Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift and Alabama Shakes were the big winners at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Monday night.
The rapper was an early triple winner, picking up Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for Alright and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for These Walls at the pre-awards prizegiving, and he then claimed Best Rap Album honors for To Pimp A Butterfly, while Brittany Howard’s acclaimed group landed the Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song gongs for Don’t Wanna Fight, and the Best Alternative Music Album award for Sound & Color.
The album was also named Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
Meanwhile, Taylor picked up two early awards in the pre-Grammys ceremony and then had to wait until the end of the night to claim a third for Album of the Year, becoming the first woman to win the honor twice – a fact that was not lost on the singer, who said, “I want to say to all the young women out there, there are gonna be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame, but if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going you’ll look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there, and that will be the greatest feeling in the world. Thank you for this moment.”
All three acts stunned with performances at the Staples Center, but the 2016 Grammys will be remembered for its tributes to musicians who have passed away over the course of the year, as the Eagles and Jackson Browne remembered Glenn Frey; Stevie Wonder and Pentatonix teamed up at the last minute to honor Earth, Wind & Fire’s Maurice White; Gary Clark, Jr, Bonnie Raitt and Chris Stapleton paid tribute to blues great B.B. King, and Johnny Depp and Alice Cooper’s supergroup The Hollywood Vampires saluted Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister.
But it was Lady Gaga who stole the show with a stunning tribute to David Bowie, performing a medley of the late rock icon’s hits, including Let’s Dance, Suffragette City and Heroes, while reminding fans of the Brit’s many-changing looks.
Hitting the Staples Center stage with red hair and a Bowie-esque outfit, she joined the rocker’s one-time collaborator Nile Rodgers for a high-energy salute.
Elsewhere, double winner The Weeknd was a highlight as he ran through a medley of his 2015 hits, and Gwen Stefani made history by shooting a video for her new track Make Me Like You, becoming the first artist to create a promo on live TV.
During the video, the No Doubt star rollerskated around the stage with dancers, posed with scooters, and performed in a makeshift hair salon.
The low point of the evening was Adele’s much-anticipated performance of All I Ask, which was blighted by technical difficulties, leaving the Brit looking a little exasperated and her fans calling for the Grammys’ sound engineer to be fired in a series of social media rants.
The 2016 ceremony ended with a performance from Pitbull, who won his first Grammy award hours earlier. The hitmaker teamed up with Aerosmith and The Hollywood Vampires star Joe Perry, drummer Travis Barker, Robin Thicke and Colombian actress Sofia Vergara, who danced for the Latin superstar.
The list of Grammy Awards winners is:
Album of the Year
1989 – Taylor Swift
Best New Artist
Meghan Trainor
Record of the Year
Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
Song of the Year
Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran (Written by Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge)
Best Pop Solo Performance
Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
The Silver Lining: The Songs Of Jerome Kern – Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap
Best Pop Vocal Album
1989 – Taylor Swift
Best Dance Recording
Where Are U Now – Skrillex and Diplo with Justin Bieber
Best Dance/Electronic Album
Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack U – Skrillex and Diplo
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
Sylva – Snarky Puppy and Metropole Orkest
Best Rock Performance
Don’t Wanna Fight – Alabama Shakes
Best Metal Performance
Cirice – Ghost
Best Rock Song
Don’t Wanna Fight – Alabama Shakes (Written by Alabama Shakes)
Best Rock Album
Drones – Muse
Best Alternative Music Album
Sound & Color – Alabama Shakes
Best R&B Performance
Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Gray) – The Weeknd
Best Traditional R&B Performance
Little Ghetto Boy – Lalah Hathaway
Best R&B Song
Really Love – D’Angelo And The Vanguard (Written by D’Angelo & Kendra Foster)
Best Urban Contemporary Album
Beauty Behind The Madness – The Weeknd
Best R&B Album
Black Messiah – D’Angelo And The Vanguard
Best Rap Performance
Alright – Kendrick Lamar
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
These Walls – Kendrick Lamar featuring Bilal, Anna Wise, & Thundercat
Best Rap Song
Alright – Kendrick Lamar (Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears, & Pharrell Williams)
Best Rap Album
To Pimp A Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar
Best Country Solo Performance
Traveler – Chris Stapleton
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
Girl Crush – Little Big Town
Best Country Song
Girl Crush – Little Big Town (Written by Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, & Liz Rose)
Best Country Album
Traveler – Chris Stapleton
Best New Age Album
Grace – Paul Avgerinos
Best Improvised Jazz Solo
Cherokee – Christian McBride
Best Jazz Vocal Album
For One To Love – Cecile McLorin Savant
Best Jazz Instrumental Album
Past Present – John Scofield
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
The Thompson Fields – Maria Schneider Orchestra
Best Latin Jazz Album
Made In Brazil – Eliane Elias
Best Gospel Performance/Song
Wanna Be Happy? – Kirk Franklin (Written by Kirk Franklin)
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
Holy Spirit – Francesca Battistelli
Best Gospel Album
Covered: Alive In Asia (Live) (Deluxe) – Israel & NewBreed
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
This Is Not A Test – Tobymac
Best Roots Gospel Album
Still Rockin’ My Soul – The Fairfield Four
Best Latin Pop Album
A Quien Quiera Escuchar (Deluxe Edition) – Ricky Martin
Best Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative Album
(TIE) Hasta La Raíz – Natalia Lafourcade & Dale – Pitbull
Best Regional Mexican Music Album
Realidades (Deluxe Edition) – Los Tigres Del Norte
Best Tropical Latin Album
Son De Panama – Ruben Blades with Roberto Delgado & Orchestra
Best American Roots Performance
See That My Grave Is Kept Clean – Marvin Staples
Best American Roots Song
24 Frames – Jason Isbell
Best Americana Album
Something More Than Free – Jason Isbell
Best Bluegrass Album
The Muscle Shoals Recordings – The Steeldrivers
Best Blues Album
Born To Play Guitar – Buddy Guy
Best Folk Album
Bela Fleck And Abigail Washburn – Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn
Best Regional Roots Music Album
Go Go Juice – Jon Cleary
Best Reggae Album
Strictly Roots – Morgan Heritage
Best World Music Album
Sings – Angelique Kidjo
Best Children’s Album
Home – Tim Kubart
Best Spoken Word Album
A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety – Jimmy Carter
Best Comedy Album
Live At Madison Square Garden – Louis C.K.
Best Musical Theater Album
Hamilton – Original Broadway Cast
Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me – Various Artists
Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media
Birdman – Antonio Sanchez, composer
Best Song Written For Visual Media
Glory – Common & John Legend
Best Instrumental Composition
The Afro Latin Jazz Suite – Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra feat. Rudresh Mahanthappa (Composed by Arturo O’Farrill)
Best Arrangement, Instrumental Or A Cappella
Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy – Pentatonix (Arranged by Ben Bram, Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Avi Kaplan, Kirstin Maldonado & Kevin Olusola)
Best Arrangement, Instruments And Vocals
Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) – David Bowie (Arranged by Maria Schneider)
Best Recording Package
Still The King: Celebrating The Music Of Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys – Asleep At The Wheel
Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package
The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records, Volume Two (1928-32) – Various Artists
Best Album Notes
Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting To Be Danced – Joni Mitchell (Album notes written by Joni Mitchell)
Best Historical Album
The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 – Bob Dylan And The Band
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Sound & Color – Alabama Shakes
Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical
Jeff Bhasker
Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
Uptown Funk (Dave Aude Remix) – Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars (Remixed by Dave Aude)
Best Surround Sound Album
Amused To Death – Roger Waters
Best Engineered Album, Classical
Ask Your Mama – George Manahan & San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Producer Of The Year, Classical
Judith Sherman
Best Orchestral Performance
Shostakovich: Under Stalin’s Shadow (Symphony No. 10) – Boston Symphony Orchestra
Best Opera Recording
Ravel: L’Enfant Et Les Sortileges; Sheherazade – Saito Kinen Orchestra; SKF Matsumoto Chorus & SKF Matsumoto Children’s Chorus
Best Choral Performance
Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil – Paul Davidson, Frank Fleschner, Toby Vaughn Kidd, Bryan Pinkall, Julia Scozzafava, Bryan Taylor & Joseph Warner; Kansas City Chorale & Phoenix Chorale
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
Filament – Eighth Blackbird
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Dutilleux: Violin Concerto, L’Arbre Des Songes – Seattle Symphony
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Joyce & Tony – Live From Wigmore Hall – Joyce DiDonato; Antonio Pappano, accompanist
Best Classical Compendium
Paulus: Three Places Of Enlightenment; Veil Of Tears & Grand Concerto – Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Paulus: Prayers & Remembrances – Eric Holtan, True Concord Voices & Orchestra (Composed by Stephen Paulus)
Best Music Video
Bad Blood – Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar
Best Music Film
Amy – Amy Winehouse
Presidents Merit Award
Irving Azoff
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Run-D.M.C
Earth, Wind & Fire
Ruth Brown
Celia Cruz
Herbie Hancock
Jefferson Airplane
Linda Ronstadt
Trustees Award
John Cage
Fred Foster
Chris Strachwitz
MusiCares Person of the Year
Lionel Richie