The 60th Annual Grammy Awards are being presented this Sunday, and 60 years is like, a very long time. As much as we’re excited to celebrate Ed Sheeran’s engagement and listen to “Despacito” for the millionth time this year, we’re more interested in the show’s dramatic moments. Like, if there isn’t at least one tragic stair fall and one mistaken award, we’ll be disappointed. In honor of 60 years of sick music, we’ve decided to take a look back at the most dramatic moments in the history of the Grammys. I mean, we looked ALL the way back. Here’s the lineup.
8. When Adele Pulled A Cady Heron
Adele lit the entire internet on fire by winning literally all of the awards last year, when a lot of people thought that Beyoncé deserved every award ever at least some of them. Whether she genuinely felt this way, already had too many Grammys at home, or like, feared Jay-Z pulling a less comical Kanye impression, she basically went full Cady Heron at Spring Fling and dedicated her whole career to Queen Bey. She didn’t mention Emma Gerber’s hairdo at all, which is either really nice or really mean depending on how you think about it.
7. When Lady Gaga Showed Up In An Egg
Lady Gaga was literally carried down the red carpet in an egg in 2011, and we’re still confused about it. She got out of the egg during her performance of “Born This Way” and it became *kinda* clear that it was a statement about her individuality, or something. When she was asked about it on Jay Leno, she said she spent three days before the show inside the egg. I mean, are you kidding me? Sounds like something your pledge master made you do during rush and never spoke about again. Hard pass.
6. When Jennifer Hudson Made A Surprise Appearance
It was a major dramatic moment when Jennifer Hudson showed up to the Grammys in 2009. She had just gone through a tough time in her family when she lost her mother and brother in the same year, so nobody expected her to show. She ended up doing a v emotional performance of “You Pulled Me Through” and got a major standing ovation at the end of the song. She also won the award for R&B album of the year, so it was a pretty dramatic night overall.
5. When Justin Timberlake Apologized for Nipplegate
In case you’re unaware of what went down at the 2004 Super Bowl, we’ll give you a little history lesson. JT was performing with Janet Jackson, and she had a major nip slip at the end of the performance. Everyone in the world saw her (covered) nipple, and although she said it was a wardrobe malfunction, both of the singers got a ton of hate from the media because they thought they planned it (which they totally did). When Justin was at the Grammy’s a week later, he apologized for offending anyone by showing Janet Jackson’s nipple. Fast forward to today and he’s performing at the Super Bowl again, so I guess everyone’s forgiven him? Still no ETA on Janet’s forgiveness though.
4. When ODB Kanye-d Shawn Colvin’s Acceptance Speech
Way before the Kanye/Taylor fiasco at the MTV Video Music Awards, something similar happened at the Grammys in 1998. Shawn Colvin had just won the Song of the Year award, and while she was giving her speech, Ol’ Dirty Bastard from the Wu-Tang Clan literally jumped on the stage and rudely interrupted. They weren’t even nominated in the same category, so no one really knew his motives. Can we assume he was high af? Yes, that’s probably always a safe bet when the Wu-Tang Clan is involved.
3. When Bob Dylan’s Backup Dancer Ruined Everything
Bob Dylan was mid-performance at the 1998 Grammys when one of his backup dancers ruined his live version of “Love Sick” by ripping off his shirt, displaying the words “Soy Bomb” written across his chest. He literally stood next to Bob Dylan, which is basically a cardinal sin, and danced around until security escorted him off the stage. Bob Dylan was pretty unfazed (which is super chill of him), but everyone else literally hated this guy.
2. When Milli Vanilli Got Caught For Lip- Synching
Does anyone know who Milli Vanilli are? Apparently they were a huge duo back in the day and they performed during the 1990 Grammys before winning Best New Artist. Eight months later it came out that their performance was lip-synched and they didn’t even sing on their album that won the award. Their Grammy got taken away and no one cared about them ever again. Why don’t teachers include this story in the cheating section of the syllabus?
1. When Will Smith Boycotted On TV
So apparently in 1989 the award for Best Rap Performance wasn’t televised because it wasn’t considered television material (i.e., they were racist af). Will Smith was nominated and was obv upset about it, so he skipped the Grammys and instead went on Entertainment Tonight to boycott the show. The best part is that he won the award anyway. Looks like staying at home was a good call. Just something to think about the next time you feel bad about bailing on plans.
