It must be hard to be Beyoncé and break the record for most Grammy wins in history yet wake up the next day only hearing people talk about the one award you lost.
Yesterday was the 2023 Grammys, and as usual, I have a lot of thoughts about how the night played out.
Overall: it still impresses me that the Grammys have found a way to make any room containing Beyoncé, Adele, Harry Styles, and Taylor Swift all at once not feel elitist beyond repair. They had each performer choose a family member or friend to introduce them. They had a recurring segment where everyday fans debated who should win Album of the Year, which was kind of cringey but also kind of wholesome. It's these sorts of things that make the Grammys feel much more accessible than the Oscars where you sit on your couch feeling like a Peeping Tom on the 1%.
Record of the Year
Wish List: As It Was - Harry Styles
Winner: About Damn Time - Lizzo
I enjoy the Harry record more than the Lizzo record, but if you look at other winners from the past ten years — "Get Lucky," "Uptown Funk," "24K Magic," "Leave the Door Open" — this category clearly optimizes for funk, so I can't say I'm surprised to see Lizzo take it home. Any pop song featuring slap bass probably already has 2:1 odds of getting this award. "About Damn Time" is a fantastic pop record, and I can't complain about the selection.
Album of the Year
Wish List: RENAISSANCE - Beyoncé
Winner: Harry's House - Harry Styles
I have nothing to say here that hasn't already been said. It's unfathomable that an artist can release a string of albums as artistically brilliant and culturally relevant as Beyoncé, Lemonade, and RENAISSANCE and never once win Album of the Year. This award was hers to win. Out of the nominations, my favorite album is actually the Brandi Carlile record, but everyone had to go into this ceremony knowing Beyoncé's name was already engraved on the award. It's a shame. Harry's House is a great album but it's not Album of the Year material in my opinion.
Song of the Year
Wish List: Honestly nobody
Winner: Just Like That - Bonnie Raitt
This was both absolutely shocking and so typical Grammys that it shouldn't have been shocking at all. The Grammys have always had a tendency to give IOU awards decades after the fact to artists that don't really deserve that particular award but deserve to be recognized for something again. Enter Bonnie Raitt. "Just Like That" is a good song. I don't think it was Song of the Year, but honestly were any of the nominations Song of the Year? There's a distinct difference between the kind of track that deserves Song of the Year and the kind of track that deserves Record of the Year, and it feels like we're seeing more and more overlap in each passing year. All of the nominations were great records but were they great songs? I'm not sure anyone deserved this one, so go off Bonnie.
Best New Artist
Wish List: Wet Leg
Winner: Samara Joy
A Wet Leg win was a long shot but a boy can dream. I don't actually know much about Samara's music so I don't have much to say here, but I enjoy seeing any young artist get this award, so I'm happy for Samara.
Best Pop Solo Performance
Wish List: Easy On Me - Adele
Winner: Easy On Me - Adele
You can beat Adele in some fields but good luck topping her in this category. There's a reason she's won this award four times over her last three album cycles : there isn't anybody else in the music industry that can give as good of a vocal performance as Adele. Some people come close, but nobody tops it. Her threshold is just higher than everyone else's. "Easy On Me" isn't even her best vocal performance on 30, a designation I would give to "To Be Loved." I would have liked seeing Doja Cat take it home too, but if we measure this category in goosebumps, it's Adele all the way.
Best Rock Song
Wish List: Broken Horses - Brandi Carlile
Winner: Broken Horses - Brandi Carlile
Brandi's a powerhouse vocalist on every song she sings but she absolutely shreds on this one, and anyone who got to see her perform this tune live on the broadcast could tell how lethal this cut is. It was a pretty weak field to compete in, but a song of this caliber would have been deserving in any year.
Best Rock Album
Wish List: Lucifer on the Sofa - Spoon
Winner: Patient Number 9 - Ozzy Osbourne
Another classic "When in doubt, give it to the oldest nominee" Grammys moment. This was another disappointedly weak field. Even if Lucifer on the Sofa had won I wouldn't have said it was really deserving. There's not really a winner here as much as there is a loser, and that's rock music fans.
Best Alternative Music Performance
Wish List: Chaise Longue - Wet Leg
Winner: Chaise Longue - Wet Leg
I was so impressed with the Wet Leg album last year that I was pulling for them wherever they were nominated, and this was no exception. That being said, as incredible as I think "Chaise Longue" is, I could argue that some of the other nominations are better "performances," namely "King" and "There'd Better Be a Mirrorball," both of which are beautifully haunting listens. But still absolutely stoked to see Wet Leg get this.
Best Alternative Music Album
Wish List: Wet Leg - Wet Leg
Winner: Wet Leg - Wet Leg
Aforementioned rule about rooting for Wet Leg applies here as well, and it clearly paid off here too. Their self-titled debut is one of the wittiest, most character-filled albums I've heard in years, and it deserves every ounce of praise it is getting. Well done, Wet Leg.
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