The 65th Grammy Awards ceremony occurred on February 5th, 2023. There were more than 91 categories with awards presented to a variety of artists, composers, producers, and writers. It features a night of extravagant costumes, beautiful performances, and carefully crafted speeches.

Notable Winners:

• Record of the Year – Lizzo, “About D**n Time”

• Album of the Year – Harry Styles, Harry’s House

• Song of the Year – Bonnie Raitt, “Just Like That”

• Best New Artist – Samara Joy

• Best Pop Album – Harry Styles, Harry’s House

• Best Dance Album – Beyoncé, Renaissance

• Best Rap Album – Kendrick Lamar, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

• Best Country Album – Willie Nelson, A Beautiful Time

• Best Musical Theatre Album – 2022 Broadway Cast, Into the Woods

• Best Movie/TV Soundtrack – Germaine Franco, Encanto

• Best Video Game Soundtrack – Stephanie Economou, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn Of Ragnarok

• Best Music Video – Taylor Swift, All To Well: The Short Film

Beyoncé has officially broken the record for total Grammys won, sitting at 32 wins. She was nominated for nine Grammys and received four. Kendrick Lamar was nominated for eight Grammys and received three. Brandi Carlile and Adele were nominated for seven. Carlile won three awards and Adele received one. Kirk Franklin and Bonnie Raitt each won three Grammys. Doja Cat was nominated for five Grammys and received none. DJ Khaled was nominated for six and received none.

Criticism of the Grammys

The event has always had a reputation for ‘sweeps’. One artist, composer, or producer can ‘sweep’ the Grammys by receiving a large number of awards in the main categories. The first to ‘sweep’ the Grammys was Christopher Cross after he won the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist, known as the Big Four. The most recent to sweep the Grammys was Billie Eilish in the 2020 Grammys. She received the Big Four all in one night, becoming the only other person to receive all four in a single night.

The Grammys has been one of the most uniformly criticized awards ceremonies since it began. There are thousands of artists and millions of songs that the committee has to take into consideration. They have a limited number of nominations and awards. Music fans always have opinions on who was snubbed, who was overrepresented, and who bribed who. More recently, considerations have shifted to include the Grammys’ lack of awareness.

The Grammy Awards take millions of dollars to put together. The thousand dollar awards, lavish food, and expensive furnishings require a lot of time and effort. On top of that ceremony itself, artists have begun creating outfits worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. Fans have long criticized the most opulent of outfits, from Jennifer Lawrence to Audrey Hepburn. Many artists make relatability a huge aspect of their music, so fans feel disheartened seeing them in a $20,000 Swarovski crystal dress.

And it’s not just the fans who have had issues with the Grammys. For a long time, artists have accused the ceremony of being rigged. Artists will come out of nowhere and sweep the awards show, leaving more popular artists to question the committee. Some believe that artists have bribed the committees to nominate or even award them, as a Grammy nomination can jumpstart a career. The Weeknd, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, and Halsey have consistently made allegations and criticism of the awards show and selection process.

What do the Fans Think?

We surveyed viewers of the awards show to see what they thought of this year’s awards.

“Harry Styles should not have won,” stated Brooke Seminazzi, 12.

Harry Styles’ work won three Grammys: Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Non-Classical Engineered Album. In his award speech, he claimed that “people like him” do not often get these awards. Fans have criticized this comment for being insensitive to minority and underprivileged communities.

“I think that Unholy winning best pop group performance was a horrible mistake,” stated Vitalia Badarancea, 12.

“Unholy” is a duet song between Kim Petras and Sam Smith. Many have criticized its nomination, claiming that the song is tacky or not Grammy-worthy.

“I heard that they didn’t have Spanish subtitles for Bad Bunny during the live broadcast and just put that he was ‘speaking non-English’, which like—you couldn’t even put ‘speaking Spanish’?” stated Ariana Gonzalez, 12.

Bad Bunny was the opening performer for the Grammys. He has many songs that feature and highlight Spanish lyrics. The awards show has always featured subtitles for English speakers, but this year they had no subtitles for the Spanish songs featured during performances. Fans felt that it was lazy on the part of the organizers, as it did not even say the language being sung or the song.

“I heard about the ‘no its Ashley’ thing,” stated Violet Olsen, 12.

This is in reference to a TikTok influencer, NoItsAshley13, who claimed she would be going to the Grammys. Ashley became popular because of her similar appearance to Taylor Swift. Ashley had claimed that a brand invited her to the Grammys and then rescinded it the night before she was flying out. She was devastated, advising her fans to steer clear of scams like that. Taylor Swift fans then began to mock her, inferring that she should have known it was a scam. They referenced a phrase, “No, its Becky,” which long-time Taylor Swift fans will recognize as a Tumblr interaction popularized when Taylor wore a shirt featuring the phrase. The “No, its Ashley” meme has quickly spread throughout Taylor Swift fans.

You can see the results of the poll and contribute your own opinion using this link. Just take the poll and click “see previous answers” to look at others’ opinions.

Grammy Awards Opinion Poll