Grammys 2022 gets a speech from Ukraine Prez Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 10 highlights

After being delayed due to Covid-19, the Grammy Awards 2022 finally took place on April 4 at Las Vegas's MGM Grand Garden Arena. Grammys 2022 was unpredictable, and had its own fair share of drama, although nothing comparable to the Will Smith-Chris Rock slap, tbh... (Oscars 1, Grammys 0) 

Described as a 'concert where awards were given out' by host Trevor Noah, Grammys 2022 sure did take everyone by surprise. 

So, in case you missed the award ceremony, here is a recap of the 10 main highlights from Grammys 2022: 

1. THE WINNERS 

The winners of the Grammys were diverse and as most would say, not very well-known either. Here are the winners: 

• RECORD OF THE YEAR: LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN, SILK SONIC 
• ALBUM OF THE YEAR: WE ARE, JON BATISTE 
• SONG OF THE YEAR: LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN, SILK SONIC 
• BEST NEW ARTIST: OLIVIA RODRIGO 
• BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE: DRIVERS LICENSE, OLIVIA RODRIGO 
• BEST POP DUO OR GROUP PERFORMANCE: KISS ME MORE, DOJA CAT FEAT SZA
• BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM: LOVE FOR SALE, LADY GAGA AND TONY BENNETT
• BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM: SOUR, OLIVIA RODRIGO 
• BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE: MAKING A FIRE, FOO FIGHTERS
• BEST ROCK SONG: WAITING ON A WAR, FOO FIGHTERS 
• BEST ROCK ALBUM: MEDICINE AT MIDNIGHT, FOO FIGHTERS 
• BEST R&B PERFORMANCE: LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN, SILK SONIC AND PICK UP YOUR FEELINGS, JAZMINE SULLIVAN 
• BEST R&B SONG: LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN, SILK SONIC
• BEST R&B ALBUM: HEAUX TALES, JAZMINE SULLIVAN 
• BEST RAP PERFORMANCE: FAMILY TIES, BABY KEEM FEAT KENDRICK LAMAR 
• BEST MELODIC RAP PERFORMANCE: HURRICANE, KANYE WEST FEAT THE WEEKND AND LIL BABY 
• BEST RAP SONG: JAIL, KANYE WEST FEAT JAY-Z
• BEST RAP ALBUM: CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, TYLER, THE CREATOR
• BEST GLOBAL MUSIC PERFORMANCE: MOHABBAT, AROOJ AFTAB
• BEST NEW AGE ALBUM: DIVINE TIDES, STEWART COPELAND AND RICKY KEJ 

Winner of Album of the Year, Jon Batiste's We Are, is strongly rooted in black music; from the New Orleans jazz Jon grew up with to the classic soul of Al Green through modern R&B. The album is themed on positivity and intergenerational wisdom, while its title track is in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. 

Bruno Mars and rapper/drummer Anderson Paak, the duo that makes up Silk Sonic, won 4 Grammys over the course of the night. Their song, Leave The Door Open is strongly rooted in 70s soul sounds of acts. 

The third big winner of the night, Olivia Rodrigo, picked up the award for Best New Artist, Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Pop Vocal album. She won for her global hit song, Drivers License and her debut album, Sour. 

2. A MESSAGE FROM UKRAINE 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise appearence at the awards show. In a pre-taped video speech, the President said, "Our musicians wear body armour instead of tuxedos. They sing to the wounded in hospitals; even to those who can't hear them. But the music will break through. On our land, we are fighting Russia, which brings horrible silence with its bombs. The dead silence. Fill the silence with your music, fill it today to tell our story."

You can hear Zelenskyy's complete speech here: 

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy appears in a video message at the Grammy Awards: Support us in any way you can. Any - but not in silence. pic.twitter.com/r7k7LtZow1

— bennydiego???️‍? (@bennydiego) April 4, 2022

The speech came before John Legend's performance of Free, which he sang along with Ukrainian musicians Mika Newton and Suzanna Iglidan, while their compatriot Lyuba Yakimchuk read out a poem.

3. INDIAN ARTIST WINS SECOND GRAMMY 

Much to India's pride, Ricky Kej won his second Grammy along with Stewart Copeland for Divine Tides. The music composer won in the Best New Age Album category. Divine Tides features artists from around the world and "showcases a world where we can adapt to change, a world in which all life can live sustainably and in harmony".

The album features 9 songs and 8 music videos. 

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A post shared by Ricky Kej (@rickykej)

Ricky won his first Grammy for the album Winds of Samsara in 2015, in the same category. Although born in North Carolina, the half-Punjabi and half-Marwari Kej grew up in Bengaluru. Ricky now joins the revered list of Indians like Pt Ravi Shankar, Zakir Hussain and AR Rahman; all of whom have won (at least) two Grammys each. 

4. THE OSCARS ARE DRAGGED

Host Trevor Noah brought out his A-game for the Grammys night. Trevor cracked a series of jokes on Covid vaccines, the Grammys being a concert, and most notably, on the recent altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Oscars 2022. 

Trevor began with saying, "This is a party. Everyone’s hanging out. ... We’re in Vegas. ... People are doing shots. I mean, last year people were doing shots, but it was more Moderna and Pfizer. This time we’re back in the mix."

He continued, "We’re going to be listening to some music, we’re going to be dancing, we’re going to be singing, we’re going to be keeping people’s names out of our mouths and we’re going to be giving out awards all throughout the night."

5. LATA MANGESHKAR AND BAPPI LAHIRI'S TRIBUTE MISSING FROM GRAMMYS 2022 IN MEMORIAM 

Although Indian fans were hyped about Ricky Kej's win, they were also disappointed with the misisng tribute for Lata Mangeshkar and Bappi Lahiri in the Grammys 2022 In Memoriam segment. One user tweeted, "It's a shame that @RecordingAcad did not remember Lata Mangeshkar."

It's a shame that @RecordingAcad did not remember Lata Mangeshkar #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/iOWuWhziuY

— Nik Kalyani ? ⌘Hyperverse (@techbubble) April 4, 2022

While another wrote, "Grammys suck for not including Lata Mangeshkar for the memoriam section. She's one of the most iconic voices to ever grace this earth. Just proves once again how isolated the Grammys are and how they fail to include legendary voices known by billions. Yes, billions."

grammy's suck for not including lata mangeshkar for the memoriam section. she's one of the most iconic voices to ever grace this earth. just proves once again how isolated the grammy's are and how they fail to include legendary voices known by billions. yes, billions.

— mari fucking loves GLASS ANIMALS (@niziuswithu) April 4, 2022

Another user added, "Both the Oscars and Grammy awards claim to promote diversity but surprisingly none of them bothered to showcase Lata Mangeshkar in their section to remember artists who are no longer with us."

Both the Oscars and Grammy awards claim to promote diversity but surprisingly none of them bothered to showcase Lata Mangeshkar in their section to remember artists who are no longer with us.#GRAMMYs #Oscars #LataMangeshkar

— Nishith Pandya (@nishith_pandya) April 4, 2022

It is not yet known why the tributes were missing. Not only the Grammys, Lata Mangeshkar's tribute was also missing from Oscars 2022 In Memoriam segment. 

6. NO SIGN OF GRAMMY REGULARS 

Season regulars such as Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Adele, Drake and The Weeknd were missing from the red carpet and the main event, for multiple reasons. While The Weeknd and Drake are boycotting the awards since 2021, it is not confirmed why Taylor, Selena, Adele and Ariana gave the Grammys a miss this year. 

7. PAKISTANI SINGER WINS BIG 

Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab won big at this year's Grammys for her song Mohabbat in the Best Global Performance category. The Brooklyn-based vocalist became the first Pakistani singer ever to win a Grammy. 

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A post shared by Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@recordingacademy)

Her third studio album, Vulture Prince, features the track and it came into limelight when ex-US President Barack Obama featured Mohabbat on his 2021 summer favorites list. 

8. CONTROVERSIAL NOMINATIONS 

This year's Grammys were quite controversial, in terms of nominations. Here are some: 

• Louis CK was nominated Best Comedy Album, even though 5 years ago he was accused of sexual misconduct. 
• Marilyn Manson was nominated for his work on Donda under the Best Album category. The rock star is currently facing trial for sexual assault. 
• Producer Dr Luke who had been accused by Kesha for sexual assault was nominated under Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Rap Song with Doja Cat.
• Comedian Dave Chappelle was nominated under Best Spoken Word Album even though he has made some controversial jokes about the trans community.

All these nominations were defended by the Grammys chief, Harvey Mason Jr. He said, "We won't restrict the people who can submit their material for consideration. We won't look back at people's history, we won't look at their criminal record."

9. HALSEY LEAVES EARLY, PRIORITSES HER HEALTH

Superstar Halsey was seen leaving the main awards event early. After walking the red carpet, Halsey left the show because she wasn't feeling well. She did manage to catch a glimpse of K-Pop boy band BTS before she left the Grammys.

Nominated under the Best Alternative Music Album category, the singer posted on her Instagram story, "Not feeling super well so I left early. Had to see BTS tho."

A day before, she posted a picture of herself in a hospital outfit and captioned it, "The last time I attended the Grammys was 2017 and it was 3 days after I had my first Endometriosis surgery. I walked the carpet with my stitches still in. As luck would have it, I’m attending tomorrow for the first time in years and I had surgery again (you guessed it) 3 days ago. Only posting this to say, if you see me be gentle lol I’m fragile. Fragile but excited :)"

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A post shared by halsey (@iamhalsey)

Here's hoping she gets better soon!

10. THE LEGEND MAKES AN APPEARANCE 

An Indian music industry legend and the country's only Oscar winner (for the song Jai Ho), AR Rahman also made an appearance at Grammys 2022. Rahman has won two Grammys so far. He was present at the award show with his son, A. R. Ameen.

Check it out here: 

All set pic.twitter.com/p2Dwk79aTw

— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) April 4, 2022