The first Grammy awards ceremony was held in 1959. This kick started a tradition that just celebrated its 58th anniversary. The Grammys recognize the achievements of the music industry. This year, the Grammys were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. This year’s ceremony also had live performances from artists like, Kendrick Lamar, Justin Bieber and The Weeknd.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar entered as the most nominated artist with 11 nods, the most since Michael Jackson who had 12 back in 1983. Lamar won Best Rap Song, “Alright” and Best Music Video, “Bad “Blood,” a song in which he featured with Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift won Album of the Year for, “1989.” This was just one of her three awards. In her speech accepting the award, Swift gave some advice to young women.

“I want to say to all the young women out there,” Swift said, “there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success, or take credit for your accomplishments, or your fame. But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going, you will look around and you will know it was you and the people who love you that put you there. And that will be the greatest feeling in the world.”

The Record of the Year was awarded to, “Uptown Funk,” which was produced by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. When it was first released, the song remained at top of the Billboard Top 100, for 14 consecutive weeks. It also set the record for highest number of streams in a week worldwide with 15.5 million.

In 2012, The Best Gospel Album was one of the few categories created after an overhaul of Grammy Awards categories. It combines Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album, Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album and Best Traditional Gospel Album. This year, “Alive in Asia” (Live), by Israel and New Breed was given the award. The Best Gospel Performance/Song was, “Wanna be Happy,” by Kirk Franklin.

On top of the awards, live performances were present at the ceremony. While some received great praise, others did not rise to the occasion. Due to technical difficulties, Adele’s, “All I ask,” was disappointing. Although the issue was not under her control, it was a shame that it had to happen. Adele is known for her great and unique voice but the clanking sound at the beginning was a distraction from her voice.

One performance that definitely received praise was Kendrick Lamar’s, “The Blacker the Berry” and “Alright.” Lamar started handcuffed and wearing a prisoner’s shirt, making his political intentions pretty clear. For his “Alright” performance, he rapped in front of a bonfire with dancers moving with high energy. As his performance was finishing, an image of Africa with the word, “Compton” was presented behind him. His performances will probably go down as one of the greatest live performances in TV history.

Another Grammy award ceremony has come and gone. It will be interesting to see which songs thrive in 2016, as many artists hope to continue their successful journey.

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @nick_leblanc1 and via email: Nick LeBlanc.

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