From Queen Bey breaking Grammy records to Viola Davis securing an EGOT and gaming finally getting the spotlight, here are some notable career milestones at this year’s awards ceremony.
A view inside the 65th Grammy Awards Celebration at Los Angeles Convention Center on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Picture: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images for The Recording Academy/AFP
LOS ANGELES – Pop queen Beyoncé on Sunday reigned supreme at the Grammys, breaking the all-time record for wins with her 32nd prize and fourth of the night.
QUEEN BEY WINS BIG
Beyoncé entered the ceremony with the most chances at Grammy gold with nine, following the release of Renaissance, her rich, sprawling ode to club music.
She clinched the all-time Grammy record by winning the prize for Best Dance/Electronic Music Album for her smash Renaissance, thus surpassing the late classical conductor Georg Solti, who had 31 awards.
“I’m trying not to be too emotional. And I’m trying to just receive this night,” Queen Bey said, wearing a shimmering, curve-hugging gown, her hair in mermaid waves as her peers witnessed the history-making moment.
Beyoncé accepts the Best Dance/Electronic Music Album award for ‘Renaissance’ onstage during the 65th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California. Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy/AFP
The Grammys’ winningest artist still remains on the outside looking in at the top prizes: Beyoncé has never won Album or Record of the Year, which this time around went to Lizzo for About Damn Time.
She only scored Song of the Year once, for 2008’s Single Ladies. This year, folk, rock and blues singer Bonnie Raitt scooped up that honor.
Beyoncé was nevertheless the top winner on Sunday with her four gramophones.
Beyoncé accepts Best Dance/Electronic Music Album for ‘Renaissance’ onstage during the 65th Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Picture: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy/AFP
VIOLA DAVIS CLINCHES AN EGOT
Actor Viola Davis on Sunday joined the rare firmament of showbiz luminaries to have won competitive Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards – the so-called EGOT – after taking home the gramophone for best audio book, narration and storytelling.
The 57-year-old Davis earned the Grammy for voicing the audio version of her best-selling 2022 memoir Finding Me.
“I wrote this book to honor the six-year-old Viola,” she said at the pre-telecast ceremony in Los Angeles.
“To honor her life, her joy, her trauma, everything. And, it has just been such a journey – I just EGOT!”
Viola Davis speaks onstage during the 65th Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Picture: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy/AFP
Viola Davis celebrates the Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling award for ‘Finding Me’ during the 65th Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Picture: Leon Bennett/Getty Images for The Recording Academy/AFP
Davis bested a rather formidable field: comedian Mel Brooks, who already has an EGOT; composer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is an Oscar away; and actor Jamie Foxx and musician Questlove, who are both Oscar and Grammy winners.
Davis won an Oscar in 2017 for best supporting actress for _Fences _opposite Denzel Washington, and a Tony – her second – for the same role in August Wilson’s play in 2010.
She won an Emmy for best actress in a drama for How to Get Away with Murder in 2015.
Davis is the 18th person to achieve the feat.
GAMING GETS RECOGNISED
Assassin’s Creed composer Stephanie Economou won the first ever Grammy honoring video game scores at Sunday’s gala in Los Angeles.
Industry players had lobbied for years for a prize celebrating the work behind video game soundtracks, an acknowledgment of the major impact gaming and its music have on pop culture.
in her acceptance speech, Economou – who composed the music for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn Of Ragnarok – praised those who had urged the Recording Academy to finally include the category.
Backstage, she said the win felt “incredible.”
Stephanie Economou accepts the Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media award for ‘Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök’ during the 65th Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony on February 05, 2023 in California. Picture: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images/AFP
“I did not have high hopes for this category because… I am generally very green in the video game music space and up against such giants and veterans,” she said.
Economou noted that she was the only woman nominated in the category, saying: “I hope it sets precedent and I hope it’s not just one woman in the category each year from here on out.”
Before this year, video games were included in the Score Soundtrack for Visual Media category, which also featured music for film and television.
But many industry players saw that as comparing apples and oranges, pushing for a standalone video game category they’ve finally achieved.
The new category “is an important step for people to recognise that video games have been in the zeitgeist for so long now.”
‘BAYETHE’ GETS THE NOD
Three South African artists came out tops at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, winning best global music performance for their song, Bayethe.
Nomcebo Zikode, Zakes Bantwini, and Wouter Kellerman took to the podium, each with a special thank you message.
The local artists beat out stiff competition from Nigeria’s Burna Boy, among others.
Wouter Kellerman accepts the Best Global Music Performance award for ‘Bayethe’ onstage during the 65th Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Picture: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images for The Recording Academy/AFP
Zikode, well-known as the singer in the hit-song, Jerusalema, thanked the audience.
“Thank you so much to God. You know, I once gave the world a song that took the world by a storm… but I didn’t get this nomination or this award, but God was saying to me, ‘don’t worry, my daughter, I’ll give you Bayethe‘.”
Bantwini said that winning an award at a prestigious ceremony like the Grammys showed that anything was possible.
“This moment, right here, for anybody that’s in Africa, just proves and affirms that every dream is valid, and I want to say thank you very much to the Academy and to each and every one; and for every child in a ghetto, in a village: just know it’s possible.”
Kellerman, known for his skill with a flute, thanked fans for their support.
“Thank you, so much. This is such a beautiful moment on the road to sharing South African music and culture with the world. Thank you Nomcebo, thank you Zakes for the incredible creativity.”
Wouter Kellerman, Nomcebo Zikode, and Zakes Bantwini, winners of the Best Global Music Performance award for ‘Bayethe’, pose in the press room during the 65th Grammy Awards on February 5, 2023 in California. Picture: Leon Bennett/Getty Images for The Recording Academy/AFP
50 YEARS OF HIP HOP
In probably the most electric moment of the night, a parade of stars from the world of hip-hop – from Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC to Method Man, Queen Latifah, Missy Elliot and LL Cool J – got the audience up on their feet to mark the upcoming 50th anniversary of the genre, seen as born in the Bronx in 1973.
The rapid-fire medley of hits across the decades – Nelly offered a few bars of Hot in Herre, Lil Uzi Vert closed the tribute with a bit of his Just Wanna Rock – had Jay-Z cheering from his seat.
Queen Latifah performs onstage during the 65th Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy/AFP
Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash, and GloRilla peform onstage during the 65th Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy/AFP
Missy Elliott performs onstage during the 65th Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Picture: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images/AFP
The Recording Academy has long been criticised for failing to honor hip-hop artists in the main Grammy categories, and for being behind the times in terms of acknowledging hip-hop’s overall influence in music. The all-star performance certainly went some distance in putting the genre front and center, at last.
50 years of hip hop being commemorated at the 65th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California on February 5, 2023. Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy/AFP
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