The Most Shocking Grammy Awards Moments of All Time
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Originally appeared on E! Online
Your Grammy might not approve of these head-turning moments.
While the Grammy Awards mark the biggest night in music—with superstars hitting the red carpet in designer gowns and taking home prestigious awards—the ceremony has also included more than a few eye-popping moments over its 66-year history.
For starters, who could forget Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's NSFW performance of "WAP" at the 2021 show? The rappers put their body-ody-odies on display when they got the down on stage, pushing the envelope with their sexual innuendo-laden performance.
Other moments raised eyebrows for different reasons, like when Lady Gaga arrived to the red carpet in 2011 inside of a giant egg pod, carried on a platform by shirtless or scantily-clad men.
"I was in the egg for three days," the pop star told British Vogue in 2021. "To be honest, at award shows, especially during this time, I didn't like to talk to people. I always felt that it threw me off with my performance so this in a lot of ways is really representative of my devotion to my craft in that I really wanted to be with myself."
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As for last year's show, one of the buzziest moments was when Taylor Swift reunited with ex Harry Styles long after the Haylor ship had sailed.
Just eight months after she was seen cheering on the One Direction alum at the award show, the "Cruel Summer" artist seemingly gave more insight on their 2013 breakup when she dropped five bonus tracks on her re-recorded 2014 album 1989.
In "Now That We Don't Talk," she seemingly references how Harry moved on in life, including changing up his look with a new hairstyle. "You grew your hair long / You got new icons," Taylor sings. "And from the outside / It looks like you're tryin' lives on / I miss the old ways / You didn't have to change / But I guess I don't have a say / Now that we don't talk."
But since making it clear the exes don't have any bad blood, they've both moved on with sweet new romances.
Harry is now dating another famous Taylor: Bones and All star Taylor Russell. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift has proved her love with Travis Kelce is no longer a secret she's been hoping, dreaming, dying to keep as she's cheered him on at a dozen NFL games over the past year.
In fact, there was speculation Taylor and Travis would even make their red carpet debut at the 2024 Grammys, where she is nominated for six awards. However, sources close to the couple told E! News that the athlete is skipping the show in order to prepare for the Super Bowl in Las Vegas.
See if Taylor will be smiling like she won a contest when the ceremony airs Feb. 4 on CBS.
In the meantime, relive all the most unexpected moments at the Grammy Awards:
Jennifer Lopez, 2000
No one could ever have guessed the series of events that would follow the reveal of this dress. J. Lo quite literally shocked the world with this now iconic plunging Versace jungle-print gown. People searched it on the Internet so much that Google was inspired to create the Google Images search engine.
Eminem & Elton John, 2001
Jaws literally dropped when the unlikely duo took the stage to perform together for the Grammy Awards. It's a bit more surprising when you realize that their performance spawned a friendship that has endured over the years. Both musicians have said that they bonded over their shared sobriety.
50 Cent & Evanescence, 2004
After the rock band beat the rapper in the Best New Artist category, 50 Cent took to the stage during the band's speech, which confused the entire audience. He smoothly walked back down to his seat moments later to a round of applause, and was even given a shout-out from the band. It's safe to say he was a bit upset to go home empty-handed that night.
M.I.A., 2009
While it isn't a big deal for a pregnant musician to perform, it's a pretty big deal to rap and sing onstage on your due date. This is exactly what the "Paper Planes" rapper did in 2009, when she took to the stage to perform "Swagga Like Us" with T.I., Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and Kanye West. Luckily, the baby waited a few days before finally arriving.
Lady Gaga, 2011
The Star Is Born actress had a truly out-of-this-world experience when she arrived on the red carpet in an egg pod. Models in gold ensembles lifted the vessel through the hordes of people to the stage area, where she crawled to perform.
Macklemore & Kendrick Lamar, 2014
When The Heist won for Album of the Year, even Macklemore was surprised. He was so surprised, in fact, that he texted Kendrick Lamar to apologize. "You got robbed. I wanted you to win," the star told his competitor. "You should have. It's weird and it sucks that I robbed you." While Macklemore have been a sincere apology, Drake called the public apology "wack as f--k."
Beck & Kanye West, 2015
After the rapper interrupted Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009, he got a lot of criticism. Perhaps this is why the star changed his mind when he went onstage to take the mic out of Album of the Year winner Beck. Beck welcomed Kanye to speak his mind, but the rapper simply returned to his seat as people looked on in shock.
Beyoncé, 2017
It was a sight to behold when the Lemonade performer ascended the stage in a shimmering gold dress and crown. At the time, she was heavily pregnant with twins Sir and Rumi as she danced and sang to "Sandcastles" and "Love Drought." While all performances by Queen B are amazing, this one is definitely one of her most memorable.
Adele, 2017
It was a tough choice to vote between Adele and Beyoncé, but the votes were cast and Adele won. "I'm very humbled and I'm very grateful and gracious. But my artist of my life is Beyoncé. And this album to me, the Lemonade album, is just so monumental," the British singer tearfully revealed during her acceptance speech for Album of the Year, which was mostly devoted to praising Bey.
Adele, 2017
George Michael's death hit close to home for the star, who got choked up during her tribute to the late singer. As she began to sing his song "Fastlove," she swore and asked to start over entirely even though the show was being broadcast live. "I'm sorry for swearing and I'm sorry for starting again," Adele said. "Can we please start it again? I'm sorry, I can't mess this up for him. I'm sorry. I can't. I'm sorry for swearing. I'm really sorry."
Michelle Obama, 2019
When it came time to start the show, host Alicia Keys surprised the audience by bringing a few familiar female faces to the stage, including the former first lady.
Alicia Keys, 2019
Leave it to the modern queen of the keys to perform a medley of hits as the night's host using not one, but two pianos.
Demi Lovato, 2020
Nearly two years after surviving a near-fatal overdose, Demi Lovato took the stage at the 2020 Grammys for a powerful performance of "Anyone," marking her first time singing live since being hospitalized. The moment was so emotional that Lovato had to start the song over again.
Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion, 2021
Stripper heel props, neon graphics and a whole lot of twerking made this NSWF performance of "WAP" a must-see event at the 2021 Grammys. "If you have small children in the room, just tell them it's a song about giving a cat a bath," host Trevor Noah jokingly warned before the duo took the stage.
Olivia Rodrigo and BTS' V, 2022
The K-pop group started off their 2022 Grammys performance of "Butter" with Jungkook descending from the MGM Grand Garden Arena ceiling. Then, the rest of the group—J-Hope, RM, Suga, Jin, V and Park Ji-min—slowly appeared throughout the audience, with V cozying up to pop star Olivia Rodrigo.
<p>Harry Styles and Taylor Swift, 2023</p>
Haylors rejoice! At the 2023 Grammys, the "Cruel Summer" singer reunited with her ex. In fact, after the former One Direction member won Best Pop Vocal Album for Harry's House, Taylor quickly jumped up to give him a standing ovation.
