American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish was one of the big winners at the 62nd Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
The 18-year-old took home five awards, including song of the year and record of the year for “bad guy”, album of the year and best pop vocal album for “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” and best new artist.
Her brother, FINNEAS, captured six awards, including home producer of the year (non-classical) and best engineered album (non-classical).
Eilish made music history on multiple levels. She is the first woman and second person ever to win the Grammys’ “big four” categories — record of the year, album of the year, song of the year and best new artist — in the same year. The first person to do so was Christopher Cross in 1981.
She is now the youngest solo performer to ever win album of the year; Taylor Swift was the previous record holder when she received best album for “Fearless” at the age of 20.
The awards were both a celebration of music’s biggest night and tribute to LA Lakers shooting guard and NBA legend Kobe Bryant who, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others, were tragically killed in a helicopter crash Sunday.
The Staples Centre, home of the Lakers, was the awards ceremony’s venue. Heartbroken fans mourned the basketball legend outside of the centre.
Grammys host Alicia Keys opened the show in tribute Kobe while a spotlight shone on Kobe’s 8 and 24 jerseys above the audience. She, along with R&B and hip hop group Boyz II Men, sang “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday,” a capella sombrely honouring the Philadelphian.
The ceremony had many eye-popping performances, including Lizzo, Ariana Grande, Eilish and Lil Nas X, many of whom paid tribute to Kobe.
Lizzo won three awards, including best pop solo performance for “Truth Hurts” and two R&B awards.
Willie Nelson won best country solo performance for “Ride Me Back Home” while Dan + Shay won best country duo/group performance for “Speechless”.
The award for best pop duo/group performance went to Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus for “Old Town Road”.
This year’s ceremony also took place amidst a storm of behind-the-scenes controversy with the former Recording Academy president and CEO Deborah Dugan forced out of her position in mid-January. Accusations of harassment and corruption were made against the Recording Academy, which have denied the claims, with Dugan filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Jan. 21.
In an interview on Good Morning America on Jan. 23, Dugan claimed the board members rigged the Grammy results. Past statements made by the Recording Academy about female artists have not reflected well on the governing body.
Awards were handed out in more than 80 categories.
With files from Elizabeth MacLeod and Brad Perry.
Record of the Year
“Hey, Ma” — Bon Iver
“Bad Guy” — Billie Eilish (WINNER)
“7 Rings” — Ariana Grande
“Hard Place” — H.E.R.
“Talk” — Khalid
“Old Town Road” — Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (WINNER) – bold
“Truth Hurts” — Lizzo
“Sunflower” — Post Malone and Swae Lee
Album of the Year
“I, I” — Bon Iver
“Norman F***ing Rockwell!” — Lana Del Rey
“When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” — Billie Eilish (WINNER)
“Thank U, Next” — Ariana Grande
“I Used to Know Her” — H.E.R.
“7” — Lil Nas X
“Cuz I Love You (Deluxe)” — Lizzo
“Father of the Bride” — Vampire Weekend
Song of the Year
“Always Remember Us This Way” — Natalie Hemby, Lady Gaga, Hillary Lindsey and Lori McKenna, songwriters (Lady Gaga)
“Bad Guy” — Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish) (WINNER)
“Bring My Flowers Now” — Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth and Tanya Tucker, songwriters (Tanya Tucker)
“Hard Place” — Ruby Amanfu, Sam Ashworth, D. Arcelious Harris. H.E.R. and Rodney Jerkins, songwriters (H.E.R.)
“Lover” — Taylor Swift, songwriter (Taylor Swift)
“Norman F***ing Rockwell” — Jack Antonoff and Lana Del Rey, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)
“Someone You Loved” — Tom Barnes, Lewis Capaldi, Pete Kelleher, Benjamin Kohn and Sam Roman, songwriters (Lewis Capaldi)
“Truth Hurts” — Steven Cheung, Eric Frederic, Melissa Jefferson and Jesse Saint John, songwriters (Lizzo)
Best New Artist
Black Pumas
Billie Eilish (WINNER)
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
Maggie Rogers
Rosalía
Tank and the Bangas
Yola
Best Pop Solo Performance
“Spirit” — Beyoncé
“Bad Guy” — Billie Eilish
“7 Rings” — Ariana Grande
“Truth Hurts” — Lizzo (WINNER)
“You Need to Calm Down” — Taylor Swift
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
“Boyfriend” — Ariana Grande and Social House
“Sucker” — Jonas Brothers
“Old Town Road” — Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (WINNER)
“Sunflower” — Post Malone and Swae Lee
“Señorita” — Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello
Best Pop Vocal Album
“The Lion King: The Gift” — Beyoncé
“When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” — Billie Eilish (WINNER)
“Thank U, Next” — Ariana Grande
“No. 6 Collaborations Project” — Ed Sheeran
“Lover” — Taylor Swift
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
“Sì” — Andrea Bocelli
“Love (Deluxe Edition)” — Michael Bublé
“Look Now” — Elvis Costello and The Imposters (WINNER)
“A Legendary Christmas” — John Legend
“Walls” — Barbra Streisand
