We laughed, we cried, we cringed — the 65th annual Grammy awards proved to be a spin cycle of entertainment highs and lows.
Helmed by veteran host Trevor Noah, 39, from Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, the Recording Academy’s star-studded celebration of music’s top hit makers took audiences on a wild ride, starting with an energized showing from Bad Bunny and ending with a praiseworthy performance by Jay-Z.
And although L.A. traffic tired holding up Beyonce, no force was able to hold Queen Bey back from making history as the artist to win the most ever Grammy Awards.
Her triumph, among other record-making moments of the night, however, were celebrated alongside some pretty major flubs that snappy Twitter critics couldn’t help but notice.
Here’s a list of the best and worst moment of the 2023 Grammy Awards.
BEST:
Beyonce breaks the record
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The title Greatest of all Time, or the “GOAT,” now officially belongs to Beyonce, 41, who was broken Grammys records by becoming the artist to win the most golden gramophones in history. On Sunday, the “Break My Soul” songbird dethroned late classical conductor Georg Solti, who’d previously held the title with 31 win since 1997, by taking home four awards for her most recent musical efforts. An emotional Queen Bey fought back tears as she thanked her family, fans and the queer community for their love and support.
Lizzo loves Bey
The show was barely underway when Lizzo, 34, nearly jumped out of her skin for a glimpse of the Queen herself, Beyonce, 41. In his opening monologue, Noah mentioned that Beyonce was “in the room,” which set the “About Damn Time” songstress’ head spinning with excitement. Cameras caught her anxiously looking around for a peek at music’s royal highness. And, of course, social media jokesters eagerly turned Lizzo’s fan-girl moment into a trending meme.
But the online jibes didn’t deter Lizzo from shouting out her idol when was awarded the trophy for Song of the Year. During her acceptance speech she took time out to thank Bey, tearfully saying, “Beyonce, in the 5th grade I skipped school to see you…You changed my life. The way you made me feel — I was like, “I want to make people feel that way with my music. I love you.'”
‘Unholy‘ Honors
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Sam Smith and Kim Petras, both 30, smashed through the glass ceiling by becoming the first non-binary and trans artists to win in the Best Pop Duo/ Group Performance category Sunday. Upon receiving the trophy, Petras celebrated being the first transgender woman to take the honors, and thanked the trans heroes, as well as LGBTQ+ advocate Madonna, 64, for paving the way for her.
Hip, Hip, Hooray for Hip-Hop
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Hip-Hop luminaries took fans on a lyrical journey through music history in celebration of the genre’s 50-year anniversary. The tribute, curated by Questlove and introduced by Queens native LL Cool J, came complete with performances from rap mammoths like Big Boi, Busta Rhymes with Spliff Star, De La Soul, DJ Drama, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Missy Elliott, Future, GloRilla, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Mele Mel & Scorpio/Ethiopian King, Ice-T, Lil Baby, Lil Wayne, The Lox, Method Man, Nelly, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Rahiem, Rakim, RUN-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa and Spinderella, Scarface, Swizz Beatz and Too $hort.
‘God’ blessed
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Doing God’s work on a Sunday, rap giants Jay-Z, 53, Rick Ross, 47, Lil Wayne, 40 and Fridayy raised spirits with their highly anticipated performance of “God Did” during the telecast. Accompanied by 12-time Grammy winner John Legend, 44, on the DJ Khaled track, the musicians moved the crowd with a show-closing spectacle.
The showcase marked Jay-Z’s long-awaited resurgence as a headliner at the awards gala, where he last performed “Drunk in Love” alongside wife Beyoncé, 41, in 2014.
WORST
Trevor’s panty play
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Twitter’s got its panties in a bunch over Noah’s joke about Harry Styles’ eclectic style.
Opening the night with a cheeky monologue laced with slick quips, Noah took a slight jab at Styles, 29, teasing the UK heartthrob for wearing women’s undergarments.
“Women throw their panties at this man and then he puts them on and he looks better in them than they do,” said Noah before cleaning up his messy remark by calling Styles “the sex symbol of the globe.”
Folks online blasted the joke as “weird,” and saying it shouldn’t have made Noah’s final draft. He later made a mention of James Corden’s “frost-bitten penis” that, too, was sorely received.
Madge Madness
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Let’s face it — Madonna’s look at the Grammy’s rubbed folks the wrong way. Though the 64-year-old pop icon took center stage to celebrate rule-breaks and troublemakers, social media fault-finders were more focused on her appearance than her empowering words. “What the hell happened to Madonna’s face?,” tweeted one shocked onlooker, noting the “Holiday” singers new cheeks and nose.
“Madonna scares me,” confessed another. “Me attempting to ignore the fact that Madonna has a whole new face,” said a separate viewer.
Dragging Dre
Although Dr. Dre, 57, was granted with the first-ever Global Impact award at this year’s Grammys, folks online protested the honor, noting the fact that the West Coast legend has been accused of domestic violence.
“I’m sorry by Dr. Dre beats women BYE,” alleged one Twitter user. “Everyone forgot about that time Dr. Dre beat that lady up I guess,” said another.
Dre has not yet publicly responded to his Grammys backlash.
R.I.P. Aaron Carter
Aaron Carter fans were fit to be tied after realizing that the late “I Want Candy” crooner, who died at age 34 on November 5, had been left out of the “In Memoriam” tribute at the Grammys. “Genuinely don’t understand why Aaron Carter was left out of the in memoriam. He completely changed the teen pop music game, broke so many records, and truly paved the way for so many young pop stars that followed him,” groaned a fan on Twitter.
Since {Recording Academy} didn’t, I will: in memoriam of Aaron Carter – you deserved more. more recognition, love & time. thank you for the music that got me through my childhood, shaped me as a person & why I wanted to work in music. I forever love you.
So far, the Recording Academy has yet to release a statement concerning the snub.
