Kendrick Lamar and Bad Buddy won big at the Grammy Awards on Sunday (Feb 1) night, with Lamar taking home five trophies including Record Of The Year for Luther, while Bad Bunny made history with Debi Tirar Mas Fotos, the first ever Spanish-language record to win Album of the Year.
Lamar, nominated nine times, also won four early trophies for Best Rap Album (GNX), Best Rap Song (TV Off), Best Melodic Rap Performance (Luther) and Best Rap Performance (Chains And Whips).
That brought him to 27 lifetime Grammys, surpassing Jay-Z (25) for the most of any rapper, and made it the second straight year he took home at least five golden gramophones.
In addition to Album of the Year, Bad Bunny also won Best Musica Urbana Album and Best Global Music Performance for EoO.
“Thank you to everyone who believed in me for my entire career, to everyone who worked on this album,” he said in Spanish while accepting Album Of The Year. “I wanna dedicate this award to all the people who had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams.”
Earlier in the night, Billie Eilish won Song of the Year for Wildflower, marking her 10th career victory at the show.
Eilish shared the award with her brother, Finneas O’Connell, who wrote the song alongside her. Both Eilish and O’Connell wore “ICE OUT” pins, which were a popular accessory throughout the night.
“I feel so honoured every time I get to be in this room,” Eilish said in her acceptance speech. “As grateful as I feel, I honestly don’t feel like I need to say anything but that no one is illegal on stolen land.”
Olivia Dean won Best New Artist, beating out a crowded field that included girl group Katseye, TikTok sensation Addison Rae and No. 1 hitmaker Alex Warren.
“I never really imagined that I would be up here,” the British Man I Need singer said through tears.
“I wanna say I’m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant,” she added, referencing her grandmother, who emigrated to Britain from Guyana at age 18. “I’m a product of bravery, and I think those people deserve to be celebrated.”
During the afternoon Premiere Ceremony, Steven Spielberg became the 22nd person to achieve “EGOT” status, winning his first Grammy for producing the film “Music by John Williams,” which won Best Music Film.
Spielberg, 79, also has three Oscars, four Emmys and a Tony. He joins Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks and several of the most accomplished names in show business in securing the EGOT.
For the first time, a K-pop song won a Grammy, with Golden from KPop Demon Hunters winning for Best Song Written for Visual Media. The smash hit by EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI was also nominated in three other categories, including Song of the Year.
The Dalai Lama also won his first Grammy, winning a star-studded Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording category for a book of meditations. He beat out host Trevor Noah and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in the category.
“I am not the Dalai Lama,” Rufus Wainwright joked while accepting the award on his behalf. “It was a privilege to participate on this project.”
Noah, hosting the ceremony for the sixth straight and reportedly final time, joked about Nicki Minaj’s support for President Donald Trump and impersonated Trump telling the rapper, “Actually Nicki, I have the biggest ass!”
However, Noah told the crowd he wisely withheld any jokes about the big-time winner Lamar, whose widely publicized beef with Drake resulted in multiple scathing diss tracks and last year’s five Grammys.
After more than five decades on CBS, the Grammys are set to move to ABC for a new 10-year contract beginning in 2027. – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
