The elder-skewing nominees in the Best Rock Song category — including Black Sabbath's "God Is Dead?" — raised a perennial question: "Rock is dead?" Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone, Dave Grohl, and the fleet-fingered, Fleetwood Mac-famous playing of guitarist Lindsey Buckingham combined for an explosive one-two finale. Hesitation Marks' "Copy of a Copy" into ...Like Clockwork's "My God Is the Sun." Whatever you call these gents, they were alive, and so was the Staples Center during their performance.
One of the more puzzling artist combinations when the Grammy performers lineup first came out made at least a little more sense during the actual ceremony. Kendrick Lamar's fire-breathing take on good kid, M.A.A.D. city's "M.A.A.D. City" looked like a star-making moment for the Compton rapper if he wasn't one already. Imagine Dragons were just as ferocious, pounding on every bit of percussion in sight and incorporating bits of their 2013-dominating rocker "Radioactive." Pre-ceremony publicity for the performance cited The Hunger Games; there was blood.
The French robot duo's second TV performance ever, and second on the Grammys, was, like the lithe disco-pop throwback itself, too talent-filled to fail. It didn't hurt that past songs by Chic, Daft Punk, and Stevie Wonder himself also worked their way into the bar-raising and all-night up-staying.
The lineup of three outlaw-country legends and current (unsuccessful) nominee matched the gravitas befitting their status with a certain raucous abandon. They played "Highwaymen," "Okie From Muskogee," and "Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys." The blood-stained Imagine Dragons guys weren't the only ones overjoyed by it all, but they looked like they were having the most fun.
Taylor Swift lost to Kacey Musgraves for Best Country Album, but T-Swift's performance wasn't all that country — and not in the dubstep-dropping, Max Martin-collaborating sense you might expect from the rest of her Red. Billed as an "intimate" session, Swift's take on the album's emotion-wracked "All Too Well" packed a punch while living up to its promotion by keeping the backing band in the shadows. Swift was at her most heart-tugging, and as she accompanied herself on piano, you wonder if she might not be a bit bummed she wasn't the one performing with Carole King.
Proof an indelibly catchy, brilliantly blasé country song about kissing the same gender and smoking joints (or not, just follow your arrow) can be just as resonant outside a Nashville context. If the neon-lit, desert-themed performance of "Follow Your Arrow" looked a lot like the video, well, what's the big fuss?
Metallica don't play on the Grammys every day. In fact, it's been 23 years. Backed by martial imagery, their take on "One" — which they played on the Grammys 25 years ago — was searing enough to mark the occasion. Guitarist Kirk Hammett paid tribute to former collaborator Lou Reed with a Transformer T-shirt. Guest pianist Lang Lang helped make the performance one-of-a-kind with an impossible-looking breakdown.
Beyoncé's first TV performance in support of her new self-titled album was notable more for its existence than for any particular extra flair she or husband Jay Z brought to the rendition. But their steamy ode to intoxicated marital, um, bliss was still thrilling to see brought to life. And starting off the broadcast, "Drunk in Love" quickly sent a message that this year's ceremony might be more adventurous than last year's.
She did "Royals," of course, and though it was a slightly different, spookier version, backed by statue-like projections, the now-Grammy-winner didn't really do too much to seize this particular moment — think Frank Ocean at the previous year's awards. But there's a reason this song was Song of the Year, and it still managed to be a highlight.
Where do you rank 33 people's weddings? Especially when tied to the cause of marriage equality? It was a stunt, and an imperfect one, but it won't be quickly forgotten (and it didn't involve twerking). Here's more about Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Same Love" performance.
Perry wasn't going to let Lorde hog all the spookiness, bringing a witch theme to "Dark Horse." It's her trap-based song with Juicy J, so of course that meant witches' brooms became stripper poles. She made it work, and she didn't even have to perform her song that's uncomfortably similar to Sara Bareilles' song.
Miranda "not to be confused with Mary" Lambert and the Green Day frontman teamed up on the Everly Brothers' "When Will I Be Loved," as a tribute to the late Phil Everly. Backed by just Billie Joe Armstrong's acoustic guitar, their high harmonies were more fitting honors for the Everlys than it would've been fair to expect. If only Lambert had joined Nelson, Kristoffersson, et al. and her husband Blake Shelton had sung with Billie Joe, then things could really have gotten interesting.
Sir Paul behind the psychedelically painted keyboards, delivering the song "Queenie Eyes" from his New new album. Ringo Starr played drums! Yoko Ono approved.
"All of Me" isn't the most exceptional love song, but John Legend's delicately phrased performance, alone with a piano, stood out in an evening of so many overstuffed collaborations. You'll see what we're talking about...
It didn't take long for Robin Thicke to take his place as his generation's Peter Cetera, did it? "Blurred Lines" is looking more and more like a song we'll have to explain when the people of the future start digging up 2013 time capsules. "...No, really, and Billy Ray Cyrus' kid had a ton of hits, too!"
The woman who wrote "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and the woman who wrote "Love Song," the one about how she was going to write you a love song. One has a matchless place in pop history and the other still clearly has a full career ahead of her, but it was hard to escape a piano-recital vibe from their dueling ivories. Also, Carole King's "Beautiful" > Sara Bareilles' "Brave."
Gary Clark Jr. has played every festival in the land these past couple of years, and he's a blistering blues guitarist with chops to spare. Keith Urban likes to solo a bit himself, but unfortunately "Cop Car" is a fairly forgettable song, and he left far too little room for Clark to help it rise above latter-day Eric Clapton album filler. And now, for some overly fussy blues-scale noodling in a nominally country setting!
Ringo Starr has a new book of photographs out, so the Grammys let him play his song "Photographs." It wasn't "It Don't Come Easy," the Ringo song you most want to hear (if you want to hear a Ringo song). It went on for quite a while. It was hard to be too mad, because the guy singing was Ringo. Not quite sure what Ozzy Osbourne said by way of introduction, but it was funny.
The generally awesome Pink runs the risk of becoming more of a circus act than pop star — as she seems to do on every awards show, she performed some acrobatics during her Grammy take on "Try," from 2012's "The Truth About Love." And then she did "Just Give Me a Reason," and everybody walked away with fun. man Nate Ruess' wisp of mustache stuck in their heads.
The America's Most Talented Kids alumnus debuted a brand new song at the Grammys, the piano ballad "Invisible." He should be forgiven for thinking good intentions (see Macklemore, Ryan Lewis) can make up for hammy songwriting, but his point about how words, like stick and stones, can "cut deep" felt a little superficial performed against a backdrop of inspirational quotes from famous people. Here, we'll try: "You can be amazing." — Sara Bareilles.