2023 Grammy Awards: Winners, Losers and History Made

One of the world’s biggest and most prestigious music awards held its 65th edition on the 5th of February, 2023. The 2023 Grammy award ceremony was memorable, with a diverse range of talented artists and genres recognized for their contributions to the music industry.

Held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the event was a night of historic wins and major moments. Here is a list of the major winners of this year’s Grammy award.

Key moments of the event

• Bad Bunny opened the show with a high-energy performance, setting the tone for the rest of the night.
• Luke Combs made his Grammys stage debut, with Kacey Musgraves, Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Mick Fleetwood, and Quavo paying tribute to artists who passed away in the past year.
• Another landmark highlight of the event was the celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Hip-hop artists, including Run-DMC, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Salt-N-Pepa, Flavor Flav, Queen Latifah, Big Boi of Outkast, Missy Elliott, and more, took to the stage to perform some of the greatest hip-hop hits of all time.
• History was also made when Kim Petras and Sam Smith became the first transgender woman and non-binary artists, respectively, to win a Grammy Award. The duo picked up their win in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category for, Unholy.
• Trevor Noah had a surprise for Adele when the comedian brought to reality one of the singer’s wishes. Trevor announced the wish of the singer to meet the famous wrestler turn-actor Dwayne’ the Rock’ Johnson, only for the wrestler to appear and greet her.
• The “In Memoriam” segment featured Kacey Musgraves, Quavo with Maverick City Music, Crow, Bonnie Raitt, and Mick Fleetwood paid tribute to Loretta Lynn, Takeoff, and Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie, respectively.

Biggest winners

Beyoncé made history by becoming the artist with the most wins in Grammy history having a total of 32 wins and, taking home four gramophones out of her nine nominations. The superstar singer won the award for Best Dance/Electronic Album for her 2022 hit, Renaissance. The win saw her surpass the previous record held by Georg Solti, a Hungarian-British conductor who was the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Harry Styles was crowned Album of the Year for his hit album “Harry’s House.” Shortly after winning, he would go on to thrill the audience by performing his hit track, As It Was. The other top awards went to Samara Joy for Best New Artist, Lizzo for Record of the Year, and Bonnie Raitt for Song of the Year.

Other major winners in the just concluded 2023 Grammy awards include Maverick City Music, which also won four awards. Brandi Carlile, Kirk Franklin, Kendrick Lamar, and Bonnie Raitt bagged three awards each. Jeremy Hatcher, Tobias Jesso Jr., Samara Joy, Randy Merrill, Willie Nelson, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Ozzy Osbourne, Harry Styles, The-Dream, and Wet Leg all went home with two gramophones each.

Full Winners List

Album of the year

Harry Styles – Harry’s House

Best new artist

Samara Joy

Record of the year

Lizzo – About Damn Time

Song of the year

Bonnie Raitt – Just Like That

Best pop solo performance

Adele – Easy on Me

Best dance/electronic album

Beyoncé – Renaissance

Best rap album

Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers

Best melodic rap performance

Wait for U – Future featuring Drake and Tems

Best musica urbana album

Bad Bunny – Un Verano Sin Ti

Best pop duo/group performance

Sam Smith and Kim Petras – Unholy

Best country album

Willie Nelson – A Beautiful Time

Best R&B song

Beyoncé – Cuff It

Best pop vocal album

Harry Styles – Harry’s House

Best dance/electronic recording

Beyoncé – Break My Soul

Best global music performance

Wouter Kellerman, Zakes Bantwini & Nomcebo Zikode – Bayethe

Best country solo performance

Willie Nelson – Live Forever

Best R&B performance

Muni Long – Hrs & Hrs

Best rap performance

Kendrick Lamar – The Heart Part 5

Best metal performance

Ozzy Osbourne Featuring Tony Iommi – Degradation Rules

Best rock performance

Brandi Carlile – Broken Horses

Best rock album

Ozzy Osbourne – Patient Number 9

Best alternative music album

Wet Leg – Wet Leg

Best traditional R&B performance

Beyoncé – Plastic Off the Sofa

Best progressive R&B album

Steve Lacy – Gemini Rights

Best R&B album

Robert Glasper – Black Radio III

Best rap song

Kendrick Lamar – The Heart Part 5

Best comedy album

Dave Chappelle – The Closer

Best folk album

Madison Cunningham – Revealer

Best country song

Cody Johnson – ‘Til You Can’t

Best Americana Album

Brandi Carlile – In These Silent Days

Best Remixed Recording

Lizzo – About Damn Time (Purple Disco Machine Remix)

Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording

Finding Me, Viola Davis

Best Country Solo Performance

Live Forever, Willie Nelson

Best Country Duo or Group Performance

Never Wanted to Be That Girl, Carly Pearce, and Ashley McBryde

Best Comedy Album

The Closer, Dave Chappelle

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media

Encanto, Various Artists

Major changes to Grammy Awards

Before the 2023 Grammy Awards, organizers had announced some exciting changes to their awards categories. These changes to the Grammy Awards categories reflect the evolving landscape of the music industry and the desire to acknowledge and celebrate a wider range of talented artists and their works.

New categories added

Five new categories have been added to the list:

• Best Alternative Music Performance
• Best Americana Performance
• Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media
• Best Spoken Word Poetry Album
• Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical.

In addition to the new categories, a Special Merit Award called the Best Song for Social Change has been introduced. Nominees in the category have to have their songs address important social issues and promote understanding, peace, and empathy.

The categories of Best Opera Recording and Best Classical Compendium have also been updated. Composers and librettists are now eligible for the award in these categories. For the Best Musical Theater Album, composers and lyricists who have created more than 50% of the score of a new recording were also eligible for the award.

The Best New Age Album was renamed Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album. The Best Spoken Word Album has been renamed Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording. Spoken word poetry is no longer eligible for this award but is now recognized with the new Best Spoken Word Poetry Album category.

Conclusion

The 2023 Grammy award has come and gone with major headlines, record-shattering wins, and lasting memories. Undoubtedly, the next few days will see discussions on winners, losers, and the entire event itself.