Rihanna, Sir Paul McCartney and Kanye West, Sam Smith and Mary J. Blige, Ed Sheeran John Mayer, Herbie Hancock and Questlove, and Jessie J and Sir Tom Jones were among the groups of performers at last night’s (08.02.15) Grammy Awards.
The annual musical awards ceremony showcased a number of collaborations, with the ‘Diamonds’ hitmaker’s performance with the Beatles Legend and the rapper on their track ‘FourFiveSeconds’ prompting a singalong at Los Angeles’ Staples Centre, with all the audience on their feet throughout the song.
Sam and Mary’s rendition of his Grammy-winning single ‘Stay With Me’ was widely regarded as one of the stand-out performances of the night, with their stripped-back vocals complemented by an orchestra.
Ed was joined by a trio of guests on his track ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and the British singer later joined ELO, who had already performed ‘Evil Woman’, on vocals for their classic track ‘Mr. Blue Sky’.
Jessie and Tom – who previously worked together on UK TV show ‘The Voice’ – teamed up on ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’, a tribute to songwriters Barry Mann & Cyntheia Weil, who received the Trustees Award, while US ‘The Voice coaches Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani also teamed up, singing Maroon 5 track ‘My Heart Is Open’.
Elsewhere, Usher was joined on stage by Stevie Wonder, who played harmonica as the ‘OMG’ hitmaker sang the legendary star’s track ‘If It’s Magic’, and the evening’s double Grammy winner, Beck, was backed by Chris Martin on guitar as he performed ‘Heart is a Drum’.
Katy Perry gave an emotional performance of ‘By the Grace of God’ following a video message from President Obama and a speech from a domestic violence survivor to raise awareness of ItsOnUs.org.
Sia’s performance was introduced by actor Shia LaBeouf reading out a love letter, and she was joined on stage by ‘Bridesmaids’ star Kristen Wiig, who danced impressively to ‘Chandelier’.
Other solo performers at the ceremony included Beyonce, Madonna, Ariana Grande and Miranda Lambert.
AC/DC opened the show with ‘Rock or Bust’ and ‘Highway To Hell’ and the close of the evening was marked by John Legend and Common singing ‘Glory’, which is taken from the movie ‘Selma’.
Rihanna, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith among Grammy performers
