song
- “Break Up in the End,” Jessie Jo Dillon, Chase McGill and Jon Nite (Cole Swindell)
- “Dear Hate,” Tom Douglas, David Hodges and Maren Morris) Maren Morris and Vince Gill
- “I Lived It,” Rhett Akins, Ross Copperman, Ashley Gorley and Ben Hayslip (Blake Shelton)
- “Space Cowboy,” Luke Laird, Shane McAnally and Kacey Musgraves (Kacey Musgraves)
- “Tequila,” Nicolle Gaylon, Jordan Reynolds and Dan Smyers (Dan + Shay)
- “When Someone Stops Loving You,” Hillary Lindsey, Chase McGill and Lori McKenna (Little Big Town)
Best American Roots Performance
- “Kick Rocks,” Sean Ardoin
- “Saint James Infirmary Blues,” Jon Batiste
- “The Joke,” Brandi Carlile
- “All on My Mind,” Anderson East
- “Last Man Standing,” Willie Nelson
Best Bluegrass Album
- Portraits in Fiddles, Mike Barnett
- Sister Sadie II, Sister Sadie
- Rivers and Roads, Special Consensus
- The Travelin’ McCourys, The Travelin’ McCourys
- North of Despair, Wood & Wire
Best Country Solo Performance
- “Wouldn’t It Be Great,” Loretta Lynn
- “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,” Maren Morris
- “Butterflies,” Kacey Musgraves
- “Millionaire,” Chris Stapleton
- “Parallel Line,” Keith Urban
Best Metal Performance
- Condemned To The Gallows, Between the Buried and Me
- Honeycomb, Deafheavenbest best
- Electric Messiah, High On Fire
- Betrayer, Trivium
- On My Teeth, Underoath
Best New Artist
- Chloe X Halle
- Luke Combs
- Greta Van Fleet
- H.E.R.
- Dua Lipa
- Margo Price
- Bebe Rexha
- Jorja Smith
Best Rap Song
- “God’s Plan,” Drake
- “King’s Dead,” Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future, and James Blake
- “Lucky You,” Eminem
- “Sicko Mode,” Travis Scott, Drake, Big Hawk, and Swae Lee
- “Win,” Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar