Music’s biggest award night has come to a close and Kiwi sensation Lorde and French robots Daft Punk are amongst the 2014 Grammy Awards top winners.
The 17-year-old Ella Yelich O’Connor has taken home two shiny new statues, winning for Best Solo Pop Performance and Song Of The Year alongside producer Joel Little for their smash hit Royals.
Lorde gave credit to her fellow nominees in her first acceptance speech, saying their vocal performances had all influenced her. Her second acceptance speech was a little more Kiwi, “thank you to everyone who let the song explode,” she said. “It’s been mental.” Lorde also delivered a stripped-back performance of the song early in the show.
Watch: Lorde Wins Best Pop solo Performance Grammy Awards 2014
http://youtu.be/9W0s9j7S3t4
R’n’b royalty Beyonce and husband Jay Z kicked off the awards at LA’s Staples centre with a steamy rendition of Drunk In Love. Queen Bey opened the evening on a spinning chair before being joined by her tuxedo-clad husband. Jay Z was up for nine Grammys and won for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Music Video.
Watch: Beyonce and Jay Z – Drunk In Love – 2014 Grammy Awards
http://youtu.be/gxzEXstBddY
Robotic frenchmen Daft Punk took out four awards including Record Of The Year and Best Pop Duo/ Group Performance alongside collaborators Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers.
The helmet-clad duo took to the stage, but as per usual their headgear prevented them from making any public remarks. Williams (and his hat) accepted the award on their behalf.
i win #GRAMMYs
— Pharrell's Hat (@Pharrellhat) January 27, 2014
The crew celebrated their win by taking the stage for Daft Punk’s first live performance of their Grammy-winning record Random Access Memories and their first live televised performance in six years. Dressed regally in head-to-toe white, the duo were joined by Pharrell, Rodgers and special guest Stevie Wonder.
Watch: Pharrell Williams ft. Stevie Wonder – Get Lucky Live at the Grammy Awards 2014
http://youtu.be/YmJTj1n6WDY
Dave Grohl accepted his second Grammy of the day, this time winning for Best Rock Song for Cut Me Some Slack with his collaborators Paul McCartney, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear. The song comes from the soundtrack of Grohl’s film Sound City: Real to Reel, which won earlier in the day for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.
Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons hit the stage for a rabble-rousing mashup performance of Imagine Dragons’ Radioactive, for which they won the Best Rock Performance Grammy, and Lamar’s m.A.A.d City, off of the rapper’s seven-times nominated Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.
Watch: Kendrick Lamar & Imagine Dragons – Radioactive & m.A.A.D. city – 2014 Grammy Awards
http://youtu.be/6qra1Sx3b6I
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis took three trophies before the televised show even begun. On top of their wins for Best Rap Album for The Heist and Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for Thrift Shop, the duo also picked up the televised show’s first award, winning Best New Artist.
The Grammy-winning rapper and producer were joined on stage by Mary Lambert, Trombone Shorty, Madonna, Queen Latifah and 34 couples for a stirring performance of their socially-conscious hit Same Love. While the artists sang the song, which advocates for same-sex rights, Queen Latifah officiated a mass wedding for the couples, whom the New York Times described as “gay, straight, old, young, of many races and many colours.”
Watch: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Mary Lambert, Madonna & Queen Latifah – Same Love – Grammys 2014
http://youtu.be/AfG8hPmIo0w
Metal legends Metallica joined Chinese classical pianist Lang Lang for a rendition of the band’s hit One from Metallica’s 1988 album …And Justice For All. It was the band’s first Grammy performance in 22 years.
“Lang Lang has interjected himself into the song in a way I don’t think anyone else has ever done in the course of our career. He’s going to be playing major parts of the song. He’s going to be playing through the melody,” guitarist Kirk Hammett told Rolling Stone before the performance.
Watch: Metallica & Lang Lang – One – Grammys 2014
Grohl finished of the night by taking the stage to perform as a part of a massive rock Supergroup, with Nine Inch Nails, Queens Of The Stone Age and Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, to close out the awards.
However, the interjection of TV scheduling logistics, which saw the show’s sponsors and closing credits begin to play midway through QOTSA’s performance of My God Is The Sun, enraged NIN frontman Trent Reznor, who angrily tweeted his disgust with the disrespect displayed.
Watch: Dave Grohl, Nine Inch Nails, Queens Of The Stone Age – Copy Of A/My God Is The Sun – 2014 Grammy Awards
http://youtu.be/GueWybj-s4s
First-time Australian nominees Tame Impala and Hiatus Kaiyote failed to win their respective categories. Tame Impala was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album for 2012’s Lonerism but lost to Vampire Weekend‘s Modern Vampires Of The City.
Nakamarra by Melbourne’s Hiatus Kaiyote was bested by Something by Snarky Puppy with Lalah Hathaway for Best R’n’B Performance. However the arbiters of future soul music did get a chance to show their stuff, performing at the ceremony’s pre-telecast show.
Check out the full list of 2014 Grammy Award nominees and winners here.
