Shocking moments in Grammy awards history, from Elton and Eminem's duet to Adele's win
Boycotts and bad-mouthing are almost as synonymous with the Grammys as the gilded awards themselves.
Whether Will Smith (circa 1989) protesting the show’s lack of air time given to rap categories or The Weeknd (circa always) refusing to submit work after his “After Hours” album was snubbed, the ceremony has fostered plenty of discontent.
But amid the bickering, there have been myriad spotlight moments – some controversial, some amusing and some just plain bizarre – worth revisiting.
With the 67th annual Grammy Awards arriving on Sunday, we’re looking back on 10 of the most memorable moments on the show. They might not all be shocking, but they are striking.
Adele beats Beyoncé – and apologizes in her speech (2017)
As Adele accepted the night's biggest honor amid her armload of five Grammys at the 59th annual awards, Adele bawled that the album of the year award should have been “Lemonade” by Beyoncé, who she called “the artist of my life."
Adele’s win for “25” wasn’t unexpected, and Beyoncé accepted the loss with a beatific smile, looking genuinely touched in the audience as Adele proclaimed her adoration of the “so monumental” “Lemonade.”
But the respectful gesture was still a surprise, as well as a rarity to hear one major artist tell another, “We (expletive) adore you. You are our life.”
More: Grammy 2025 snubs: Who didn't get nominated that should have?
Macklemore bests Kendrick Lamar – and apologizes (2014)
It didn’t happen at the Grammys, but, rather, afterward, when Macklemore, fully realizing that his lightweight pop-rap with Ryan Lewis did not deserve the best rap album win for “The Heist” over Kendrick Lamar’s searing “Good Kid, m.A.A.d City,” texted the rapper: “I wanted you to win. You should have. It's weird and it sucks that I robbed you.” Macklemore then posted the message on his Instagram.
Macklemore received backlash from some artists (Drake told Rolling Stone the move “felt cheap”) and the online community for publicizing his sentiments, but some praised his earnestness.
In 2021, Macklemore told Talib Kweli on the "People's Party With Talib Kweli” the text “obviously shouldn’t have been put on the internet,” but it was the first of a trend of artists humbly deferring their victories.
Jennifer Hudson eulogizes Whitney Houston in song (2012)
The shock and grief of Whitney Houston’s death on the eve of the 54th annual Grammys had in no way mitigated when the show's curtains parted on a “the show must go on” ethos.
With fewer than 36 hours to pivot, producers scrambled and relied on artist flexibility as well. The somberness of the moment was captured by host LL Cool J, who opened the night with a prayer for Houston.
But it was Jennifer Hudson’s emotional rendition of “I Will Always Love You,” the first verse performed a cappella as she stood alone under a spotlight, a photo of Houston looking on, that still guarantees chills.
50 Cent interrupts Evanescence's best new artist win (2004)
Five years before Kanye West infamously interrupted Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards, 50 Cent offered a slightly less irritating, albeit inappropriate, response to losing.
The rapper expected to win best new artist considering his debut, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” had a huge year commercially. But alt-metal rockers Evanescence also enjoyed a breakout year and won instead.
As singer Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody accepted their trophy, 50 Cent blithely walked across the stage, pretending he had won, and clearly interfered with Lee’s train of thought.
In 2020, a still-salty 50 Cent brought up the snub again while receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “Can you find (expletive) Evanescence? I ain’t seen Evanescence since that night.”
Lee recently joked to the Daily Beast that the rapper “hates my guts … It was like Zoolander when he thought he won.”
Elton John and Eminem spotlight unity with duet (2001)
Eminem’s frequent use of homophobic slurs in his music at the time drew criticism from organizations such as GLAAD. So when openly gay Elton John was unveiled on stage as a surprise guest during Eminem’s performance of “Stan,” it was designed as a display of support and unity.
The Grammy crowd cheered as John was illuminated behind a keyboard, singing the refrain handled by Dido in the recorded version of the song.
John later told “The Graham Norton Show” he thought the accusation against Eminem being homophobic “was nonsense. And I came out and supported the fact that he isn’t.”
J. Lo breaks the internet with revealing dress (2000)
If not for a green Versace dress with some strategically placed double-sided tape, Google Images as we know it today might not exist.
Jennifer Lopez’s yowza dress worn to the 42nd annual awards caused such a search frenzy that Google engineers realized people craved actual visuals (instead of the then-standard blue links) when searching for photos.
The ageless Lopez wore an updated version of the dress – which has its own Wikipedia page – at the Versace Spring 2020 Milan Fashion Show.
Bob Dylan gets an unexpected visit from Soy Bomb (1998)
Leave it to the unflappable Dylan to not miss a note during his performance of “Love Sick” when a gyrating shirtless man with the phrase “SOY BOMB” inked on his chest suddenly appeared on stage.
A perplexed Dylan yelled to his guitarist, “Who the hell is this guy?,” but kept playing while said guy, New York performance artist Michael Portnoy, was removed by security.
Portnoy had been paid by the Recording Academy to be a background extra during the performance, but he wanted to “assert himself on national TV,” according to his interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
He chose the phrase “soy bomb” because soy represents dense nutritional life and he wanted art to “represent dense, transformational, explosive life.”
Billy Joel retaliates for Sinatra snub (1994)
Everyone knows you don’t interrupt the Chairman of the Board. Everyone except Grammy producers, apparently.
After receiving the Living Legend Award from a reverential, cigarette-smoking Bono, Sinatra, who choked up immediately, launched into an acceptance speech dotted with humorous anecdotes and pauses.
He was unceremoniously cut off with a break into a commercial – an egregious act toward anyone accepting a lifetime achievement accolade – and Billy Joel had something to say about it.
While performing “The River of Dreams” shortly after the Sinatra debacle, Joel stopped playing, looked at his watch and said, “Valuable advertising time going by, valuable advertising time going by. Dollars, dollars, dollars,” before resuming the song with a smirk.
Metallica loses to Jethro Tull in hard rock/metal category (1989)
Exerting the kind of cluelessness that would infiltrate the ceremony for decades (see: Mariah Carey losing all six categories for “Daydream” and its hits in 1996; Steely Dan beating Eminem for album of the year in 2001), the Grammys’ inaugural recognition of heavy metal music was baffling to the point of laughability.
The 31st annual awards bestowed its best hard rock/metal performance vocal or instrumental not to the obvious frontrunner, Metallica’s landmark “…And Justice for All,” but to Jethro Tull’s “Crest of a Knave.”
The following year, the Recording Academy separated best hard rock and best metal performances into two categories. Metallica received the best metal win for “One.”
'I Am Woman' Helen Reddy makes anti-feminists roar (1973)
The author of one of the most potent feminist anthems, “I Am Woman,” Reddy triggered the ire of those who already viewed the song as “women’s lib crap” (as per Jeff Wald, her husband and manager at the time) when she stated during her acceptance speech, “I want to thank God because she makes everything possible.”
According to Wald, Reddy’s Grammys comment at the ceremony in Nashville resulted in more than 7,000 angry letters that said things such as, “If you think God is a woman, then God and the Virgin Mary must have been lesbians.”
Reddy’s win for best female pop, rock and folk vocal performance was the first for an Australian songwriter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Most shocking moments in Grammy awards history
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