The 20 craziest Grammy moments you forgot about

When Helen Reddy won Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 15th Annual Grammy Awards, she thanked God “because she makes everything possible.” Although many artists thank a higher power, and this comment wouldn’t get a second thought today, it was quite controversial back in 1973 to propose the idea that God is a woman. Of course, the feminist comment makes sense coming from Reddy, as the song that earned her the win was “I am Woman.”

Jethro Tull has been called rock, progressive rock, blues rock, folk rock, and a number of other genres, but few would consider them hard rock or heavy metal...except the Grammys, that is. In 1989, the English band was not only nominated, but won, the very first award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, beating out heavily favored Metallica to the outrage of fans everywhere. Metallica never forgot the snub, and in 1992, after finally winning the award, drummer Lars Ulrich started the band’s acceptance speech by saying, “First thing we're going to do is thank Jethro Tull for not putting out an album this year.”

It may seem unbelievable, but the Grammys once refused to televise the award for Best Rap Performance. As a result, in 1989, artists like Will Smith (then the Fresh Prince), Russell Simmons, Kool Moe Dee, and Salt-N-Pepa boycotted the award show. “You go to school for 12 years, they give you your diploma, and they deny you that walk down the aisle,” Smith said of the snub. That didn’t change the outcome, however, as he and DJ Jazzy Jeff ended up winning the category for their hit “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” In reponse to the protest, the Grammys televised the category the following year. 

One of the most outrageous moments in Grammy history took place at the 32nd installment in 1990, and it wasn’t even realized until well after the show had ended! That night, the German R&B duo Milli Vanilli took home Best New Artist... but it was later revealed that the band was a big sham. Nine months after the ceremony, producer Frank Farian confirmed the mounting rumors that Milli Vanilli “singers” Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus were not, in fact, the vocalists on any of the groups’ tracks. In a historic moment, Milli Vanilli’s Grammy win was vacated four days later – the first and only time an award was ever rescinded.

The generally uneventful 33rd Annual Grammys in 1991 were panned at the time and, for the most part, forgotten today. One reason for this is that the most compelling artist that year, Sinead O’Connor, opted to skip the ceremony because it celebrates commercialism. Even after O’Connor was nevertheless awarded Best Alternative Music Performance, she refused to accept the award at all. In an ironic final twist, the honor was for an album called “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.”

When Frank Sinatra was given the Grammy Legend Award in 1994, he cracked a few innocent jokes, lamented about not being able to perform, talked about his love of New York City... and was promptly cut off. This wasn’t a timing issue, as the speeches of legends don’t get cut short. Instead, oddly, the reps for the 78-year-old crooner feared he would embarrass himself on live TV and asked the Recording Academy to prematurely go to a commercial break. Show some respect!

When Pearl Jam won Best Rock Performance at the 1996 Grammys, singer Eddie Vedder took the mic, and in a rant that was “typically me,” as Vedder put it, he said, “I don’t know what this means. I don’t think it means anything. That's just the way I feel. There's too many bands, and you've heard it all before … Thanks, I guess.” Well, that’s one way to do an acceptance speech.

At the 40th Annual Grammy Awards in 1998, Bob Dylan’s performance of “Love Sick” was unexpectedly crashed by “artist” Michael Portnoy. Hired to groove to the music while standing in the background, Portnoy went off-script when he stripped off his shirt, revealed the words “SOY BOMB” written across his torso, and began dancing and contorting his body. There was a reason for this stunt, but to this day, it still eludes us. What we do know is that the Grammys didn’t press charges against Portnoy, but denied him his $200 background dancer payment.

More than a decade before Kanye West famously protested Taylor Swift’s VMA win, Shawn Colvin won both Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Sunny Came Home,” and prior to her acceptance speech for the later, Ol’ Dirty Bastard grabbed the mic. “I went and bought me an outfit today that costed [sic] a lot of money 'cause I figured that Wu-Tang was gonna win,” he exclaimed. “Sunny Came Home” ended up being Colvin’s only song to ever appear on the Billboard Hot 100, so maybe ODB was right. Of course, Wu-Tang wasn’t even nominated in the Song of the Year category in 1998, so the incident remains a bit of a head-scratcher.

It may seem tame by 2017’s standards, but in 2000, Jennifer Lopez’s sheer, green, Versace silk chiffon dress created quite a stir. The neckline was cut so low that it went below her navel, and the dress’ debut is heralded as a turning point in the career of Donatella Versace. It was an such an iconic moment in pop culture history that it inspired “South Park” creator Trey Parker to wear a replica dress to that year’s Academy Awards, and the outfit even has its own Wikipedia page.

After catching flak from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, numerous other groups, and scores of individuals for his homophobic lyrics, Eminem shocked everyone at the 2001 Grammys by performing “Stan” on stage with Sir Elton John. The two even shared a hug! GLAAD wasn’t too glad about John’s decision, but the event actually formed a friendship between the two musicians, with Sir Elton even acting as a mentor during Eminem’s substance abuse struggles years later.

Following the infamous Super Bowl halftime incident involving Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson, both artists were threatened with exclusion from the 2004 Grammys unless they made on-screen apologies. Jackson declined her invite, but Timberlake agreed, and thus had to say his sorries during his acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album. The incredibly awkward apology ended up taking up most of his speech, and was uncomfortable for both Justin and viewers alike. 

Few people likely remember that Evanescence won Best New Artist at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards in 2004, which is unfortunate, because that means they also don’t remember 50 Cent losing the category, but still casually walking to the stage, across the podium, and back down into the audience. Keep in mind, this was still a full five years before Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift at the VMAs.

Although she was clearly very close to giving birth, M.I.A. still fulfilled her duties at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009 by performing not one, but two  songs! (“Swagga Like Us” with T.I., Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West, and “Paper Planes” solo.) Just how pregnant was M.I.A., you ask? Enough that she had to cancel her performance at the Oscars two weeks later because she had given birth.

The first two minutes of Pink’s 2010 Grammy performance was innocent enough. She began “Glitter in the Air” as a simple solo performance, but then stripped off her dress to reveal a white, bondage-style outfit made entirely of straps. Less than a minute later, she was dripping wet while spinning and suspended high above the audience. Although Pink failed to win either of her two nominations that year, she received critical acclaim for her dizzying performance.

Not only did Lady Gaga arrive at the 2011 Grammys while encased in a giant egg being transported by a fleet of scantily clad male servants, she also started her performance of “Born This Way” by emerging from the Hussein Chalayan-designed vessel. As far as the singer’s stunts go, this one was one of the crazier incidents, and was somewhat akin to one of the performances by Spinal Tap in their famous mockumentary... except Gaga thankfully didn’t get trapped inside.

Plenty of people not only remember Whitney Houston’s tragic passing, they remember exactly where they were when they heard the news. However, people often forget that she died on the eve of the 54th Annual Grammys on February 12, 2012. Although the show still went on, it nevertheless often felt like a tribute to Whitney, capped by Jennifer Hudson’s heartfelt and breathtaking last-minute performance of “I Will Always Love You.”

While wearing a red Versace cloak, Nicki Minaj strolled down the 2012 Grammys’ red carpet escorted by her date... the Pope? Well, not the pope. More like a pope. Or a bishop, at least. Confused? Don’t worry, it made sense when the holy man later re-appeared for Minaj’s performance of “Roman’s Revenge” and “Roman Holiday,” which included an “Exorcist”-like clip. Well, it sort of made sense.

After winning Best Rock Performance at the 2012 Grammys, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl gave a short acceptance speech that seemed to suggest that electronic music isn’t real music. “Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that's the most important thing for people to do … it’s not about what goes on in a computer.” The comment not only enraged EDM fans, but it was curious considering the fact that the Foo Fighters were set to (and eventually did) play with deadmau5 later in the show. Although Dave’s alleged diss shocked and confused many fans, the singer eventually clarified that he wasn’t trying to disparage any genre of music or any musicians, and he was simply misunderstood.

Sia is used to hiding her face by mostly obscuring it with a giant wig, but at the 2015 Grammys, she drew attention away from herself using a different Wiig...comedian Kristen Wiig! While Sia faced the wall during the entirety of “Chandelier,” Wiig performed an elaborate interpretive dance to the amusement, confusion, and delight of viewers. Although it was wild and crazy, Wiig actually received quite a bit of praise for her part.