The performance by Joni Mitchell at this year’s Grammy Awards was expected. The appearance of another Canadian icon at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles was a shocker.
“I love you right back,” Celine Dion said to adoring, visibly gobsmacked fans including Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus. The singer suffers from stiff person syndrome, a neurological disorder that has her career in limbo. Public appearances are rare, but she was invited to present the award for Album of the Year, won by Taylor Swift for Midnights. It was Swift’s record-breaking fourth win in the category.
Mitchell, who had nabbed the Best Folk Album statuette for Joni Mitchell Live at Newport during a pre-broadcast ceremony in the afternoon, sang her wistful 1966 classic Both Sides Now while sitting in a throne-like chair, tapping her walking cane to the song’s rhythm. Though a brain aneurysm in 2015 and years of smoking have taken their toll on her voice, her presence was poignant and stately.
Joni Mitchell and Brandi Carlile perform during the 66th Grammy Awards.Kevin Winter/Getty Images
It was the first Grammy performance of her storied career. She had been introduced to the stage by Brandi Carlile as a “matriarch of imagination” who had trailblazed for self-revealing singer-songwriters: “She redefined the very purpose of a song to reflect the contents of a person’s soul.”
Some who stand on 80-year-old Mitchell’s shoulders were the female artists who dominated this year’s Grammys. Song of the Year, a songwriter’s award, went to Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas for Eilish’s What Was I Made For? Cyrus’s Flowers took Record of the Year, while pop/R&B singer Victoria Monét was voted Best New Artist.
What follows are the best moments and the most unfortunate ones, along with notable quotes, and achievements by Canadians.
The Good
SZA sizzles: The St. Louis R&B star, who converted three of her nine nominations, slayed with a performance that involved sword-slashing female dancers. “I just killed my ex,” she crooned on Kill Bill. Homicide songs haven’t been this cool since Johnny Cash died.
Olivia Rodrigo bleeds: Offering her dramatic pop hit Vampire, Rodrigo ended up smeared in fake blood, as gooey red stuff streamed behind her. An overhead camera shot evoked Brian De Palma’s 1976 horror classic Carrie.
Fast Car: It wasn’t until last summer, when Luke Combs covered Tracy Chapman’s 1988 hit Fast Car, that a song by a Black female songwriter made to the top of the country radio chart. That it took so long, and that it took a white man to record the hit, was seen as problematic in some circles. Combs and Chapman transcended any controversy with a live duet of the anthem about getaways and chasing dreams.
Tracy Chapman, left, and Luke Combs perform Fast Car during the 66th annual Grammy Awards.Chris Pizzello/The Associated Press
That’s the way to say goodbye: One of the most dynamic in-memoriam segments in recent Grammy history began with Stevie Wonder dueting with a video of the late Tony Bennett on For Once in My Life and continued with an emotional rendition of Nothing Compares 2 U by Annie Lennox for Sinead O’Connor. After Jon Batiste, the segment ended with a show-stopping Proud Mary by Fantasia Barrino in a tribute to Tina Turner that was preceded by a eulogy delivered by Oprah Winfrey. The deaths of Canadians Robbie Robertson and Gordon Lightfoot were noted.
Women rock: The bad news is that the rock and alternative music awards were relegated to the non-televised ceremony held Sunday afternoon. The refreshing news is that those categories were swept by female artists Boygenius and the Hayley Williams-led Paramore.
The Bad
The Tay Tay cutaway: Did the producer have to cut to a close-up of Taylor Swift singing along to the Chapman-Combs duet of Fast Car? The beloved Chapman rarely performs any longer – let have her moment, please.
Atomic bomb: U2 performed Atomic City from the Sphere in Las Vegas, but the possibly pre-taped spot was more of a fancy, vibe-sapping intrusion than anything else.
The Quotes
Noah business like show business: The host of music’s biggest night for four consecutive years now, the South African comedian Trevor Noah was dependably upbeat as always. “It’s the only concert that actually starts on time,” he quipped about the broadcast. He also noted that the 66th-annual Grammys were “still younger than America’s next president.”
Miley Cyrus performs during the 66th annual Grammy Awards.MIKE BLAKE/Reuters
Miley Cyrus: While performing her hit Flowers, the singer noticed the audience wasn’t singing along. “Why you acting like you don’t know this song?” she asked. The question was valid – Flowers, which won Best Pop Solo Performance in addition to Record of the Year, was one of few legitimately catchy tunes of the year.
Truth bombs: Recording Academy presented Jay-Z with the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. The hip-hop titan used the opportunity to point out the injustice of his wife Beyoncé never winning Album of the Year despite being the winningest artist in Grammy history. He also said that some of nominated artists this year don’t even belong in the category for which they’re being considered. “When I get nervous, I tell the truth,” he explained, not apologizing.
The Canadians
Allison Russell: The Montreal-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter won the Best Roots Performance award for the song Eve Was Black. Accepting her statuette during the afternoon ceremony, she credited an inclusive Americana scene: “I love our community, all Americana, all of us, all colours, all ages, all abilities, all orientations, all genders...”
Yannick Nézet-Séguin: For the third consecutive year, the Montreal conductor took home a trophy, this time for Blanchard: Champion, in the Best Opera Recording category. He dedicated the Grammy to composer Terence Blanchard and to his own husband, Pierre. “I wish everyone to have a husband or wife like this in their own life.”
Serban Ghenea: Born in Romania and raised in Montreal, the audio engineer has a whopping 19 Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards to his credit. As a mixer on Swift’s winning album Midnights, he made it an even 20.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct Serban Ghenea’s Grammy Award results this year.