2016 Grammy Awards Live Blog and Winners List

Taylor Swift opens the show. She’s already won TWO awards, for Best Pop Vocal Album and  Best Music Video for Bad Blood. She’s singing “Are We Out of the Woods.” She’s been on tour for months. She’s a pro working the stage at this point.

LL Cool J is hosting tonight’s  big show… Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift snuggling in the audience. LL tells us the people booked for the Grammys “sing for real.” O rly? Everybody? He name checks Adele, Lionel Richie, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga. Clips of great duets from past broadcasts flash on the screen. Gaga with Elton John. She’ll salute David Bowie tonight.  A performance from Hamilton will be broadcast live from New York City. Stephen Colbert will be helping out. And, he WON TWO GRAMMY’S. Make sure and get that right LL! Run DMC will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.

OJ Jackson Jr and Ice Cube will present Best Rap Album. Kendrick Lamar swept the rest of the rap awards earlier today. I expect he’ll take this one too.  And YEP he does. Kendrick’s To Pimp a Butterfly wins! He gives glory to God first, before he thanks everyone else.

Von Miller and Antoine Golden take the stage to introduce Carrie Underwood and Sam Hunt. The singers mash two songs together that have no business being mashed–Carrie’s romantic “Heartbeat” and Sam’s semi-rap abomination, “Take Your Time.” Carrie is a trouper.  Such a weird melding of songs. Carrie sounds pretty awesome and as always, she looks beautiful.  Sam is a pretty terrible singer. Carrie is slumming here, pretty much.

Ariana Grande introduces The Weeknd with bad puns. “He’s earned it!” At least she warns us about the corny pun ahead of time. The singer already won a couple of R&B awards earlier. Now, he takes the stage to sing the intro to “Can’t Feel My Face” as he saunters over to another stage where a string section and piano are playing to accompany his thin, reedy voice on “In The Night.”  So. He got a standing ovation for that, and I’m not sure why.

Selena Gomez introduces Andra Day and Ellie Goulding.  Andra is a newcomer, and she’s impressive singing “Rise Up.” Her “new friend” Ellie sings “Love Me Like You Do and Andra joins her.  Ellie sounds really nasally next to Andra. Again, this is another mashup that doesn’t quite work.

Country singer Cam and actor Gary Sinise are next.  He sends a special shout out to the military overseas, which is kind of his thing. The duo are here to hand out a Grammy for Best Country Album and it goes to Traveller by Chris Stapleton. No surprise there. He’s been on a major upward trajectory since November’s CMA awards.  He thanks Taylor Swift for glitter bombing him. Heh.

LL Cool J introduces James Corden from the Late Late Show.  Cause you need two people to introduce a big tribute to Lionel Richie, Musicares Person of the year. A SLEW of performers pitch in to perform, including John Legend who starts off with “Easy.”  Demi Lovato next with a dramatic rendition of “Hello.” Hm. I don’t really love this. Her adlibs and high notes are off tonight. Luke Bryan is next to add some country flavor.  He sings “Penny Lover.” I didn’t really like any of these songs back in the day. Not down with the Adult Contemporary stylings, to be honest.  Meghan Trainor sings “You are the Sun You Are the Rain.” Maybe my least favorite Lionel Richie song. Now Tyrese arrives to sing “Brickhouse.” Now we are getting somewhere. I dug the Commodores. Lionel himself takes the stage for the big finale “All Night Long.”

Ryan Seacrest is on stage to talk about the music educators award. He acknowledges the teacher who won in the audience. Next, he introduces “Girl Crush” and Little Big Town. The song has already won Best Country Group/Duo Performance and Best Country Song of the Year. The group begins acapella and sing with backing strings. Well, this is a different way to approach the song. The arrangement is too fussy, but the vocals are spectacular.

Stevie Wonder and Pentatonix are center stage.  “My new friends Pentatonic,” Stevie says. Hm.  They sing “That’s the Way of the World” in tribute to Maurice White, the founder of Earth Wind and Fire who died recently.

After that lovely performance, they introduce the nominees for Song of the Year.  Stevie’s got the envelope. And he’s trying to open it. He does manage, and it’s in Braille. He brags that nobody else can read it. “Nah nah nah nah nah you can’t read it!” he snarks, doing what sounds like a Cartman impression. Heh. Then, he launches into a little speech about the importance of inclusiveness and accessibility for everyone.

Ohhhh. Ed Sheeran‘s “Thinking Out Loud” beats out his bestie Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space.”  She looks all happy for him. Hugging and surprise face! He talks about dragging his parents across the pond every year for the Grammys and when he loses he says, “MAYBE NEXT YEAR!” He’s honored to have received an award from Stevie.

We waste no time. The tribute to Glenn Frey is next. Gah. SO MANY DEAD PEOPLE THIS YEAR. Grammy could spend the whole telecast honoring dead people. Jackson Browne and the Eagles sing “Take it Easy,” a song Jackson wrote with Glenn years ago.  Hm. Jackson is having a little trouble remembering the words to his own song. Still it’s a sweet tribute.

RIHANNA HAS CANCELLED HER PERFORMANCE. Due to “health concerns” apparently. Her doc put her on 48 hour vocal rest due to hemorrhaging.

Anna Kendrick introduces Tori Kelly and James Bay to MAKE A GRAMMY MOMENT TOGETHER.  First, it’s “Let it Go” by James Bay. Tori introduces her song “Hollow.” They both strum guitars  Now, if we could just ditch James Bay.  He’s not contributing much to this duet. He comes a little alive at the end. She’s such a better singer, though.

Cut to New York City. Stephen Colbert introduces the cast of Hamilton. Talk about winning all the awards. Just wait until the Tonys.  Watch the show clean up in June. Try and get a ticket to Hamilton right now. Ya can’t. Plus. All the kids love it. It’s the story of Alexander Hamilton told in hip hop rhymes and cast with people of color. It’s pretty amazing. Lin-Manuel Miranda (In The Heights) created and stars in the production.

Don Cheadle introduces the incomparable Kendrick Lamar.  “I’m Blacker Than a Berry” raps Kendrick with his hands chained in prison garb.  A black light turns the drab clothing into colorful African patterns and now we’re across the sea in front of a bonfire and tribal dancing. Wow. This is intense and moving. The performance ends in a cacophony with Kendrick standing in front of a map of Africa with “Compton” imposed in the middle.

Seth MacFarlane presents Best Musical Theater Album to….WHO ARE WE KIDDING. Of course it’s Hamilton. “No surprise here,” says Seth, “Hamilton!” Stephen presents the entire cast with their award. Lin-Manuel raps his thank you. Of course!

Here’s Gwen Stefani’s “Live” Music Video for “Make Me Like You.” When will Blake Shelton pop in?  She dances her way from set to set, ending up in roller skates. and finally a big red dress on a platform. It’s an ad for Target.

Miguel is next singing Michael Jackson’s  “She’s Out of My Life.”  It’s by way to introduce Michael Warren, who played piano on the track. I’m not sure what the point of that was. More dead people? The singer presents Best Rock Performance to Alabama Shakes.  They’ve swept the rock categories, and you could argue they aren’t really rock in the purest sense. So. But they are pretty great.

Bruno Mars!  He introduces the QUEEN ADELE. He co-wrote the song she’ll perform, “All I Ask.”  UGH THE SOUND IS FLAKING OUT.  Thankfully, it’s fixed quickly so we can hear the singer’s glorious voice.  Adele is pouring on the emotion tonight. “I love you Kendrick,” she shouts, “You’re amazing!” Well. Yeah!

Kaley Cuoco  introduces Justin Bieber (First time Grammy winner for Best Dance Song!) , Skrillex and Diplo to sing “Love Yourself”  the Biebs is all singer/songwritery, accompanying himself on guitar for the first song.  The full electronic band kicks in on “Where are U Now.”  Strings for this one too. Those players have been kept busy tonight. YOU get a string section and YOU get a string section. EVERYBODY GETS A STRING SECTION. Justin engages in some “special” dancing. (I’m mocking, but actually, this is pretty good. The second half of the song. The first acoustic half uncovers all the weaknesses in his vocal.)

Sam Smith presents Best New Artist.  He won last year. And the Grammy goes to Meghan Trainor. HOW IS SHE EVEN NEW? She’s been around for a couple years and been nominated for other awards. And she sucks. Like a novelty act. She cries her way through her speech. Without tears. “I’m a mess” she says. Twice.

Ed Sheeran introduces Lady Gaga and her David Bowie tribute.  The singer cycles through a slew of his greatest songs and looks. Nile Rodgers joins her onstage for “Let’s Dance.”  With her flame red hair and spangled 70’s jumpsuit, she’s channelling Bowie hard. She’s making me wish he was here! I mean that in a good way. Great tribute.

Bonnie Raitt! YASSS. She introduces Ruth Brown as a lifetime achievement award winner ahead of introducing Chris Stapleton and Gary Clark Jr. performing a BB King tribute. Ooo. Bonnie joins them on guitar. YAAAASSSSS. She’s singing too. So good!

Brittany Howard was a mail carrier for the postal service. Wow. Who knew? The band Alabama Shakes takes the stage to perform “Don’t Wanna Fight.” Powerhouse blue singer.

Before Dave Grohl introduces vanity band, Hollywood Vampires with Johnny Depp, Joe Perry and Alice Cooper, he says a few words of tribute for another legend who died this year, Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. Whee! headbands on the sunset strip.  They launch into “Ace Of Spades” for a little Lemmy tribute. I’m not really a metal fan, but this is a good song. Pre-punk.

Common and Grammy president, Neil Portnow take the stage to jabber about the state of the music business before introducing the freakishly gifted 12 year old jazz virtuoso, Joey Alexander. He was nominated for two Grammys. He didn’t win. But I’d say he has plenty of time ahead to win awards. Hopefully, he won’t burn out.

Time for In Memoriam As if the entire show hasn’t been one long In Memoriam. I feel pummelled by tributes.

Earth Wind and Fire are on stage to accept a lifetime achievement award. They present Album of the Year to Taylor Swift.  She wins her third Grammy of the night. SURPRISE. She’s the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice. She gives young women a pep talk. Don’t let people sidetrack you! Or take credit for your accomplishments! MAJOR KANYE WEST SHADE. That truce was short lived. She got to accept an award at the main show, or she probably would have pouted.

Beyonce presents Record of the Year to Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson for “Uptown Funk.” I’d say that’s about right.

Pitbull won his first Grammy today? He’s never won before? Anywho. These award show producers can’t think of anyone else when adding Latin flavor to the production. Robin Thicke. Travis Barker and Joe Perry join in to perform with him and Sofia Vergara. What a mess. And the credits roll.

2016 Grammy Winners

Best New Artist

Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor – WINNER

Record of the Year

D’Angelo and the Vanguard – “Really Love”
Mark Ronson feat Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk” – WINNER
Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel my Face”

Song of the Year

Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams (Kendrick Lamar) – “Alright”
Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift (Taylor Swift) – “Blank Space”
Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, & Liz Rose (Little Big Town) – “Girl Crush”
Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth & Cameron Thomaz (Wiz Khalifa feat Charlie Puth) – “See You Again”
Ed Sheeran & Amy Wedge – Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud” – WINNER

Album of the Year

Alabama Shakes – Sound and Color
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly
Chris Stapleton – Traveller
Taylor Swift – 1989 – WINNER
The Weeknd – Beauty Behind the Madness

BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE

Don’t Wanna Fight – Alabama Shakes – WINNER
What Kind Of Man – Florence + The Machine
Something From Nothing – Foo Fighters
Ex’s & Oh’s – Elle King
Moaning Lisa Smile – Wolf Alice

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM

Montevallo – Sam Hunt
Pain Killer – Little Big Town
The Blade – Ashley Monroe
Pageant Material – Kacey Musgraves
Traveller – Chris Stapleton – WINNER

BEST RAP ALBUM

2014 Forest Hills Drive – J. Cole
Compton – Dr. Dre
If You’re Reading This Its Too Late – Drake
To Pimp A Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar – WINNER
The Pinkprint – Nicki Minaj

BEST MUSICAL THEATER ALBUM

An American In Paris
Fun Home
Hamilton – WINNER
The King And I
Something Rotten!