In case you aren’t completely sick of seeing the tweets or hearing about upsets of last night’s 54th Annual Grammy Awards, we here at The Vinyl District are going to give you a break down of what happened from a first-hand account as we wind down and recap the night waiting in a busy terminal at LAX. Lucky you.
Things started off pretty solemn on the red carpet as the nominees, presenters, and performers filed in and were immediately questioned about their thoughts on the sad passing of Whitney Houston that took place Saturday evening. If you hadn’t known any better you would have thought that that the entire awards show was actually a tribute concert to Houston from the red carpet interviews. Most interviewees had very heartfelt messages to give on the subject of the music legend’s passing.
When asked about his feelings on the matter, Best Bluegrass Album nominee and funny-man Steve Martin responded with, “I think I damaged my hearing from listening to her so loud and so long. It’s a sad day,” while the popular folk quartet and Record of the Year nominees Mumford & Sons gave their piece, “It’s an undeniable tragedy, and it’s so soon after the event, there’s a lot of grieving yet to happen.”
Nonetheless, it was nice seeing artists like rock ensemble Foo Fighters, last year’s winner for Best New Artist Esperanza Spalding, and Nashville’s favorite duo The Civil Wars hit the red carpet and bring smiles to the faces of the masses.
Next up: the performances.
There’s only one thing to say about this year’s Grammy performances… PAUL MCCARTNEY! If you ever wondered who is the one person that makes even the biggest musicians starstruck, it’s Paul McCartney. I’m still trying to regain feeling and remember what my legs felt like before they started shaking uncontrollably in his presence. The entire night he was bewitching every person that stepped within five feet of him as if he were still a young 20-something in the height of Beatlemania. As this year’s MusiCares Person of the Year winner, the great “Macca” blew everyone away by not only claiming the stage once, but TWICE with the final performance of the night, including some great Beatles hits and one big guitar shred fest with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Dave Grohl, and Joe Walsh.
Some other highlighted performances include Tina Turner, I mean Rihanna, donning a new blonde hairdo, sharing the stage with Coldplay as they sang “Princess of China” together.
The freaking Beach Boys reunited once again to perform a medley of their songs beside Maroon 5 and Foster the People.
Jennifer Hudson’s stunning tribute to Whitney Houston.
Country music icon Glen Campbell performing “Rhinestone Cowboy.”
Oh, and the Exorcism of Nicki Minaj?
Finally, let’s just get down to the winners, shall we? It’s no surprise that British powerhouse artist Adele went home with the most awards after making her first performance since her throat surgery. The awards included were Album Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for 21, Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best Short Form Music Video for “Rolling In The Deep,” and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Someone Like You.”
Other big winners included rockers Foo Fighters with 5 golden trophies at the end of the night. They beat out other rock artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wilco, and Jeff Beck with Wasting Light as Best Rock Album, “Walk” scored them Best Rock Performance and Rock Song, “White Limo” was Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, and they won Best Long-Form Video for “Back and Forth.”
Indie sensation Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver took home the award for Best New Artist as deserved and gave us all a confusing and sheepish thank you speech. He warmed up a little later after the initial shock acceptance and reminded us exactly why we love him all over again.
For a full list of nominees and winners head over to the Grammy Nomination page and check it out!
The night was full of awesome moments and complete disappointments as to be expected with national award shows. Did you watch it or boycott it this year? What would you have liked to see (or not see?) at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards this year?
Personally, I would have loved to see Dolly Parton performing Whitney Houston’s tribute since “I Will Always Love You” was her song. That, and they could have replaced having Chris Brown on the stage not once, but twice, with an Amy Winehouse tribute! Who’s with me? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
