The night was filled with excellent performances, too: Brandi Carlile’s stirring rendition of "Broken Horses”; Steve Lacy’s magnetic performance of “Bad Habit,” featuring Thundercat on bass. The show’s “In Memoriam'' segment, honoring musicians and industry professionals who died in the last year, was made especially moving by personal connections among artists, like the elegy the late rapper Takeoff received from his uncle and Migos groupmate Quavo, and the memorial to Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie by Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt and Mick Fleetwood. But the real standout performance was the star-studded tribute to the history of hip-hop organized by Questlove. The set honored the genre’s 50th anniversary this year and featured landmark songs from across its history, with performances from Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Salt-N-Pepa, Ice-T, Queen Latifah, De La Soul, GloRilla, Lil Uzi Vert and many more. “Every few seconds seemed to bring someone new, but the set never felt enervating or unnecessarily chaotic,” my colleague Stephen Thompson wrote. “There were quibbles — it could have showcased more Southern sounds, Lil' Kim was in the building but didn't perform, and so on — but the result was just glorious.” (Stephen detailed his thoughts on the night — including his take on Lizzo’s big win and the Academy’s curious relationship with country music — in a list of 10 major takeaways.)
If you’re craving a deeper dive into music’s so-called Biggest Night, reporter Anastasia Tsioulcas and editor Hazel Cills have all the details. Plus, you can hear more analysis of last night’s events on today’s episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour, where Stephen was joined by Anastasia and critic Kiana Fitzgerald. And though just a handful of awards were handed out on the telecast, tons more were given out to artists including Rosalía, Robert Glasper and Wet Leg in a ceremony earlier in the afternoon; we’ve got the full list of winners on our site. |
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