Sam Smith wins big, Kanye lets Beck finish - Grammys 2015 recap

Last night will always be a defining moment in Sam Smith’s career. After being the first artist to sell a million albums in both the US and UK with ‘In The Lonely Hour’, he dedicated his success to the guy who “broke my heart”, helping to pave the way towards four triumphant prizes.

Two previous DIY coverstars picked up awards - St. Vincent triumphed with best alternative music album, while Paramore rightly picked up best rock song for ‘Ain’t It Fun’.

Album of the year: ‘Morning Phase’, Beck

Best new artist: Sam Smith

Best R&B performance: ‘Drunk in Love’ (Beyonce ft. Jay Z)

Best rock album: ‘Morning Phase’, Beck

Best pop solo performance: ‘Happy’, Pharrell Williams

Song of the year: ‘Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)’, Sam Smith

Best rap album: ‘The Marshall Mathers LP2’, Eminem

Best rap performance: Kendrick Lamar, ‘i’

Best alternative music album: ‘St. Vincent’, St. Vincent

Best rock song: ‘Ain’t It Fun’, Paramore

Seeing Kanye storm a stage to repeat his infamous “Im’ma let you finish”, Taylor Swift-style, probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. But the look on Jay Z’s face as Yeezy approached best album victor Beck was priceless. If this can happen every year, the Grammys will always be unmissable. At the after-party, Kanye went on record to show that this mini-invasion was deadly serious. Speaking to E!, he said:

“I don’t even know what [Beck] said. I just know that, the Grammys, if they want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We aren’t going to play with them no more. ‘Flawless.’ Beyoncé’s video. And Beck needs to respect artistry, he should have given his award to Beyoncé. At this point, we tired of it. What happens is, when you keep on diminishing art, and not respecting the craft, and smacking people in the face after they deliver monumental feats of music, you’re disrespectful to inspiration. We, as musicians, have to inspire people who go to work every day, and they listen to that Beyoncé album, and they feel like it takes them to a different place. And then they do this promotional event, and they’ll run the music over somebody’s speech, the artist, because they want commercial advertising. We aren’t playing with them anymore. And by the way, I got my wife, my daughter, and I got my clothing line, so I’m not going to do nothing that would put my daughter at risk, but I am here to fight for creativity. That’s why I didn’t say anything tonight, but you all knew what it meant when ‘Ye stepped on that stage.”

Clean Bandit are grammy winners - that’s something. They picked up the prize for best dance recording with ‘Rather Be’, ft. Jess Glynne, beating the likes of fellow Brits Duke Dumont and Disclosure. The UK was also presented with an unlikely winner in the form of Aphex Twin, winning best dance/electronic album for ‘Syro’. Needless to say, he wasn’t in attendance to pick up the prize. Whether that’ll be going up on the mantlepiece alongside his robot drummers is anyone’s guess.

The most memorable performances arrived in ridiculous form - Sia and Pharrell delivered the two sets of the night, the former being joined by Kristen Wiig and Maddie Ziegler to perform her ‘Chandelier’ track. Pharrell, meanwhile, teamed up with an unlikely collaborator in Hans Zimmer, who backed a spoken-word performance that saw Pharrell dropping his customary hat for bellboy attire.

That’s not forgetting an instantly-iconic rendition of ‘FourFiveSeconds’ from Kanye, Rihanna and Paul McCartney. Prior to the performance, Kanye confirmed that he’s exec-producing RiRi’s new album - their minimal, all-black-suit rendition of the surprise new single arguably stood out as the best on the night.

For the full list of winners, head here.

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