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GRAMMYS RECAP 2023

Making musical history

The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony took place last night where a slew of A-listers were in the house, and the likes of a somber “Ben Affleck” quickly became a trending topic during the telecast while accompanying his wife, Jennifer Lopez. While the awards have been criticized over the years for their tendency to discount traditionally underrepresented communities, this year's awards took some positive steps forward by breaking down barriers, where some of music's finest hit some major history-defining high notes. Let's take a look.

“I haven't really watched any awards ceremonies in the past few years, but I plan on watching the Grammy's this year.”


— Gwen, 19, NC

Image of Bad Bunny's album Un Verano Sin Ti

BAD BUNNY

Puerto Rican reggaeton and Latin-trap vocal superstar Bad Bunny kicked off the 65th annual Grammy Awards with a bang paying homage to his Puerto Rican roots through dance and beloved musicians. His chart-topping Un Verano Sin Ti” (“A Summer Without You'') made history as the first non-English language album ever to be nominated for Album of the Year, and winning would have broken ground for Latinos and other non-English speaking artists. He narrowly missed out to Harry Styles, taking the award for Harry's House, though still deservedly received a coveted gramophone for Best Música Urbana Album.

Image from Beyonce's album Renaissance of a glowing horse and the album title Renaissance

BEYONCE

It would be remiss of us not to acknowledge and celebrate the fashionably late Beyoncé as she became the biggest winner in Grammy history for her game-changing career. The Beyhive was set all abuzz last night as her now 32 career wins are the most by any artist, breaking the overall record of 31 by conductor Georg Solti. The speech that followed was a rare moment of vulnerability from Bey, who thanked her late Uncle Johnny and the queer community for paving the way for her dance history tribute Renaissance.

Image of a screenshot of the word UNHOLY over some red stage curtains (taken from the Kim Petras and Sam Smith video for "Unholy")

KIM PETRAS & SAM SMITH

LGBTQ history was made last night as Kim Petras and Sam Smith accepted the Best Pop Duo/Group Collaboration award for their song “Unholy,” making Petras the first-ever transgender woman to win a Grammy in the category. “I just want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight,” she said. Petras told the press backstage that the song was inspired by her childhood experience with religion and said she was excited to show kids that you can be rewarded for your talent instead of just your sexuality.