27 of the most shocking Grammy moments of all time

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 — it was 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, according to the official website of the Grammy Awards.

Lennox was set to perform “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” but the show’s production staff were 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 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 started up again.

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,” Ehlrich 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 un-televised, 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 before.

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 was rapping 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.

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

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 showed her unique artistry at the Grammys red carpet by arriving in an oversize egg carried on the shoulders of 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 was in mourning.

In a last-minute performance at the Grammys, powerhouse vocalist Hudson paid tribute to Houston, singing, “I Will Always Love You,” giving a pitch-perfect performance. 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 with Versace’s Medusa emblem on it.

Inside, she took the stage to perform “Roman Holiday” by starting off 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 theatrical 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, who heaped criticism on the singer and the Recording Academy, The Washington Post reported.

“I don’t know, what is the big issue?” Minaj 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 came 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 that it belonged to Beyoncé instead, he nearly did the same in 2015.

In an 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 sounded 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. The two 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 had been nominated for album of the year five times but never won. She’s nominated in the category for the sixth time this year.

Killer Mike (real name Michael Render) is a rapper who has been in the game for over two decades years, and 21 years after winning his first Grammy, Killer Mike should’ve been making 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.