The 57th annual Grammy Awards took place on February 8, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Once again, for the fourth time in a row, the event was hosted by rapper LL Cool J. Despite that there were a number of interesting surprises at the awards. The biggest of them is that the best-selling artists went home empty-handed.
Katy Perry, who holds a Guinness World Record for digital single sales, is a Grammy regular. The “Dark Horse” singer has been nominated for the prestigious award 13 times, yet she has never won one. History repeated itself again on the 57th Grammy Awards and Perry once again went home without an award although she was nominated in the categories Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
Similar is the case with Nicki Minaj, who is one of the top-selling rap artists today. She received two nominations this year or a total of six in her music career. However, Nicki has seen no Grammy love so far.
Taylor Swift’s latest album, “1989,” was the biggest commercial success in the music industry this year and probably the entire decade. However, the young singer was not given a Grammy this time. Her massive hit “Shake It Off” was competing in top categories like Record of the Year and Song of the Year, but it did not won Swift a single award last night. On the bright side, the singer already has 7 Grammys in her collection.
The bigger winners at the 2015 Grammy Awards were debutant Sam Smith and Beck, whose bestknown song was released 20 years ago. Sam Smith won in almost all of the categories in which he was nominated. His song “Stay With Me” is officially the best Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The UK singer also got a Grammy for Best New Artist. Although a newbie, Smith did manage to score impressive sales number with his debut album. In fact, his first album became the second best selling album of the year, right behind Taylor Swift’s “1989.” This makes Sam Smith one of the few commercially successful musicians who received recognition from the Grammys last night.
Beck, on the other hand, won three awards – for Album of the Year, Best Rock Album and Best Engineered Album/Non-classical. The singer’s newest album “Morning Phase” may not have sold in as many copies as those of Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, but critics obviously appreciate it.
Other big winners at the 57th Grammy Awards were Pharrell Williams and Beyoncé. Each of them got three Grammys. Pharrell’s song “Happy” won him Grammys for Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Music Video, whereas his album was awarded as Best Urban Contemporary Album. Beyoncé, on the other hand, walked away with Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for “Drunk In Love.” Her surprise album “Beyoncé” also got an award for Best Surround Sound Album.
Here are the rest of the winners in some of the most talked-about Grammy categories:
Record of the Year: Sam Smith – Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)
Album of the Year: Beck – Morning Phase
Song of the Year: Sam Smith – Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)
Best New Artist: Sam Smith
Best Pop Solo Performance: Pharrell Williams – Happy (Live)
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: A Great Big World with Christina Aguilera – Say Something
Best Pop Vocal Album: Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour
Best Dance Recording: Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne – Rather Be
Best R&B Song: Beyoncé feat. Jay Z – Drunk In Love
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: Eminem feat. Rihanna – Monster
Best Song Written for Visual Media: Let It Go (Frozen)
Best Music Video: Pharrell Williams – Happy
