Styles Steals The Show: 2023 Grammy Recap

A lot happened at the 65 annual Grammy Awards, but let’s look at the highlights.

Lauren Smith, Managing Editor|Feb 13, 2023

PHOTO | Cover: Illustration by: Lyanne Natividad; Photos: Getty Images

The 65 Annual Grammys centered around Beyoncé and Harry Styles.

The 65 Grammy Awards took place on Sun Feb. 5 and were full of performances by music’s top artists, record-breaking achievements, memorials and celebrations. The event was hosted by Trevor Noah at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles, CA. 

The night was kicked off with a performance by Bad Bunny with his songs “El Apagón” and “Después de la Playa” bringing Puerto Rican representation and rhythm to the stage. Later on he won Best Música Urbana Album for Un Verano Sin Ti and made history for the first Latin album to compete for Album of The Year.

The first award of the night was awarded to pop star Harry Styles who fittingly won Best Pop Vocal Album for his third solo album Harry’s House. 

All eyes were on Beyoncé who had nine nominations that night and made history by becoming the most awarded artist in Grammy history. She broke the record when she won her 32 Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album for her latest album- Renaissance. 


“Beyoncé is nominated for her album Renaissance, which by the way, was better than anything from the actual renaissance in my opinion,” Noah joked as he showed his love for the album.

But even “The Queen Bee ” herself couldn’t avoid L.A. traffic as she missed a previous award, but showed up fashionably late and gave a tearful speech dedicating her victory to her family, the queer community and her Uncle Johnny who inspired the album. 

History was made once again when Kim Petras and Sam Smith won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Unholy” as Petra became the first openly transgender woman to win this award. 

“Sam wanted me to accept this award because I’m the first transgender woman to win this award,” Petras said onstage, and earned a standing ovation from the crowd. “I just want to thank all of the incredible transgender legends who kicked the doors open.”

In addition to awards the show was full of not only performances, but tributes to artists we lost in the past year. Kacey Musgraves honored Loretta Lynn by singing “Coal Miner’s Daughter”. Sheryl Crow, Mick Fleetwood and Bonnie Raitt remembered Christine McVie with “Songbird” and Migos rapper Takeoff was honored by Quavo through “Without You”.  

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by K A C E Y (@spaceykacey)


Later in the night 50 years of hip hop was celebrated through a lengthy performance. Some of the numerous appearances from the biggest names in hip hop included: Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash, Rakim, Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, RUN-DMC, and Busta Rhymes. 

Song of The Year surprisingly went to 70s blues singer Bonnie Raitt for “Just Like That” which was inspired by the late country-folk singer John Prine.

Other highlights include Kendrick Lamar taking home the award for Best Rap Album for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, and Adele picking up the Best Pop Solo Performance for “Easy on Me.” 

Lizzo was shocked when she won record of the year for “About Damn Time.” Her speech reminded us even celebrities are obsessed with Beyoncé and was a close second to her earlier performance of “Special.” 

“Beyoncé, whoa! In the fifth grade I skipped school to see you [Beyoncé] perform,” Lizzo admitted. “You changed my life.” 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Lizzo (@lizzobeeating)


Not only were Lizzo and Adele having a good time at their table, but nearby Taylor Swift was enjoying dancing to each performance and although she didn’t win that night the “All Too Well: the short film” won Best Music Video ahead of the televised portion of the event.  

In addition to the shots of the crowd throughout the night, this year’s Grammys included mega fans of each of the artists nominated for Album of The Year in attendance. Their stories of why they believed their favorite artist should win were shared throughout the course of the show, and Styles’ 78 year old fan Reina read aloud his name as he won the award. 

“I’ve been so, so inspired by every artist in this category with me … I listen to everyone in this category when I’m alone,” Styles said in his acceptance speech.

Although it was a surprise to Styles himself and all those watching, Harry’s House seemed to have made its way into all of our homes this year like the rest of the music and musicians celebrated at this year’s Grammys.