By the end of the 2017 Grammys, viewers will likely be arguing about one or more of the following: Beyonce, the Bee Gees, Donald Trump. In the meantime, I’ll be updating this post with the winners, remarkable performances, and memorable moments of the night.
A number of awards were handed out at the pre-televised ceremony—Billboard has the list. Highlights include:
David Bowie’s Blackstar earning four trophies, including for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Performance
Drake’s “Hotline Bling” taking Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Performance
Chance the Rapper earning his first Grammy, with “No Problems” taking Best Rap Performance
John Williams getting his 23rd grammy with Star Wars: The Force Awakens taking Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
Sturgill Simpson’s album-of-the-year nominee A Sailor’s Guide to Earth winning Best Country Album
Beyoncé’s “Formation” getting Best Music Video
Adele’s 25 winning Best Pop Vocal album, and “Hello” winning Best Pop Solo performance
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Three remarkable looks from the red carpet. Here’s Adele in green:
Here’s Cee Lo Green, as “Gnarly Davidson”:
And here’s the singer Joy Villa with a #MAGA gown. The back says “TRUMP”:
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Here’s the state of play for the four general awards categories, taken from my larger preview of the ceremony:
Album of the Year
Contenders: Adele, 25; Beyoncé, Lemonade; Justin Bieber, Purpose; Drake, Views; Sturgill Simpson, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
Last year’s winner: Taylor Swift, 1989
The state of play: The conventional wisdom says that this year’s ceremony is a clash between two recent Grammy titans, Adele and Beyoncé—and that Adele’s best-selling but unspectacular 25 is a safer bet than Beyonce’s provocative Lemonade. But watch for Sturgill Simpson. Though the relatively unfamous alt-country singer seems like an underdog, as the sole white guy with a guitar he may benefit from a split vote among the four commercially minded radio stars, recalling when Beck beat Beyoncé’s self-titled release in 2014.
A Sturgill win wouldn’t be undeserved; A Sailor’s Guide to Earth is gobsmackingly beautiful, a bittersweet chronicle of new fatherhood. But Beyoncé’s politically charged, sonically diverse, and tabloid-scrambling Lemonade was a seismic cultural event, and the album’s celebration of identity in the face of disrespect would resonate even in loss: The Grammys haven’t selected a young black artist’s album as best since 2004, and they haven’t picked a black woman since 1999.
Record of the Year
Contenders: Adele, “Hello”; Beyoncé, “Formation”; Lukas Graham, “7 Years”; Rihanna ft. Drake, “Work”; Twenty One Pilots, “Stressed Out”
Last year’s winner: Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson, “Uptown Funk”
The state of play: If there’s ever been a hit that’s more a great recording than a great song, it’s Adele’s “Hello,” whose repetition on the page becomes an avalanche in the ear thanks to Adele’s pipes and Greg Kurstin’s production. Nightmare scenario: Grammy voters’ fetish for old-timey authenticity rewards the Danish band Lukas Graham’s “7 Years,” a bit of treacle that uses old-timey authenticity as affectation.
Song of the Year
Contenders: Beyoncé, “Formation”; Adele, “Hello”; Justin Bieber, “Love Yourself”; Lukas Graham, “7 Years”; Mike Posner, “I Took a Pill in Ibiza”
Last year’s winner: Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”
The state of play: There are two brilliant pop songs in this category, “Formation” and “Love Yourself.” Beyoncé’s melds rap swagger and pop flash and social subversion. Bieber’s inverts campfire strum-along tropes for a nasty kiss-off that’s perfect for a performer whose persona continually flits between angelic and demonic. Between those two, “Love Yourself” has the better shot; Fox News never declared war on it.
Best New Artist
Contenders: Kelsea Ballerini, The Chainsmokers, Chance the Rapper, Maren Morris, Anderson .Paak
Last year’s winner: Meghan Trainor
The state of play: In this class of legitimately promising young stars, the legitimately irritating electronic-dance bros of The Chainsmokers may be hard to beat. Even if you set aside their insane chart success and factor in the “EDM Nickelback” backlash against them, the “Closer” duo benefit from vote splitting: Ballerini and Morris are climbing up the rungs of country music, and Chance the Rapper and Anderson .Paak have fired up the hip-hop/R&B world.