Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift and Alabama Shakes were the biggest winners at a Grammy Awards ceremony that, due to the recent deaths of some seminal stars, felt as much a tribute to music’s past as its present.
Monday’s ceremony included performances honoring David Bowie, Glenn Frey, B.B. King, Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire and Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, along with an extended clip of Natalie Cole. All died within the past year.
Lamar scored five Grammys for his breakthrough album “To Pimp a Butterfly,” the night’s biggest haul. But he was shut out of Grammy’s Big Four. Swift won top album for “1989,” Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars earned top record for “Uptown Funk,” Ed Sheeran won song of the year for “Thinking Out Loud” and Meghan Trainor was named best new artist.
LAMAR’S BREAKOUT
Besides his five Grammys, Lamar had one of the night’s most intense, riveting performances. A week after Beyonce’s Super Bowl show saluted the black power movement, Lamar opened his “The Blacker the Berry” performance in chains, dressed in a prison uniform along with several dancers. A fire burned behind him as he rapped “Alright,” and a backdrop included a map of Africa with the California city “Compton” written on it.