“Music’s biggest night” is what all the tabloids are talking about. Almost every popular American artist is either nominated or attending the Grammys. The 68th annual Grammys was held in Los Angeles, California, this year at the Crypto.com arena. Comedian Trevor Noah hosted this high-profile event for his sixth time. With performers such as Lady Gaga, Olivia Dean, Sombr, Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and more huge music names, this event was no little of extraordinary. The night held historical wins, nominees, performances from lots of big music names, speeches, and many speaking out about what is happening in America at this point in time.
Bad Bunny’s album, DeBI TiRAR MaS FOToS, was the first to win album of the year as a Spanish-language album. When Harry Styles presented the album of the year award to Bad Bunny, there was not a dry eye in the room. As everyone stood up and the room exploded with scattered applause, Bad Bunny, sitting alone, put his head in his hands. It was a tear-jerking moment right before he went up on stage to make his acceptance speech.
In Spanish, Bad Bunny said, “Puerto Rico, believe me when I tell you we are much bigger than [this]. Thank you to God, thank you to the Academy, thank you to all the people who have believed in me throughout my career, to all the people who worked on this album, thank you mom for giving birth to me in Puerto Rico. I love you.” Bad Bunny then switched to English and said, “I want to dedicate this award to all the people who had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams.”
EHS student, Jonny Vasquez (28), said, “To me, it feels really good knowing that the whole Grammys thing and the Super Bowl halftime show really goes to show how powerful music in any genre can be. Really, it shows how it brings people together no matter the opinion, or anything for a matter of fact. It really goes to show what music means for the people, let alone the world.”
While Bad Bunny was the main focus of the night, there were also a large amount of other amazing winners and nominees, such as Olivia Dean winning best new artist, Billie Elish’s song, Wildflower, winning song of the year, Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s song, luther, winning record of the year, and so much more. While their acceptance speeches were overflowing with emotion, the speech was also filled with anger, disbelief, and objections.
EHS student Josie Baessler (28) said, “It’s honestly really sad to see the Grammys turn so political. I remember I loved watching it a few years ago or even when I was a bit younger because I saw all of the great performers that were popular at that time and stuff.”
ICE, U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement, has been an immense topic at this point in American history, especially with celebrities. While all of the Grammy attendees were flaunting their wardrobe on the red carpet, they were also representing an “ICE OUT” pin on their clothing. Almost all of the speeches were infused with speaking out against ICE and the government. Billie Eilish said, “No one is illegal on stolen land” during her speech. Olivia Dean also said, “I’m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant. I’m a product of bravery, and I think those people deserve to be celebrated.”
Most of the winners that went up used their name and a microphone to speak out against the political state of the American country right now. While many opinions differ about both politics and awards/music, everyone loves to get together for one night to share the one thing that brings them all together: Music.
