Kacey Musgraves took home some of the top awards last night and confirmed that 2019 is the year of the yee-haw!
Kacey Musgraves took home some of the top awards last night. Amanda Edwards / Stringer / Getty

The 61st annual Grammy Awards took place in Los Angeles last night, hosted by satin-scarf-wearing Alicia Keys, bringing together many of the titans of music to hobble onstage in pinching, pretty shoes and elaborate attire to accept the industry’s top prizes (except for, notably, one).

Kacey Musgraves took home the top prize of the night, Album of the Year, for Golden Hour. She also took home Best Country Album and Best Country Song for “Space Cowboy.” Her sweep, along with the Dolly Parton tribute, confirmed for many of us that, yes, 2019 is the year of the yee-haw and I’m molding my fro around a cowboy hat AS YOU READ THIS.


Cardi B also had a great night, appearing on the red carpet in vintage Thierry Mugler, becoming the living embodiment of a champagne squirting oyster.

Cardi B became the first solo woman to ever win a Grammy for Best Rap Album for last year’s excellent Invasion of Privacy over other rappers Pusha T, Nipsey Hussle, Travis Scott, and the late Mac Miller. Ariana Grande, who, like us, was watching the award ceremony from home, posted a string of messy tweets that seemed to be directed at Cardi after Miller’s loss, later deleting them and apologizing. Cardi, ever America’s sweetheart, dedicated the award to Mac after learning that his parents were rooting for her to win if not their son.

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WE WON A FUCKIN GRAMMY 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

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Also of note was Jennifer Lopez’s Motown 60th anniversary tribute because when I think of Motown, I think of J.Lo. Said no one. Even though Smokey Robinson defended her, calling her critics stupid, having a non-Black person perform a tribute to a label that was founded on giving Black people a space in the music industry shouldn’t be a thing. That doesn’t mean non-Black folks can’t perform, enjoy, or sing along to Motown hits—obviously—but this was a wasted opportunity to give a Black performer a platform to turn it the fuck out. During Black History Month no less! They’re all getting written up TWICE! (Kidding.)

This hurt was remedied, or rather balanced out, by Janelle Monae’s performance of her thirst anthem, “Make Me Feel,” replete with robotic hip movements, futuristic attire, and pussy pants!

Now that music has more avenues to reach a larger audience than ever before, success in the music industry looks different. Streaming services, Soundcloud, and social media have leveled the playing field in terms of how fanbases are built and maintained. This was pointed out last night by Spotify sponsored Canadian rapper Drake in his acceptance speech for Best Rap Song:

Seattle had its moment in the spotlight (in the pre-telecast Premiere Ceremony) with hometown hero Chris Cornell receiving a posthumous win for Best Rock Performance for “When Bad Goes Good.” His two children, Toni and Christopher, accepted the award for him in a touching speech:

Brandi Carlile also brought the house down with a performance of her song, “The Joke,” snagging three awards along the way (Best American Roots Song and Performance, Best Americana Album):

You can check out the full list of winners here.