The Grammy 2022 was one of the most viewed awards nights throughout the world. Here are some of the key moments from the night.
Everyone remembers the Oscars 2022 incident from last weekend when actor Will Smith went on stage and slapped actor-comedian Chris Rock for having joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s medical condition. It became a talking point all over the world, and people have been putting out their opinions about the same. The Grammy Awards also did the same in a cheeky way with the host of the night, Trevor Noah, talking about the same in his opening monologue. “We're gonna be listening to some music, we're gonna be dancing, we're gonna be singing, we're gonna be keeping people's names out of our mouths and we're gonna be giving out awards all throughout the night," said Noah.
It happened at the Oscars that Lata Mangeshkar, Dilip Kumar and Bappi Lahiri were snubbed in the ‘In Memoriam’ section. But Indian across the globe were expecting to see at least Mangeshkar and Lahiri being mentioned at the Grammy. However, they were overlooked even here. The only Indian name to feature in the ‘In Memoriam’ section appeared to be Bhaskar Menon. However, Mangeshkar and Lahiri did get a mention on the Grammys’ website in the ‘In Memorium’ section, even if they were missing during the ceremony itself.
Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion came on stage to present the Grammy for best new artist and recreated a classic pop culture moment from 1998. Everyone would remember the famous altercation between Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion walked onto the Grammys stage wearing identical Donatella Versace gowns. Seeing this Stallion said, "You stole my look." Lipa went on to explain, "Well I was told I had the exclusive. I'm going to have to have a talk with Donatella." Adding to the fun of the moment, Donatella Versace herself rushed onto the stage. Not just that, she even took off the top skirt for both Lipa and Stallion. This was exactly what had happened back in 1998 with Carey and Houston at the MTV Video Music Awards. The audience were reminded of the incident, and they all burst into a laugh.
Jon Batiste was nominated for 11 Grammys which in itself is a huge landmark. It made him the most-nominated artist of this year’s Grammys. Even though he didn’t win all, he managed to win five of those, and that included album of the year, best American roots performance, best American roots song, best scoring soundtrack for visual media, and best music video. He went on to the stage to perform and demonstrated why he was nominated for so many Grammys with a vibrant and lively performance. His rendition of his massively hit song ‘Freedom’ got everyone up and dancing in their seats.
Among the performances and celebrations, there was a solemn moment when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came out via a video message and spoke to everyone present there and eventually to the entire world. He talked about the devastation caused by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. He told the people present there to ‘Fill the silence with your music’. He went on to add, 'What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people. Our musicians wear body armour instead of tuxedos. They sing to the wounded in hospitals -- even to those who can't hear them. But the music will break through anyway. We defend our freedom to live, to love, to sound. On our land, we are fighting Russia, which brings horrible silence with its bombs. The dead silence. Fill the silence with your music, fill it today to tell our story.' Following Zelenskyy's poignant address, John Legend joined the stage with Ukrainian artists Siuzanna Iglidan and Mika Newton to sing ‘Free’. The piece was produced as part of The Grammys' newly-announced collaboration with Global Citizen's ‘Stand Up For Ukraine’ fundraising drive.
Tony Benett’s family had revealed last year that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The 95-year old didn’t make an in-person appearance at the awards night but came on video to welcome on stage her good friend Lady Gaga, with whom he collaborated recently. Gaga went on to perform ‘Love For Sale’ and ‘Do I Love You’. Ahead of their performance for their album, ‘Love For Sale’, the two received the Grammy for the best traditional pop vocal album. While Gaga was singing the songs videos of her friendship with Bennett kept on being played in the background. While completing her performance, Gaga said, ‘I love you, Tony, we miss you’.
Doja Cat almost missed her big moment at the Grammys in 2022. It all happened because she had gone to the ladies' room, and it was right then when her name was called out. The rapper was in the restroom when she and SZA won the best pop duo/group performance for their song ‘Kiss Me More’. She dashed to the platform just in time and had her moment of life. So much so that she even broke down in tears while she took her prize.
SZA went on stage to collect the Grammy for Best pop duo/group along with Doja Cat, and everyone was surprised to see her on crutches. While she didn’t explain on stage what had happened, she, later on, revealed her injury while talking to reports. As per ENews, she said, "It's very funny because I fell out of bed right before it was time to like leave and get ready for this, like the day before. Everything awesome in my life has also come with something very random." However, what was interesting to see was that when SZA was going on stage to collect her award while trying to balance herself on crutches, she was helped by none other than Lady Gaga, who ran forward and helped her with her dress trail.
India's Falguni Shah went on to win the Best Children’s Music Album award at the Grammy 2022. Pakistan's Arooj Aftab lifted the Best Global Performance trophy. It was the first Grammy for both performers from the sub continent. Also, AR Rahman was seated in the audience, and he even shared a picture from the Grammy on his social media pages.
Host Trevor Noah opened up saying that the introduction for this year’s performances would not just come from him, but also from the team of the celebrity who was about to perform. This was the Grammy’s way of showing respect to the production managers, tour managers, support staff and other members of the crew who help get such huge events together, and are always behind the stage. Considering all their livelihoods had been put on hold because of the pandemic for the last two years, this was a gesture from the Grammys to pay a humble tribute to these people. The introductions that these managers and support staff gave of the celebrity were so heartfelt and genuine that it actually made everyone sitting there quite emotional.
‘Summer Of Soul’ producer Questlove came to stage at the Grammy 2022 to present an award for the Song of the Year – which went to ‘Leave The Door Open’ by Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak’s collaborative project Silk Sonic. Before presenting the award Questlove said, “I trust you people will stay 500 feet away from me.” This was a cheeky reference to last week’s slap gate incident at the Oscars 2022. When actor-comedian Chris Rock was slapped on stage by actor Will Smith, Rock had come on stage to give away the award for Best Documentary, which was won by Questlove’s ‘Summer Of Soul’. After the Will Smith slap, the entire Oscar auditorium went into a state of shock and that resulted in ‘Summer Of Soul’ not getting as much appreciation from the audience as it should have.