18 Wild Grammy Moments That Went Down In History

In the middle of Bob Dylan’s 1998 Grammys performance of “Love Sick,” a background dancer with the words “Soy Bomb” painted on his chest erupted into a contortive performance-art piece next to Dylan, before eventually being removed by security. The meaning behind the stunt was left largely unknown, though the dancer, later revealed to be New York City-based artist Michael Portnoy, revealed that he’d used those words because soy “represents dense nutritional life and he wanted art to represent dense, transformational, explosive life,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018.

In 2001, Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP was up for multiple Grammy awards despite the fact a lot of its lyrics were being slammed online for being homophobic. Perhaps in an attempt to placate his detractors, Eminem recruited Elton John for his live performance of “Stan,” during which they hugged and held hands. Still, that didn’t stop John and Eminem from receiving plenty of flack after their stunt aired.

Feathers, warpaint, and a green teepee were just a few elements included in OutKast’s 2004 live Grammys performance of “Hey Ya!” After it aired, the San Francisco-based Native American Cultural Center called for a boycott of CBS and OutKast, with one rep calling it “degrading.” CBS later apologized.

50 Cent rushed the Grammys stage during Evanescence’s acceptance speech after the band won Best New Artist over the rapper at the 2005 Grammys. In 2020, as he received his star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he was quoted recounting the incident, saying, “The Best New Artist, they gave that shit to Evanescence … Can you find fucking Evanescence? I ain’t seen Evanescence since that night.”

The Grammys has seen its fair share of weird band mashups, but one of the weirdest came in 2006 when Madonna performed “Feel Good Inc” and “Hung Up” alongside the virtual band members of Gorillaz, even trying to seduce one of them.

Less scandalous and more an incredible feat, at the 2010 Grammys, P!nk performed “Glitter in the Air” literally from the air, suspended by aerial silks and spinning over the crowd.

Lady Gaga made her entrance at the 2011 Grammys in unexpected fashion: encased in a giant egg that was ceremoniously paraded in by her backup dancers. Later in the program, she “hatched” from it during her performance of “Born This Way.”

Perhaps in the most controversial award-show performance of her career, Nicki Minaj performed an exorcism on herself at the 2012 Grammys. Her spooky set opened with a confession to a priest, and ended with a slew of backlash from the Catholic League.

One of the most controversial snubs of Grammy history is still Macklemore’s The Heist beating Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city at the 2014 awards show. The win happened during the non-televised portion of the ceremony, but the next day Macklemore posted the text he sent to Lamar right after, telling him: “You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have.”

After Beck’s Morning Phase beat Beyoncé’s Beyoncé for Album of the Year at the 2015 Grammys, Kanye West joking rushed the stage but didn’t linger, despite Beck urging him to come back to the mic.

Ever the provocateur, Madonna briefly mooned the papparazzi while being photographed on the red carpet at the 2015 awards.

At the height of her 2016 beef with Kanye and Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift won Album of the Year for 1989 and appeared to comment on the drama during her speech: “I want to say to all the young women out there: There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success, or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame. But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you … you’ll look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there, and that will be the greatest feeling in the world.”

In another shocking snub, Adele’s 21 beat Beyoncé’s Lemonade for Album of the Year in 2015. To Adele’s credit, she handled the situation gracefully, calling Beyoncé’s record her Album of the Year and exclaiming, through tears, “my artist of my life is Beyoncé.”

And in perhaps the raunchiest performance to ever hit the Grammys stage, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” involved a stripper pole, lots of hip thrusting, and a giant bed. Afterwards, the performance allegedly prompted over 1,000 FCC complaints, with many calling it “pornographic.”

BTS’s V and Olivia Rodrigo provoked brief online hysteria at the 2022 Grammys when the K-pop superstar appeared to get flirty with the “Drivers License” singer during his performance of “Butter,” leaning over to whisper something in her ear. Afterwards, he ended up sitting next to Rodrigo for the entire ceremony, but alas, nothing else happened.

Since their breakup in 2013, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles have rarely interacted with each other in public, but that changed at the 2023 Grammys when the exes were spotted chatting during a commercial break. Everything appeared friendly, but, of course, the internet was set into a frenzy.

As images from the 2023 Grammys came pouring out, people online began noticing how miserable Ben Affleck appeared. Later, a rumor that he and J.Lo were arguing started circulating, though they eventually set the record straight saying everything was completely normal between them.

Beyoncé became the most-awarded artist in all of Grammys history at the 2023 ceremony. But her achievement was quickly overshadowed by the demoralizing fact that, of her 31 trophies, only one was for Album of the Year. At the same ceremony, Renaissance lost that same award to Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, becoming an example of how the Recording Academy consistently sidelines Black artists.