Best moments from the 2023 Grammy Awards

Sunday, Feb. 5 marked the biggest night in music this year: The 65th Annual Grammy Awards. The event also marked kind of the biggest night of my life — thank you, Harry Styles. 

I am not even exaggerating when I say I had been planning out how to prepare for this night weeks in advance. Rain or shine, exam early the next morning or not, I was going to be sitting down in front of my TV at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, no matter what. 

This year’s Grammys was set up to be a night to remember before the show even began, with stars like Beyoncé, Adele, Lizzo, Styles and more facing off in the General Field category. But before I get into the Big Four, let’s recap some of the stand out moments of the night.

First, Viola Davis won her first Grammy for Best Audiobook, Narration and Storytelling Recording for her spoken word album “Finding Me” — making her the 18th person in history to achieve EGOT status.

Beyoncé also became the most awarded artist in Grammy history — with 32 wins — after taking home the awards for Best Dance/Electronic Recording for “Break My Soul,” Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for “Plastic Off the Sofa,” Best R&B Song for “Cuff It” and Best Dance/Electronic Music Album for “Renaissance.”

The biggest moment of the night, however, had to be the ensemble performance celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. The tribute included legends like Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott, Nelly, Questlove, Busta Rhymes, Ice-T, Salt-N-Pepa and more.

Big Four Time! The first category I will be discussing is Song of The Year – which was easily one of the most stacked I’d seen in years. It is hard to pick a frontrunner in a race that includes Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film),” Styles’ “As It Was,” Lizzo’s “About Damn Time,” Adele’s “Easy on Me” and Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul.”

Therefore, nothing could have prepared me for Bonnie Raitt’s surprise win for “Just Like That.” I have to admit, I had never heard that song — or even knew it was nominated — so my reaction was much like that of every celebrity caught on camera: shocked. 

The room went so silent — even Raitt’s jaw dropped — and then all of the sudden, the air turned kind of magical. Time suspended while Raitt’s winning song gently hummed in the background and everyone rose to a communal standing ovation, sharing in their unexpected reverie.

The next award with an equally stacked list of nominees was Record of the Year. The nominees included ABBA, Adele, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Brandi Carlile, Doja Cat, Steve Lacy, Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo and Styles. To quote forever-comfy king Chris Martin when announcing for this category, “Ok, I don’t know how you pick out one of them, but…”

The Grammy ended up going to Lizzo for “About Damn Time,” which was one of my favorite moments of the night. From her stunned reaction to her admission that she and Adele were just having a good time rooting for their friends at their table to her empowering acceptance speech that genuinely brought tears to my eyes, Lizzo is what everyone needs right now.

The award for Best New Artist went to jazz singer Samara Joy, who released her self-titled debut album in 2021 — a refreshing choice in an industry so often ruled by pop music.

Here it is, the last award of the night: Album of the Year. I was delirious at this point, as it was nearing midnight and my fave, Styles, had yet to pick up any of the awards in the General Field category.

However, my disillusioned delirium quickly turned into euphoric glee when Trevor Noah passed the envelope over to Grandma Harrie, Reina, to announce that Styles had won Album of the Year for “Harry’s House.”

I had genuinely never felt better than in that moment — apparently the opposite of Ben Affleck’s miserably Dunkin’-less viral Grammy going experience.