LOS ANGELES — The GRAMMY Awards returned to the STAPLES Center in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday night. The 2019 telecast was hosted by Alicia Keys and it aired live on CBS from coast-to-coast.
This year’s biggest winners on “Music’s Biggest Night” included Lady Gaga, Kacey Musgraves and Childish Gambino.
Lady Gaga won Best Pop Solo Performance for the song “Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?)”. She also picked up the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Shallow”, the song she sang with Bradley Cooper in the motion picture “A Star is Born.” Cooper wasn’t able to make it because he was at the British Film Awards, which was held on the same night in the United Kingdom.
“Bradley, I loved singing this song with you,” Lady Gaga told the crowd during her acceptance speech. “I’m so proud to be part of a movie that addresses mental health issues. A lot of artists deal with that. We’ve got to take care of each other. If you see somebody that’s hurting, don’t look away. If you’re hurting, even though it might be hard, try to find that bravery within yourself to dive deep and go tell somebody. Take them up in your head with you.”
Meanwhile, country music star Kacey Musgraves won the coveted Album of the Year trophy for “Golden Hour.” She also won Best Country Album, Best Country Song (“Space Cowboy”) and Best Country Solo Performance (“Butterflies”).
“It was unbelievable to be in a category with such gigantic albums,” Musgraves said. “It’s really crazy…but I’m very thankful. I know that winning this doesn’t make my album any better than anybody else in that category. Life is pretty tumultuous right now for all of us. I feel like because of that art is really thriving. It’s been really beautiful to see that. Thank you for championing mine.”
Frankenmuth, Mich.-based Greta Van Fleet won the Best Rock Album trophy for their EP “From The Fires.” Their award was presented during a pre-telecast ceremony. The group recently performed two songs on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” a few weeks back.
Detroit’s own Aretha Franklin was remembered during the In Memoriam segment. Her image was shown on the screen and the crowd cheered. Then, Yolanda Adams, Fantasia, and Andra Day teamed up to sing her 1967 hit song “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”
The late Chris Cornell was honored posthumously for Best Rock Performance for his song “When Bad Does Good.” Cornell struggled with depression for much of his life. He was found dead his Detroit hotel room early on the morning of May 18, 2017, after performing at a Soundgarden concert an hour earlier at the Fox Theater.
Actor-Musician Donald Glover, who goes by the name Childish Gambino, picked up the Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Music Video trophies for “This is America.” However, he wasn’t at the ceremony to accept those awards.
Other winners included:
- Best New Artist: Dua Lipa
- Best Pop Album: Ariana Grande for “Sweetener”
- Best Alternative Album: Beck for “Colors”
- Best R&B Album: H.E.R. for “H.E.R.”
- Best Rap Album: Cardi B for “Invasion of Privacy”
- Best Gospel Album: Tori Kelly for “Hiding Place”
- Best Americana Album: Brandi Carlile for “By The Way, I Forgive You”
View the complete list of winners from the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards at: https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/61st-annual-grammy-awards.