Australian singer Reddy won best female pop vocal performance for her song “I Am Woman” in 1973. The artist and her anthem were symbols of the women’s liberation movement at the time, BBC News reported.

During her brief acceptance speech, Reddy said, “I would like to thank Jeff Wald, because he makes my success possible, and I would like to thank God because She makes everything possible,” according to the Recording Academy.

This feminist statement didn’t go over well with the conservative audience — NPR called it “an audacious move.” However, at a time when women’s rights issues were being discussed — the Equal Rights Amendment passed the Senate in 1972 — it was an impactful statement.

“It really resonated for a lot of people,” Nadine Hubbs, a professor of musicology at the University of Michigan, told NPR in 2018. “She was putting into words some really important social changes that were going on at the moment.”

At the 20th Grammy Awards, there was a tie for song of the year, the first time this happened in this category.

Streisand and Paul Williams won for “Evergreen,” the theme from her version of “A Star is Born,” while Boone’s song “You Light Up My Life,” from the movie of the same name, also won.

However, as song of the year goes to the songwriter, not the performer, songwriter Joe Brooks accepted the award instead of Boone.

That night, Streisand also won for best female pop vocal performance, and Boone took home the award for best new artist.

Lennox was set to perform “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” but the show’s production staff was panicking because they couldn’t find her … because she was unrecognizable while dressed in drag.

“People were unaware that it was me, so it was almost like being a fly on the wall for a while,” Lennox told CTV News in 2009.

After Lennox took to the stage, staff and audience together were first confused who the “man” was, as she was also singing in a deeper, lower register than normal, and she happened to be rocking mutton chops.

This was radical for the ’80s. Lennox told CTV that she was responding to the whispers surrounding her sexuality and androgynous style. 

In 1989, the Grammys added an award for best hard rock or heavy metal performance. Pitted against AC/DC, Iggy Pop, Jane’s Addiction, and the favorites to win, Metallica, the rock-and-jazz old-timers Jethro Tull surprisingly won for “Crest of a Knave.”

Presenters Alice Cooper and Lita Ford seemed just as shocked as the half-clapping audience. The pair accepted the award on the group’s behalf.

In an interview with KSHE 95, Jethro Tull front man Ian Anderson said that members of Metallica were “actually very gentlemanly” about their loss.

At the 36th Grammys, Sinatra was honored with the Legend Award.

After presenter Bono’s four-minute introduction, Sinatra gave an emotional, comical, and slightly displeased four-minute acceptance speech. At that point, music started playing off the singer, upsetting Sinatra and the audience.

In response, in the middle of performing “The River of Dreams,” Joel, his musicians, and a choir abruptly stopped.

Joel held up his wrist to read his watch and comically said, “Valuable advertising time going by.” After pausing for 20 seconds, the upbeat performance resumed.

Midway through Dylan’s low-key performance of “Love Sick” in 1998, one of his backup dancers ran up shirtless with the words “SOY BOMB” painted on his chest. As he danced energetically next to Dylan, the singer looked around, confused, but continued his performance stone-faced. The man was then taken off stage.

It was revealed that the “Soy Bomb Guy” was actually the respected performance artist Michael Portnoy.

A few weeks after the Grammys, Portnoy told Entertainment Weekly, “Soy Bomb is a dense, nutritional, transformational life explosion. That’s what I think music and art should be.”

At the 1998 Grammys, The Queen of Soul stepped in for a surprise performance (to the audience and production crew) of “Nessun Dorma.”

While the show was airing, producer Ken Ehrlich was told that opera singer Pavarotti, who was set to perform, would not be coming because, in Pavarotti’s words, “my voice is bad,” Ehrlich told Billboard in 2018.

Panicking, he asked Franklin — who had already sung earlier in the ceremony — if she could fill in and sing Pavarotti’s song since she sang it at a prior event honoring the opera legend.

“Aretha’s performance was such a moment. I don’t want to say it dwarfed the rest of the show, but it was epic,” Ehlrich said.

Before Shawn Colvin could grab her award for song of the year for “Sunny Came Home,” she was upstaged by Wu-Tang Clan rapper ODB.

ODB expressed that he thought Wu-Tang was going to win an award, saying, “Puffy is good, but Wu-Tang is the best,” and memorably declaring, “Wu-Tang is for the children.”

The most confusing part, though, was the timing. Sean “Puffy” Combs and Wu-Tang were nominated earlier in the night in an untelevised, separate category from Colvin: best rap album.

When Lopez showed up to the Grammys red carpet in “that dress,” it wasn’t just a look; it was a moment.

Wearing a green sheer dress with a plunging neckline by Versace, she awed both everyone around her and everyone watching at home. It was one of the most daring looks the Grammys had ever seen.

The singer may not have won a Grammy that night, but she still stole the show.

People tried looking up photos of Lopez at such a rapid speed and in such high numbers that it inspired the creation of Google Images.

One of the most controversial artists of the early 2000s was Eminem.

His album “The Marshall Mathers LP” was both praised for its artistry and criticized for its homophobic lyrics. After it was leaked that Eminem would perform a duet with gay icon Elton John at the Grammys, members of LGBTQ+ advocacy groups like GLAAD were horrified, Entertainment Weekly reported.

During the performance, Eminem rapped his song “Stan” before a spotlight in the background showed John playing piano and singing the chorus, traditionally sung by Dido.

At the end of the performance, the two embraced, held hands, and hugged in a memorable moment.

Eminem has defended his lyrics in the past, saying his use of homophobic slurs was “tongue-in-cheek” or performed by his alter ego, Slim Shady. In 2018, he expressed regret for using a slur on a track, “Fall,” from his album “Kamikaze.”

As Evanescence took the stage at the 2004 Grammy Awards to accept the award for best new artist, a brief altercation ensued.

Lead singer Amy Lee was heard saying, “Oh, what did I do? This is my first time!” before 50 Cent, her fellow best new artist nominee, walked onto the stage and between the band members before walking right off.

Evanescence laughed it off, and Lee jokingly thanked 50 Cent in her speech.

In her first performance since taking a break from working and receiving chemotherapy to treat breast cancer, Etheridge took the stage in 2005 for a tribute to Janis Joplin.

Met with roaring applause, Etheridge stepped out with no hair and gave an exceptional and passionate performance of “Piece of My Heart” with singer Joss Stone.

Looking back on it in 2014, Etheridge told Entertainment Weekly, “I wanted to show people that I’ve been through hell, yeah. This is awful, but I am not dying. I wanted to present myself as ‘I’m back, I’m not weak, this has made me stronger.'”

At Clive Davis’ pre-Grammys party the day prior to the show in 2009, Rihanna and then-boyfriend Brown were all smiles. But afterward, the couple had an altercation, and Brown physically assaulted Rihanna, E! News reported.

The next day, Brown was arrested, and Rihanna, who had a photo of her battered face leaked online, was hospitalized. Both were set to perform separately at the Grammys but pulled out.

Hours before the show aired, a last-minute performance from U2 and a duet between Justin Timberlake and Al Green were planned.

Brown later pleaded guilty to one count of assault with the intent of doing great bodily injury in connection with the incident and was sentenced to five years’ probation.

M.I.A. performed while very pregnant at the Grammys with Jay-Z, Kanye West, T.I., and Lil Wayne.

In fact, it was later revealed that the event was on her actual due date, per Vulture.

She joined the rappers for a performance of “Swagga Like Us,” which samples a line from her hit song “Paper Planes.”

She gave birth to her son three days later.

Four months after her first dramatic aerial act on the VMAs stage, Pink performed “Glitter in the Air” at the Grammys. After taking off her dress to reveal a sheer bodysuit, she was lifted into the air on silks.

While Pink had cables and a partner supporting her in her previous performance, this time, she was solely held up by fabric and her own core strength. Dipped into a pool of water, she quickly twirled around while somehow effortlessly belting out notes.

Lady Gaga showcased her unique artistry on the Grammys red carpet, arriving in an oversize egg carried by latex-clad performers.

She emerged from the egg during her debut performance of “Born This Way.” With jagged prosthetics on her face, she looked more alien than human.

After taking home three golden gramophones that night, she was interviewed by Jay Leno the next day. Gaga told Leno that she was in the “temperature-controlled vessel” for three days prior to the Grammys.

Prior to Clive Davis’ 2012 pre-Grammy party, where Houston was expected to perform, the singer was found dead in her hotel room. With this sudden and tragic loss, the world and music community were in mourning.

In a last-minute performance at the Grammys, powerhouse vocalist Hudson paid tribute to Houston, singing, “I Will Always Love You.” At the end, she sang, “Whitney, we love you.” She received an emotional standing ovation.

Minaj walked the Grammys red carpet, accompanied by a faux priest and wearing a devilish outfit featuring Versace’s Medusa emblem.

Inside, she took the stage to perform “Roman Holiday,” starting next to the priest in a confessional setup. The screen then cut to the words “The Exorcism of Roman” and a short horror film of the priest meeting with a deranged Minaj.

During her performance on the stage, the singer reenacted an exorcism. Hooked up to cables, she laid horizontally and even began “levitating.”

This upset the Catholic League, which heaped criticism on the singer and the Recording Academy, The Washington Post reported.

Minaj shrugged off the criticism.

“I don’t know, what is the big issue?” she said at an event a few days later. She added that it was part of a movie she was writing, per the Associated Press.

In 2014, Queen Latifah introduced Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ performance of their queer anthem “Same Love,” saying, “This song is a love song, not for some of us, but for all of us.”

Toward the end of the song, Latifah stepped back onstage, and the audience erupted in cheers as they realized what was happening: 33 gay and straight couples were lined up in the aisles, ready to get married. Latifah served as an ordained minister, and the couples exchanged rings.

As Latifah pronounced them married, a second wave of shock washed over the audience when Madonna came out. She sang “Open Your Heart,” accompanied by a choir and marching band.

After West famously crashed Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 VMAs, declaring the win belonged to Beyoncé instead, he nearly did the same in 2015.

In a Grammys upset, Beck beat Beyoncé for album of the year. When he took the stage, West did too, approaching the microphone, but quickly turned away. Beck waved for him to come back, but the rapper was already sitting and laughing with the rest of the audience.

While seemingly joking during the ceremony, during a televised interview with E! afterward, West said, “Beck needs to respect artistry, and he should’ve given his award to Beyoncé.”

A much-anticipated performance by Adele turned sour due to several audio issues. As she started singing “All I Ask,” the song immediately seemed off, with a clattering triangle sound playing. Adele was thrown and sang off-key before her microphone cut out briefly. 

Although Adele powered through, the distractions kept her out of tune. Afterward, the singer posted on X, “The piano mics fell on the piano strings, that’s what the guitar sound was.”

Although Cardi B had recently announced her separation from Offset, the two appeared at the 2019 Grammys looking as intimate as ever. They touched tongues on the red carpet, which came as a complete surprise to viewers who thought they were broken up.

Further confirming that they had resumed their relationship, Offset joined Cardi B on stage as she gave her acceptance speech when her album, “Invasion of Privacy,” won best rap album.

She filed for divorce from Offset in 2020, but they got back together. She filed for divorce again in 2024.

To the audience’s surprise, host Alicia Keys played two pianos at the same time during the 61st Grammy Awards in 2019.

Her medley, which she titled, “Songs I Wish I Wrote,” included crowd-pleasers such as “Lucid Dreams” by Juice WRLD’, “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon, and “Doo-Wop (That Thing)” by Lauryn Hill. 

“I’ve always wanted to play two pianos,” she said before beginning her performance.

At the 62nd Grammy Awards, Lovato took to the stage for the first time since overdosing in July 2018. The singer performed “Anyone” — a song that calls out for help — which was written before the overdose and was released the same day as the Grammys.

A clearly emotional Lovato’s voice cracked through the first line of the song before she paused. Receiving supportive applause, Lovato restarted and belted out a powerful performance, cementing the triumphant comeback.

Doja Cat was using the bathroom when it was announced that she and fellow pop artist SZA had won best pop duo for their song, “Kiss Me More.” 

When she made it onto the stage, Doja Cat was out of breath. She said she’d never used the bathroom so quickly “in my whole life.”

“Thank you, everybody,” she continued, adjusting her dress. “I really appreciate it.”

Styles’ two Grammy wins in 2023 were not without controversy.

While singing “As It Was,” Styles appeared to trip and almost fall over on the stage’s moving turnstile, and some fans pointed out that it wasn’t his strongest vocal performance.

Several of his dancers later posted on social media that the turnstile malfunctioned and started spinning in the wrong direction, forcing them to perform the choreography backward.

Later in the show, as Styles accepted the album of the year award for “Harry’s House,” he said, “This doesn’t happen to people like me very often,” even though he was the 33rd white man to win the award.

The comment attracted online criticism, especially because he won over Beyoncé, who, at the time, hadn’t ever won album of the year.

Killer Mike (real name Michael Render) is a rapper who has been in the game for over two decades, and 21 years after winning his first Grammy, Killer Mike should’ve been taking a victory lap for winning best rap song, best rap performance, and best rap album in a non-televised ceremony before the main event.

Instead, as reported by the Associated Press, the musician was escorted out of the Crypto.com Arena in handcuffs by the LAPD and was later charged with a misdemeanor.

“As you can imagine, there was a lot going and there was some confusion around which door my team and I should enter,” he said in a statement. “We experienced an over-zealous security guard but my team and I have the upmost confidence that I will ultimately be cleared of all wrongdoing.”

A few months later, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office announced it would not be pressing charges after he completed a community service requirement during the hearing process.

Taylor Swift was riding high at the 2024 Grammy Awards — she was in the midst of the Eras Tour, the highest-grossing tour of all time, was nominated for six Grammys, and her future fiancé was headed to the Super Bowl.

Since we were firmly in the “Midnights” era, no one was expecting Swift to get up onstage and announce that her next album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” would be released in April of that year.

But that’s exactly what she did.

Even more shocking? She did it while winning best pop vocal album, likely assuming she wouldn’t win album of the year, making history by becoming the first artist ever to win it four times.

But that’s exactly what she did.

2024 was the year of “Not Like Us” and the long-simmering beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. The timeline of these two’s relationship is long and too complex to get into here, but if you’ve listened to all the music involved, you know that “Not Like Us” was the death blow.

Lamar’s Drake diss swept the Grammys in 2025, winning five awards, including song of the year and best rap song.

However, the moment when “Not Like Us” won record of the year is the win we’re focusing on. Why? Because Lamar took a relatively long time to get to the stage, giving the audience plenty of time to get into the song, including stars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, who were seen getting into it.

In fact, it took him so long that the song reached the iconic line “Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-minor” — a double entendre you can probably figure out — and the audience was singing along so loudly you could hear it over the speakers.

There’s no other word for it besides jaw-dropping.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches made American history, but you might not know that the minister and activist was posthumously awarded a Grammy. In 1971, King was honored with a spoken word award for his anti-war speech “Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam.”

Two of his more famous addresses, “I Have a Dream” and “We Shall Overcome,” were also nominated for Grammys.

Actor and former stand-up comic Lily Tomlin took home a Grammy for best comedy recording in 1972 for her album “This Is A Recording.” The album features her performance as telephone operator Ernestine, one of the most iconic characters she created.

Tomlin has been nominated a total of five times.

Since 1978, actor and comedian Steve Martin has won a total of five Grammys. In addition to two awards for best comedy album, Martin, who is also a bluegrass musician, has garnered a handful of music awards for his country and roots tunes.

Most recently, Martin’s track “Love Has Come For You” won a Grammy for best American roots song at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014. He was also nominated in 2015 and 2017.

“Garden State,” Zach Braff’s 2004 directorial debut, attracted a cult following. Part of the film’s appeal is its indie-driven soundtrack, which earned Braff, who starred in the movie with Natalie Portman, a Grammy at the 2005 awards.

Joaquin Phoenix starred in the 2005 musical biopic “Walk the Line” as Johnny Cash. Phoenix’s portrayal of the country singer earned him a Grammy for best compilation soundtrack for visual media.

Former President Bill Clinton won his first Grammy in 2004 in the category of best spoken-word album for children for his narration of “Peter and the Wolf: Wolf Tracks.” He won another Grammy for the audiobook narration of his memoir, “My Life,” in 2005.

He was nominated twice more for narrating his subsequent books, “Giving: How Each Of Us Can Change The World” and “Back To Work: Why We Need Smart Government For A Strong Economy.”

Hillary Rodham Clinton won a spoken-word Grammy in 1997 for “It Takes a Village,” her non-fiction book about the future of children in America.

She was nominated again in the same category in 2004 for her White House memoir, “Living History.”

Filmmaker Orson Welles won three spoken-word Grammys. The first was for “Great American Documents,” for which he read the Declaration of Independence. He also won the award for his masterpiece “Citizen Kane” and for the sci-fi radio play “Donovan’s Brain.”

For someone whose musical career is predicated on parody, “Weird Al” has made it big. The singer, known for hits like “Eat It” and “eBay,” has five Grammy wins and 17 nominations.

Johnson won a spoken-word Grammy in 1993 for “What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS.” The basketball legend, who announced in 1991 that he had been diagnosed with HIV, has been a vocal advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and education.

Late-night host Stephen Colbert has won two Grammys out of his three nominations.

At the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010, Colbert won best comedy album for “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!” Then, at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014, the recording of his book “America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t” won a spoken-word award.

Former President Barack Obama won spoken-word Grammys for narrating the recordings of his books “Dreams From My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.” He was nominated again in 2022 for narrating the audiobook of his presidential memoir, “A Promised Land.”

The former first lady’s audiobook for her memoir “Becoming” won a spoken-word Grammy award in 2020. She won again in 2024 for “The Light We Carry.”

In 1994, American poet Maya Angelou won her first spoken-word Grammy award for “On the Pulse of Morning,” which she wrote for Clinton’s inauguration. She also won the award for her poetry collection “Phenomenal Woman” and for the autobiography “A Song Flung Up to Heaven.”

Betty White won a Grammy at the 54th Annual Awards in 2012. The “Golden Girls” actor received a spoken-word award for her autobiography, “If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t).”

At the 60th Annual Awards in 2018, Carrie Fisher was posthumously awarded a spoken-word Grammy for her memoir, “The Princess Diarist.”

The former president won Grammys for best spoken-word album for three of his books: “Faith — A Journey For All,” “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety,” and “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis.”

Carter, who died at the age of 100 in 2024, won again at the 2025 Grammys for the audiobook “Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration.”

“SCTV,” a sketch series about a fictional TV network, ran on Canadian television from 1976 to 1984 and on NBC from 1981 to 1983.

O’Hara was just one of the many Canadian comedians who were introduced to American audiences through “SCTV,” which was something of a cult classic.

She won her first Emmy, for writing on “SCTV,” in 1982.

“You’re lucky to work with friends, and I think it’s nice to see friends together. I like knowing when people know each other and have a history; that comes across on screen. I think it’s fun for people to see. It is for me,” O’Hara told BuzzFeed about working with Levy in 2014.

The “Day-O” scene in “Beetlejuice” is perhaps the most iconic in a film filled with iconic scenes, and it all starts with O’Hara’s character.

O’Hara went on to work with Burton in “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Frankenweenie,” and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”

They were married from 1992 until her death. They shared two sons.

O’Hara has been a staple in homes around the world every December for 35 years due to her role as Kevin’s mom, Kate, in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”

Specifically, she was in “Waiting for Guffman” in 1996, “Best in Show” in 2000, “A Mighty Wind” in 2003, and “For Your Consideration” in 2006.

“Schitt’s Creek” became a full-blown phenomenon across its run from 2015 to 2020, and many of the show’s most memorable moments came from her character, Moira.

She won in 2020 after receiving a nomination for the prior year, as well. It was her second win from eight nominations.

O’Hara was a double nominee at last year’s Emmys, which were held in September. She was nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for “The Studio” and outstanding guest actress in a drama series for “The Last of Us.”