Entering its sixtieth year, the 2018 Grammys, the awards that honor the music industry, was full of big winners such as Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar and also controversy regarding some awards that were won.

Generally speaking, Bruno Mars ended up winning awards for Album of the Year (24K Magic), Record of the Year, Song of the Year (That’s What I Like), and Best Engineered Album (24K Magic). Kendrick Lamar won awards for the Best Music Video (HUMBLE), Best Rap Performance (HUMBLE), Best Rap/Sung Performance (LOYALTY), Best Rap Song (HUMBLE), and Best Rap Album (DAMN). The Best Spoken Word Album went to the late Carrie Fisher for her latest book, The Princess Diarist. Regarding the Musical Theater and Visual Media, a Benet favorite, Dear Evan Hansen took home the Best Musical Theater Album, La La Land took home both awards for Best Compilation Soundtrack and Best Score Soundtrack, and Disney’s Moana received the award for Best Song Written for “How Far I’ll Go” written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and sung by Auli’i Cravalho. The award for Best New Artist ended up going to Alessia Cara. Halifax native, Ed Sheeran, ended up winning big in the Pop Categories, taking home Best Solo Performance (Shape of You) and Best Vocal Album (Divide). Though he won big, there was, however, some controversy over Sheeran’s win; while he was not at the event to accept his awards, he received backlash over his win for Best Solo Performance. Many believed the award should have gone to Kesha for her song “Praying” which was performed during the ceremony.
Speaking of performances, the Irish phenomenon, U2, got political and performed their song “Get Out of Your Own Way” from their newest album, Songs of Experience, on the Hudson Bay. They were introduced by Camila Cabello who talked about the DACA and Dreamers. Singing Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven”, Eric Church, Maren Morris, and Brothers Osborne paid tribute to the victims of the Las Vegas massacre; the performance was emotional, especially with the names of the victims being portrayed on the screen behind the performers. One of the performances that was talked about the most was Kesha’s “Praying”. Her performance was supported by Camila Cabello, Cyndi Lauper, and Andra Day who all enforced the righteousness and power that came from both Kesha’s voice but also her lyrics.

Though some amazing songs, albums, and artists were a little too late in regards to meeting the deadline for the sixtieth Grammys, there is no doubt there will be some amazing performances and wins for the sixty-first awards.