(Photo Credits: Recording Academy / GRAMMYs’ Official YouTube Account)

The 65th annual Grammy Awards was held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles last Sunday night—February 5, 2023. The German-born pop singer Kim Petras made a historic win with her Grammys for the Best Pop Duo or Group Performance Award for her song Unholy with Sam Smith. This makes her the first openly transgender woman to achieve this feat.

During her acceptance speech, Petras said, “Sam graciously wanted me to accept this award because I’m the first transgender woman to win.” She added, “Sam, you are a true angel and hero in my life. I love you.”

Petras continued:

“I just want to thank all of the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open before me so I could be here tonight. Sophie, my friend who passed away two years ago, who told me this would happen and always believed in me. Thank you so much for your inspiration, Sophie. I adore you, and your inspiration will forever be in my music.” Read more about this moment here.

Later, Petras would further talk about her friendship with Smith backstage. “Sam has been a special friend and supporter of mine,” Petras said. “It’s special to share this with someone who has given me such important advice in my life, dealing with the opinions of people. I feel like I’ve learned so much. Sam will never get rid of me, and we’ll sing the song for eternity.”

The ceremony was once again hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, who poked fun at Prince Harry and his “frostbitten penis.” The joke was referenced from the Duke of Sussex’s memoir Spare where the royalty revealed that he suffered from a “frostbitten todger” following a March 2011 trip to the North Pole.

Grammys 2023 featured performances of Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Stevie Wonder Mary J. Blige, Lizzo, Kim Petras, Sam Smith, Brandi Carlile, Smokey Robinson, Chris Stapleton, and DJ Khaled, to name a few. Here are our favorite moments and please feel free to share yours in the comments section below:

  • Beyoncé, 41, won four awards last night: Best dance/electronic recording for Break My Soul; Best Dance/Electronic Music Album for Renaissance; Best traditional R&B performance for Plastic Off the Sofa; and Best R&B song for Cuff It. She made history by becoming the most-awarded artist in Grammys history with 32 wins, the most of all time.

In her acceptance speech, Beyoncé also thanked the LGBTQ community for their support. She said:

“Thank you so much. I’m trying not to be too emotional. And I’m trying to just receive this night. I want to thank god for protecting me. Thank you, god. I’d like to thank my uncle Jonny, who’s not here. But he’s here in spirit.”

“I’d like to thank my parents, my father, my mother, for loving me and pushing me,” she continued. “I’d like to thank my beautiful husband, my beautiful three children who are at home watching.

“I’d like to thank the queer community for your love. And for inventing this genre. God bless you. Thank you so much to the Grammys. Thank you.”

  • Taylor Swift—who wore a sparkling sequined blue gown that shows off her midriff—won the Grammys for Best Music Video for All Too Well: The Short Film. The award marks her second for Best Music Video (she previously won it with Lamar for Bad Blood at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in 2016), which also makes her 12th Grammy win.

  • Lizzo, 34, won “Record of the Year.” She dedicated her award to the late artist Prince. “When we lost Prince, I decided to dedicate my life to making positive music. I was like, ‘I don’t care if my positivity bothers you — what’s wrong with you?'”

She continued, “Positive and feel good music wasn’t mainstream at that point and I felt very misunderstood. I felt on the outside looking in, but I stayed true to myself because I wanted to make the world a better place. So I had to be that change to be a better place. And now, I look around and there’s all these songs about loving our body and being comfortable in our skin and feeling f—ing good and I’m just so proud to be a part of it!”

  • Viola Davis won the Grammy for Best Audiobook, Narration & Storytelling for her memoir Finding Me, earning EGOT status. EGOT stands for the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards, a designation given to a select few who have won all four of the major American entertainment awards specifically in television, recording, film, and Broadway theatre.

  • Adele won the Best pop solo performance for Easy on Me. “I really was just looking forward to coming tonight,” she said during her speech. “I just want to dedicate this to my son, Angelo.”

Adele added, “I wrote this first verse in the shower when I was choosing to change my son’s life. He’s been nothing but humble and gracious and loving to me the whole time.”

  • Not only did Harry Styles perform his single As It Was, but he also won big for bagging Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance for Harry’s House.

“I think on nights like tonight it’s important for us to remember there is no such thing as ‘best’ in music. I don’t think any of us sit in the studio making decisions on what is going to get us one of these,” Styles said during his acceptance speech. In closing, he added a line that caused a social media frenzy, “This doesn’t happen to people like me very often and this is so, so nice. Thank you very much.”

Happy viewing!

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