Something felt off throughout the night at the Grammy Awards. The entire broadcast kind of dragged in a weird way. The show felt a little messy. But all in all, the performances were not at all terrible. There were actually a good amount of performances that were pretty solid.
Here we give you a list of all the performances from the 62nd Grammy Awards ranked from best to worst.
1. Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato made her anticipated return to music last night with an unbelievable moving performance of her new single ‘Anyone.’ Her undeniably outstanding vocals are not the only reason why this was the best moment of the night. Given the nature of the situation, the emotions that it brought to this performance made it great. We’re so happy she was brave enough to share her story. We are so happy Demi is back.
2. Gary Clark Jr.
Gary Clark Jr. is a regular at the award show. Last night, he performed a fiery performance of his award-winning single ‘This Land’ with a little bit of help from The Roots. He is a rarity in today’s world. His impeccable musical talent keeps you hooked throughout the whole entire thing. What a great musician, what a great performance.
3. Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish showed why she won all the big four categories last night during her performance. Joined by her best friend, collaborator, and brother Finneas, the singer belted out the spine-tingling ‘when the party’s over.’ The way she manages to carry the notes is soothing and chilling at best. Simple is more, and this haunting ballad definitely nailed it. Beautiful job.
4. Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande celebrated her album thank u, next with a medley that only a star of her caliber can deliver. There was everything you could expect from her: she started off with her stunning voice on ‘Imagine,’ before showing her cool-ass stylings on ‘7 rings,’ and appropriately doing her hit single ‘thank u, next.’ The whole putting the engagement ring away towards the end of the performance was one of the best symbolisms in a performance we’ve seen in a long time.
5. Nipsey Hussle Tribute
DJ Khaled, Kirk Franklin, John Legend, Meek Mill, Roddy Ricch, and YG did the man justice. They performed DJ Khaled’s song ‘Higher’ which features John Legend and Nipsey Hussle. It was probably the most inspiring moment of the entire night. From a rather somber night, this lit up the room in a much needed way. At the end, images of Nipsey Hussle and Kobe Bryant were projected on to the screen behind the performances. Loved it!
6. Prince Tribute
Usher performed the best Prince tribute we’ve seen since his passing last night. He was joined by long-time Prince collaborator Sheila E. for the legendary songs ‘Little Red Corvette,’ ‘When Doves Cry,’ and ‘Kiss.’ FKA Twigs was also part of the tribute, but she did a dance routine on a pole rather than provide vocals. The only thing we are trying to figure out is why we are still doing Prince tributes. It was good nonetheless.
7. Camila Cabello
Camila Cabello has been in a very bad place press-wise. Old tweets from the singer reveals a racist past, or at least racist comments. She has been making very calculated moves. A lot of people did not buy her apology. Last night, she did a performance honoring her father. She serenaded him to her new song ‘First Man.’ Both were tearing up. It was a charming moment. Some people thought she was doing this for redemption; to show a ‘better side of her.’ We’re not too sure if she was trying to do that. Regardless, she delivered. And thankfully, we didn’t get a ‘Senorita’ duet with Shawn Mendes for the 5823402th time.
8. ROSALIA
Spanish goddess Rosalia performed her new song ‘Juro Que’ live for the first time last night. The signature subtle vocals and blissful yet fierce flamenco dancing were everything you wanted and more from the singer. She also did her hit ‘Malamente.’ It wasn’t anything too special out of a regular Rosalia performance. The placement of her set towards the end of a long, messy show gave it a bigger boost. She’s something else. It’s safe to say that a lot more greatness is coming from her in the future.
9. Lizzo
Lizzo opened up the show with the words ‘tonight is for Kobe.’ She did a litte bit of her song ‘Cuz I Love You’ before turning up to her massive ‘Truth Hurts.’ Having her open the show gave you the impression that we were in for a good night. Unfortunately that didn’t end up happening. Good thing she did her thing and did it well.
10. Tanya Tucker
Tanya Tucker was first nominated for a Grammy in 1972. Fourteen nominations later, she won her first two awards last night. Appropriately, she performed her Grammy award-winning song ‘Bring My Flowers Now’ with the lovely Brandi Carlile. It was a triumphant night for the legendary country singer. Congratulations to her!
11. Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys was joined by the lovely and talented Brittany Howard for the first performance ever of ‘Underdog.’ This inspirational song from Alicia’s upcoming album made for a beautiful performance. There’s something about Alicia that just makes everything feel better. She really does that. Last year, her hosting was all over the place. We never thought they’d bring her back. This year she did a great job especially given the circumstances of the day. And her performance, exemplary. That’s what a veteran who knows what she is doing does.
12. Lil Nas X
Last night our worst nightmare became a reality: a performance from Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus, BTS, Mason Ramsey, Diplo, and Nas. Insanity. This is the turning point of our list. Things really get either out of hand or dull from here on out. In some ways, this performance was good. It was an interesting celebration of ‘Old Town Road,’ which we hope we never have to listen to again for a very long time. It had some good moments. It was cool seeing everyone. It just felt never-ending with a pinch of cringe!
13. Jonas Brothers
Look, we love the Jonas Brothers. They had one incredible year. We were really rooting for them to take home their first ever Grammy for ‘Sucker’ last night. At the end of the day, being completely honest, it’s a much better song than ‘Old Town Road.’ But we digress. Their performance last night felt too obvious, too normal. Something didn’t click. They looked great. They sounded good. It was just better to watch their wives enjoying their performance than watching the performance itself. Just an average JoBros performance.
14. Aerosmith & Run-DMC
In a perfect world, this would have been way up higher in the list. We’re suckers for legacy acts doing legacy things. Legends are legends. Aerosmith and Run-DMC are legends. ‘Walk This Way’ is one of the greatest songs of all time. It was just the messiest performance of the entire night. It didn’t feel as exciting and special as it was meant to be. It’s such a shame because this deserved to feel like a bigger Grammy moment.
15. Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton
Gwen and Blake are a cuter couple than Camila and Shawn. Their song ‘Nobody But You’ is actually very decent. The performance was very much a little love letter between each other. It just didn’t click. It felt like they were doing it for themselves – which is great! Good for them. But it just didn’t do it for us. Maybe try again at a country award show. It might stand out way more. We still love them though! (p.s. what was Gwen wearing? goodness.)
16. Tyler, The Creator
We are going to get hate for this, but whatever. Tyler, The Creator did put out a great hip-hop album. Igor is great. It deserved the Best Rap Album win last night. Good for him. But his performance was a total bore. Ever since Kendrick Lamar absolutely killed two years in a row, everytime people see a hip-hop act with a huge production they lose their shit. Tyler is no Kendrick. Tyler’s performance was actually pretty awful. He didn’t’ do his album justice with the live act despite even starting things off with Boyz II Men. Sorry not sorry.
17. Bonnie Raitt
Since it was technically a performance, we put it here. She did like a minute of a song to honor the great John Prine. That’s it. That’s the tweet.
18. Ken Ehrlich
This was the most unnecessary BS ever seen on a Grammy stage. Not offense to the performers or to Ken (a lot of people love him, BUT). It was already the show’s end-time, and they do a 7-minute performance to tribute the executive producer? Rude. People were tired. Two of the biggest awards of the night had yet to be given out. You don’t tribute the exec. producer and just give out nine awards in the entire broadcast. What a waste of time. It also felt like a big old fuck you to Ariana Grande. If you remember last year, she got into it with Ken. He refused to let her perform ‘7 rings.’ She pulled out of the broadcast. This year, they do this. They put the camera on Ariana, who smirks obviously. Then, they do the two biggest awards she was nominated for and give them to someone else. It was all kind of fishy. The tribute on its own completely useless. We didn’t need that. Period.
