On a good day, the Grammy Awards are more than just another awards show. If viewers are lucky, this star-studded event brings together your favorite musicians in an event that is unlike anything else.
Fortunately, the 2020 Grammys were something truly special. From the red carpet to the performances, there were several moments that left our jaws on the floor.
In fact, here are the top 10 moments that made the entire night completely unforgettable!
Lizzo Sets the Tone
Lizzo had one of the toughest gigs at the Grammys. She gave the first performance that helped to kick the evening off. If her performance fizzled, it would set a bad tone for the entire night.
Fortunately for fans, Lizzo doesn’t know how to fizzle, only dazzle. Her songs (including “Cuz I Love You” and “Truth Hurts”) brought down the house. And she had everyone up on their feet and clapping when she declared “Welcome to Grammys, bitch!”
If that wasn’t awesome enough, she took home the best solo performance Grammy for “Truth Hurts.”
Kobe Bryant Tributes
In many ways, the most unforgettable part of the 2020 Grammys happened before the show. This was the day that NBA legend Kobe Bryant unexpectedly died in a helicopter crash along with his daughter and several others.
This tragedy cast a shadow over the evening, and many stars took the time to honor Bryant in their own way. This ranged from Lizzo declaring “tonight is for Kobe” to Alicia Keys saying that everyone present was “standing there heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built.”
All of this made for a truly bittersweet evening for fans of the late athlete.
Billy Porter: Living in the Future
It feels shallow to measure awesome moments in memes. Then again, memes are how fans both remember special events and become part of those events in their own way.
When it comes to meme potential, Billy Porter really won the entire evening. He wore a glittering outfit with a face-concealing feature straight out of Star Trek. It had a glittering fringe that could hide the star’s face or reveal his face in the most dramatic way.
Billy Porter is truly living in 3020 right now, and we’re totally here for it.
Alicia Keys Breaks Our Hearts
Part of what makes Alicia Keys so great is that she can speak for all of us. With just a few words, she manages to bring what’s in our hearts to life.
That’s what happened when she said, “It’s been a hell of a week. Damn.” Rather than leave us in melancholy, though, she launched into a song that became the first real “ear worm” of the evening.
Keys modified Lewis Capaldi’s song “Someone You Loved” to reference the major singers and events of the past year. With this boppy performance, Keys established that no one synthesizes new material quite like her.
Tyler, The Creator: Red Hot
Tyler, the Creator took our breath away a couple of different times during the night. The first was during his performance of “Earfquake.” He had a little help from Charlie Wilson and Boyz II Men to make the song really slap.
The performance was truly lit as well. He set the stage on fire and brought some wildly chaotic energy with a crazy blonde wig. But things took a sober (and tear-jerking) turn later when he brought his mom on stage to help him accept the Grammy for Best Rap Album for Igor.
Country Is King
You may not immediately associate the Grammys with country music. After this year, though, that may finally change!
Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus took home Grammys for Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. To make things even more memorable, Lil Nas X was rocking the hottest, pinkest cowboy outfit you’ve ever seen!
This seemed to be just another instance of the young star redefining country music and the cowboy aesthetic for a whole new generation.
Ariana Grande Doesn’t Give a Damn
Ariana Grande gave a heart-stopping performance of “7 Rings” at the Grammys. But while her coterie of lingerie-clad dancers grabbed our attention, the really interesting part of all this was her choice of song.
If you don’t already know, Josh Stone is currently suing Grande, claiming that “7 Rings” stole most of its tune from his song “You Need It, I Got It.” By performing the controversial song at the biggest musical event of the year, Grande proved she had nothing to fear.
Aerosmith and Run-DMC: Together Again
It feels like the 1980s just keep coming back. Movies, TV shows, music, and fashion just keep taking their cues from this decade that we still haven’t gotten over.
And the 1980s came to the 2020 Grammys as well. Aerosmith began singing “Walk This Way” as part of their performance. And while that song hails from the ’70s, it was covered in the ’80s by Run-DMC. Eventually, both Aerosmith and Run-DMC would appear in an iconic music video for that song.
True to that 1987 music video, Run-DMC crashed through a fake wall and joined Aerosmith on stage to help the audience remember how to rock.
Demi Lovato Returns
One lesson that many celebrities learn is the true meaning of courage. Rather than an absence of fear, true courage requires overcoming things like stigma and gossip and returning to what you do best.
That’s what Demi Lovato showed us at the Grammys. She had a highly-publicized overdose in 2018 and has spent much of the past two years focusing on her health. But for the 2020 Grammys, she debuted a new song called “Anyone.”
It wasn’t perfect. In fact, she needed to start the song over at one point. But she screwed up her courage and made it through an awesome performance, giving inspiration to us all.
Nick Jonas Goes ‘Green’
Not every unforgettable moment is inspirational or awe-inspiring. Sometimes, these moments are just horribly cringeworthy. And that’s what happened with Nick Jonas and his performance of his song “Sucker.”
The song is catchy enough, and his performance was solid. But thanks to camera closeups, we could see that he had lettuce or some other food stuck in his teeth for the entirety of his performance.
You know how embarrassing it is when that happens to you? It just happened to Nick Jonas with millions of people watching. And, of course, his cringe misery will live on in memes and video compilations for years to come.