The 65th Grammy Awards ceremony ended in mass confusion after the night’s biggest prize went to Harry Styles.
The British pop singer was announced as the winner of the Album of the Year award over Beyonce, who was widely tipped as the favourite with her critically adored record Renaissance.
The 65th Grammys was held on Sunday 5 February at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles, with Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Adele among the stars in attendance. On the red carpet, “over the top” was the order of the day, with outlandish outfits worn by Lizzo, Sam Smith, Styles and Cardi B.
Comedian Trevor Noah returned to host the ceremony for the third time running. While he’s no stranger to the political, he chose to keep things light on this occasion, with the exception of a brief reference to the ongoing Chinese “spy balloon” row in the US.
“My job is to be your eyes and ears,” he told the audience during his opening monlogue. “Think of me like a Chinese spy balloon. This is the room where it all goes down!”
Performances came from Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny and UK singer Styles. Arguably the most memorable was an all-star tribute to 50 years of hip-hop, with a medley of classics delivered by Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott, Nelly, Queen Latifah, Method Man, Future, Grandmaster Flash, Questlove, Run-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, The Roots and more.
And while the overarching mood of the ceremony was one of community, one singer didn’t seem to get the memo.
Upon learning that pianist Robert Glasper had won Best R&B Album over him, Chris Brown appeared to go on a rampage via his Instagram Stories. “Who the f*** is Robert Glasper,” he demanded, adding: “Ima keep kicking y’all ass! Respectfully.”
The Independent reached out to Brown’s representatives for comment.
Unlike the controversial musician, Adele, Styles, Lizzo and Beyonce managed to keep it together when veteran star Bonnie Raitt walked away with one of the night’s top prizes, Song of the Year.
No one was more shocked than Raitt herself, as she took to the stage to accept the trophy from presenter Jill Biden.
“This is just an unreal moment, thank you for honouring me,” Raitt said.
Still, until this point, the audience seemed convinced that the night belonged to Beyonce. The Renaissance artist made history by becoming the Grammys’ most-decorated artist with a total of 32 wins, surpassing the previous record set by late composer Georg Solti.
Accepting her fourth award of the night, for Best Dance/Electronic Ablum, the 41-year-old said: “I’m trying not to be too emotional. I’m trying to just receive this night.
“I want to thank God for protecting me… I’d like to thank my uncle Johnny who is not here but he is here in spirit.
“I’d like to thank my parents, my father, my mother, for loving me, for pushing me. I’d like to thank my beautiful husband, my beautiful children who are watching at home.”
She added: “I’d like to thank the queer community – you invented the genre.”
The historic award was presented by TV host James Corden, who said it was an “honour” to be given the duty.
“We are witnessing history tonight,” he said, before announcing the result.
