The Latest on the 64th annual Grammy Awards, being presented Sunday in Las Vegas (all times local):
8:25 p.m.
Jon Batiste’s “We Are” has won the Grammy Award for album of the year.
Batiste was the year’s most-nominated artist and had already won four Grammys on Sunday, but the win was still an upset of sorts over albums from better-known competitors. including Doja Cat, Olivia Rodrigo, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, and Taylor Swift.
“I love you even if I don’t know you! Good night!” a gleeful and stunned Batiste said to end his acceptance speech.
All of Batiste’s other wins came before the Grammys telecast began, and it appeared he might not win any on TV despite a leading 11 nominations.
___
8:12 p.m.
It’s been a smooth and spectacular Grammys for Silk Sonic.
The R&B super-duo featuring Bruno Mars and Anderson. Paak won Grammy Awards for record of the year and song of the year on Sunday night for “Leave the Door Open.”
Mars joins Paul Simon as the only person to win record of the year three times.
The duo, decked out in 1970s-style formal wear, did a sexy-slo-mo dance as they stood up after each win.
“We are really trying our hardest to remain humble at this point,”. Paak said after winning the record of the year. “But in the industry, they call that a clean sweep!” later adding “drinks is on Silk Sonic tonight!”
The two men, who performed to open the show in Las Vegas, also won a Grammy for best R&B performance.
___
8:09 p.m.
Doja Cat had to sprint to get her first career Grammy.
She won the best pop duo/group performance on Sunday for “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA, who despite being on crutches easily beat her collaborator to the stage.
Sweaty and breathing heavy, Doja Cat said “I have never taken such a fast piss in my whole life.”
Genuine emotion took over as she stood on the stage and considered the moment.
“This is a really big deal,” she said through tears.
___
7:42 p.m.
The Grammys paid tribute to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died just nine days before a ceremony where the band won three awards and was supposed to perform.
Host Trevor Noah said on the telecast Sunday that “this was the moment in the show when I was supposed to be introducing the Foo Fighters. We would have been celebrating with them as they won three Grammy awards. But they, of course, not here due to the tragic passing of their legendary drummer, Taylor Hawkins.”
Noah instead introduced a montage of memorable Hawkins moments.
The clips led off the Grammys’ in memoriam segment, presented with a medley of the songs of Stephen Sondheim, who died in 2021, sung by Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., Ben Platt, and Rachel Zegler.
Earlier Sunday, Foo Fighters won Grammys for best rock performance, best rock song, and best rock album.
No one from the band appeared to accept the awards.
Hawkins, the band’s drummer for 25 years and best friend of frontman Dave Grohl, died at age 50 in Bogota, Colombia, on March 25.
___
7:24 p.m.
Jazmine Sullivan has won her second Grammy, and she gets this one all to herself.
Sullivan won the best R&B album at the Grammy Awards on Sunday for “Heaux Tales.”
“I think I wrote this album to deal with my own shame around some of the decisions I made in my 20s,” the 34-year-old Sullivan said as she accepted the award. “What it ended up being was a safe space for black women to tell their stories.”
Earlier Sunday, Sullivan won her first Grammy, for best R&B performance, for “Pick Up Your Feelings.” The win was a tie with Silk Sonic.
___
7:05 p.m.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared in a video message at the Grammy Awards to ask for support in telling the story of Ukraine’s invasion by Russia.
During the message that aired on the show Sunday, he likened the invasion to a deadly silence threatening to extinguish the dreams and lives of the Ukrainian people, including children.
“Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos. They sing to the wounded in hospitals, even to those who can’t hear them,” he said. “But the music will break through anyway.”
The Recording Academy, with its partner Global Citizen, prior to the ceremony highlighted a social media campaign called “Stand Up For Ukraine” to raise money and support during the humanitarian crisis.
“Fill the silence with your music. Fill it today to tell our story. Tell the truth about the war on your social networks, on TV, and support us in any way you can, but not silence. And then peace will come to all our cities,” Zelenskyy said.
Following Zelenskyy’s message, John Legend performed his song “Free” with Ukrainian musicians Siuzanna Iglidan and Mika Newton, and poet Lyuba Yakimchuk, as images from the war were shown on screens behind them.
___
6:49 p.m.
Las Vegas is lucky for Baby Keem.
The 21-year-old won best rap performance at the Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday for “Family Ties,” a song that features his cousin Kendrick Lamar.
Baby Keem is from Las Vegas, where the Grammys were moved after coronavirus concerns brought the postponement of a ceremony originally scheduled for Los Angeles.
Backstage after winning, Keem said, “It feels like some sort of magic that Vegas is all of the sudden hosting the Grammys and I’m from here and I got my first one here.”
___
6:13 p.m.
She got her license, and now she’s got her second Grammy.
Olivia Rodrigo was named best new artist at the Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday night.
Rodrigo was in tears as she took the stage to accept the award. She said, “this is my biggest dream come true.”
The 19-year-old singer-songwriter and Disney Channel star had a breakout musical year with her hit album “Sour” and smash single “Drivers License.”
Earlier Sunday, Rodrigo won her first Grammy for best pop solo vocal performance for “Drivers License,” which she performed at the beginning of the telecast.
She’s also nominated for record of the year and album of the year.
Women have dominated the best new artist category in recent years. The past three winners included Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion, who presented the award to Rodrigo, and Billie Eilish, who performed just before it was handed out.
___
6 p.m.
Chris Stapleton’s “Starting Over” has won the Grammy for best country album.
Stapleton took the award Sunday on the birthday of his 4-year-old twins, two of his five children, and said he was sad that the career that brought him such accolades has forced him to be away from home on so many special days.
It was Stapleton’s third Grammy of the day.
Earlier, he won best country solo performance for a record third time for his song “You Should Probably Leave.”
And he and three co-writers won country song of the year for “Cold.”
Stapleton, who also performs later in the show, has won eight career Grammys overall.
___
5:33 p.m.
Silk Sonic is having a funky Grammys.
The Grammy Award for song of the year goes to the duo’s “Leave The Door Open.”
The songwriting award goes to the duo’s two members, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, along with two co-writers.
The award was the first handed out during Sunday’s telecast of the Grammys from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Mars and .Paak stood up and grooved when the win was announced and the song played.
The two men, who performed to open the show, also won a Grammy for best R&B performance before the telecast started.
5:15 p.m.
Host Trevor Noah has opened a Grammy Awards show that he says will be a part party, part concert, with some trophies handed out in between.
The comedian and “Daily Show” host delivered his opening monologue between performances by Silk Sonic and Olivia Rodrigo at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday night.
He walked among tables set up near the stage instead of theater seats.
“Look at this room, this is a party, everyone’s hanging out we’ve got the tables, we’re doing shots. Last year we were doing shots like Moderna and Pfizer,” Noah said.
He added, “We’re going to be dancing, we’re going to be singing, we’re going to be keeping people’s names out of our mouths.”
The crowd laughed at the reference to Will Smith shouting to Chris Rock to keep wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s name out of his mouth after slapping Rock on the Oscars stage a week earlier.
It was Noah’s second-straight year hosting the show, but the first with a typical, arena-sized Grammy crowd.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, last year’s awards were held in an outdoor pavilion in Los Angeles with only a small audience of nominees and guests.
___
5 p.m.
Silk Sonic brought back the ’70s with a Vegas-inspired set to open the Grammy Awards in Sin City on Sunday with spinning roulette wheels on the screens.
The duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak set the tone with their performance of “777” and a jamming horn section. Mars started the show imploring the Las Vegas crowd at the MGM Grand Arena to get up and dance.
The pair won two awards during the pre-telecast ceremony and are nominated for record and song of the year. The duo’s song “Leave the Door Open” and Jazmine Sullivan’s “Pick Up Your Feelings” tied to won best R&B performance, and “Leave the Door Open” won best R&B song.
___
4:40 p.m.
BTS has arrived at the Grammy's full strength after one of their members recently tested positive for COVID-19.
All seven members of the Korean megastar boy band walked the carpet wearing custom Louis Vuitton suits with sneakers in a range of colors from bright white to muted blue. Member V wore a bouquet of giant floral pins.
The group, which is nominated for their hit “Butter,” will also perform on the show.
Member Jungkook was recently tested positive for the coronavirus,
___
4:05 p.m.
Olivia Rodrigo has won her first career Grammy in what could be the beginning of a big night.
The 19-year-old won the award Sunday for best pop solo performance for her viral hit “Drivers License.”
The viral single made a pop star out of the Disney Channel actor and turned her album “Sour” into one of the biggest of the year.
Rodrigo did not accept the award in person, which was presented before the Grammys telecast, but is slated to be a performer during the show. She walked the red carpet in a black sheath gown from Vivienne Westwood, which included purple sparkle trim.
She’s nominated for six more Grammys on Sunday night including best new artist and album of the year.
___
3:39 p.m.
Foo Fighters have won three Grammys just days after the death of their drummer Taylor Hawkins.
The group won Grammys for best rock performance, best rock song, and best rock album.
No one from the band appeared to accept the award at the Sunday ceremony in Las Vegas.
Hawkins had been the band’s drummer for 25 years and was the best friend of Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl.
They had been scheduled to perform on the Grammys telecast. Producers say Hawkins will be honored during the ceremony.
Hawkins died at age 50 in Bogota, Colombia, where the band had been scheduled to play a music festival on March 25.
___
3:22 p.m.
Last week’s slap at the Oscars got some early laughs at the Grammys.
LeVar Burton, the host of the pre-show ceremonies Sunday, introduced comedian Nate Bargatze and told everyone they needed to stay in their seats.
“I need to warn everybody, the next presenter is a comedian,” Burton said. “I need to caution everybody, remain in your seats and keep your hands to yourselves.”
Bargatze came out with a comically oversized helmet just in case.
“They said comedians have to wear these now at award shows,” he joked. “It doesn’t even cover your face.”
The two were referencing the shocking moment at the Oscars broadcast when actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock. Grammy host Trevor Noah was also anticipated to touch on the controversy.
___
3:15 p.m.
Chick Corea and Vicente Fernandez have each won posthumous Grammys.
The jazz giant Corea, who died in February 2021, won two awards Sunday, for best-improvised jazz solo and best Latin jazz album with Eliane Elias and Chucho Valdés.
The Mexican singer, actor, and cultural icon Fernandez won the best regional Mexican music album for “A Mis 80s.”
Fernandez died in December at age 81.
Other posthumous Grammys are possible Sunday for Chris Cornell, who died five years ago and is nominated for best rock performance. And the Foo Fighters, who lost their drummer, Taylor Hawkins, just over a week ago are up for three Grammys.
___
2:35 p.m.
First the Oscar, now “Summer of Soul” has claimed Grammy glory.
The win for best music film Sunday came a week after “Summer of Soul’s” Oscar moment was upended by Will Smith’s slapping of Chris Rock. Director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson briefly nodded to the Oscars slap, saying the film has been on a journey from the Sundance Film Festival “until … last week,” he said, laughing.
Questlove instead focused his speech on the artists featured in the film, naming many of them.
While winners at the Grammys Premiere Ceremony, where more than 70 awards are handed out, are generally limited to 45 seconds and one speaker, the four winners for “Summer of Soul” were able to speak. (Mostly uninterrupted – the band started up after the second speaker, but quickly stopped.)
“Who’s having a better week than Questlove?” host LeVar Burton asked after the win. “Nobody!”
“Summer of Soul” tells the story of the mostly forgotten and unseen 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which featured performances by a young Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly, and the Family Stone, the 5th Dimension B.B. King, and many others.
2:34 p.m.
Joni Mitchell has won a Grammy and made a rare appearance on the awards show stage to accept it.
Mitchell won best historical album on Sunday afternoon for “Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963–1967).”
The 78-year-old Mitchell needed a cane and help from an escort to get to the podium but strutted and danced as she made her way up to accept her ninth career Grammy.
“Thanks to the academy for this nomination and this win, I didn’t expect this,” she said.
Along with her musical team, she thanked her physical therapist, whom she called “my angel.”
Mitchell had a brain aneurysm seven years ago that left her unable to speak or walk.
On Friday night, she was honored by the Recording Academy as the MusiCares person of the year, an award that honors a career of artistic achievement and philanthropy. John Legend, Brandi Carlile, and Jon Batiste played her songs in tribute to her.
___
1:45 p.m.
TJ Osborne has given an emotional speech at the Grammy Awards after winning an award with his brother for their song “Younger Me.”
Osborne, who came out as gay last year, fought back tears as he reflected on the moment and the support he’s received. He noted that “Younger Me” was written in response to his coming out. The song won best performance by a country duo or group Sunday afternoon.
“I never thought that I would be able to do music professionally because of my sexuality. And I certainly never thought I would be here on the stage accepting a Grammy after having done something I felt like was going to be life changing and potentially in a very negative way,” Osborne said.
“And here I am tonight, not only accepting this Grammy Award with my brother, which I love so much, but I’m here with a man that I love and he loves me back.
“I don’t know what I did be so lucky.”
Osborne performs with his brother John as the Brothers Osborne.
The Brothers Osborne win came moments after Chris Stapleton won the Grammy for best country solo performance for a record third time. He took the trophy Sunday for his single “You Should Probably Leave.” He also won the award in 2018 and 2016.
___
1 p.m.
A project that turned “Bridgerton” into a musical has won a Grammy Award.
Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow won the best musical theater Grammy on Sunday afternoon for “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical.”
They gleefully accepted the award, noting the project began a year ago by asking what “Bridgerton” would be like if it was a musical.
LeVar Burton presented them the honor during the Grammys Premiere Ceremony, where more than 70 awards are handed out.
Burton is doing double duty – he’s also nominated for best spoken word album.
___
3:45 a.m.
While John Legend was being honored for his musical achievements, the Grammy singer used the Recording Academy stage to pay homage to a Black music culture that shaped himself and the world.
Legend explained how Black music has set trends for worldwide listeners during the academy’s Black Music Collective event, held Saturday night in Las Vegas. He was honored with the Global Impact Award for his personal and professional achievements in the music industry. Like Legend, the event was filled with empowering messages that touched on the importance of recognizing Black music creators, and featured a slew of popular performances.
___
3 a.m.
Several performers such as Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Jon Batiste have a chance to carve their names in the Grammy history books Sunday.
Eilish could become the first artist ever to win record of the year three times in a row, and the only artist along with Paul Simon to take home the award three times.
She’s in position to join Adele as the only ones to win three major categories – record, song and album of the year – twice.
Trevor Noah returns for a second time to host the show, which airs live in Las Vegas on CBS and Paramount+ beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern.
READ ALSO:
