Grammys 2019: A Year for Women

By BELLE KUNZMANN

The 61st Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2019, and this year’s show made several changes to
make up for a previous lack of diversity. Here are some of the 2019 highlights:
This year, the Grammys were all about female empowerment as the ceremony was dominated by female
artists and presenters. Alicia Keys was the first woman to host the show in over a decade, and she undeniably stole
the show with Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Michelle Obama, and Jada Pinkett Smith as the group of powerful
women honored the night. Many of this year’s awards highlighted diverse women. Cardi B became the first female
solo artist to win Best Rap Album for “Invasion of Privacy”, and her emotional acceptance speech made this one of
the most memorable awards of the night. H.E.R., a half-Filipino, half-black R&B artist took home two
awards​—​Best R&B Album for her self-titled EP, and Best R&B Performance for her duet with Daniel Caesar on
“Best Part”. Pop singer Dua Lipa won Best New Artist, Ella Mai won Best R&B Song for “Boo’d Up”, and Ariana
Grande won Best Pop Vocal Album for “Sweetener”. Kacey Musgraves coveted the biggest award, Album of the
Year, for her album “Golden Hour”. Overall, this year’s awards displayed a great deal of female representation that
will hopefully continue to grow in future years.
One of the night’s biggest winners, Childish Gambino, wasn’t there to receive his awards for “Song of the
Year” and “Record of the Year” which he won for his song “This is America”. Drake won Best Rap Song for
“God’s Plan”. He started to give a speech in which he encouraged other artists and started to criticize the Grammys
for their controversial track record with artists of color, but his mic was promptly cut off.
The night’s several live performances were another highlight. Jennifer Lopez led a tribute to the 60th
anniversary of Motown, but this has received criticism as people believe the performance for a historically black
label should have gone to a black artist. Lady Gaga, who won several awards this year, gave an unforgettable
performance of “Shallow” from the movie ​A Star is Born​. In addition to hosting the entire night, Alicia Keys
performed a medley of classic songs while simultaneously playing two pianos as a nod to the jazz performer Hazel
Scott. In her bedazzled red and white dresses, country singer Dolly Parton was definitely a center of attention at her
tribute performance that included appearances from her goddaughter Miley Cyrus and other notable artists.
As Michelle Obama beautifully said, “Music shows us that all of it matters. Every story within every voice,
every note within every song”. The Grammys are a celebration of the power of music, and this year’s show honored
some of the biggest names in music today.
Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys, Michelle Obama, and Jada Pinkett Smith open the show with words of wisdom. Photo
courtesy of ABC News.

Alicia Keys performs a medley of classic songs. Photo courtesy of Popsugar.