In speech after speech, this yearโs Grammy-winning artists returned to one messageโICE is a menace that must be stopped.
After dramatic, violent escalations in federal raids on immigrant communities and their supporters in Minneapolis and across the country, Americans have been shocked into despair and action. Many artists up for top Grammys have been vocal about their opposition to these raids, but at Sundayโs Grammys, the topic was front and center for many winners in their speeches.
โI want to dedicate this to all the people who had to leave their home, their country, to follow their dreams,โ Bad Bunny said in his mostly-Spanish acceptance speech for the Grammys top prize, Album of the Year.
Earlier in the night, he joked with host Trevor Noah about Puerto Rico not being a great place for Noah should flee to, the island still being an American territory and all. But Bad Bunny made his point clearly even before taking home his biggest prize yet. โIce out,โ he said. โIf we fight, we have to do it with love.โ
With a Super Bowl halftime show coming next week, heโll take the stage as the most important musician on earth right now, an urgent message brought to the heart of the most aggressively American live event.
As musicians around the country and the globe use their platforms to organize and speak out against the ICE raids, many acts wore pins on the red carpet Sundayโfrom Joni Mitchell and Carole King to Olivia Rodrigo, Brandi Carlile and Justin and Hailey Bieber.
Yet it was striking just how many artists used the acceptance speeches to decry the agencyโs actions under President Trump.
Billie Eilish, an upset winner with brother Finneas for song for โWildflower,โ was even more direct. โNo one is illegal on stolen land,โ she said. โItโs hard to know what to say and what to do, but we need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting. Our voices really do matter.โ Then came a long, bleeped moment on the CBS broadcastโpresumably something urgently profane directed at a similar target.
That sentiment spanned genres and cultures. New artist winner, the U.K. R&B singer Olivia Dean, acknowledged the gifts of being โthe granddaughter of an immigrant. Iโm a product of bravery and I think these people deserve to be celebrated.โ
โImmigrants built this country, literally,โ said country star Shaboozey, a descendant of Nigerian immigrant parents, winning for country duo/group performance. โThis is also for those who came to this country in search of better opportunity to be part of a nation that promised freedom for all and equal opportunity to everyone willing to work for it. Thank you for bringing your culture your music, your stories and your traditions here.โ
Kehlani, a winner for R&B song and performance, said that โTogether, weโre stronger in numbers to speak out against all the injustice going on in the world right now. I hope everyone is inspired to come together as a community of artists ad speak out against whatโs going on.โ
โ Fโ Ice,โ Kehlani added, walking off the stage.
Recording Academy chief Harvey Mason Jr. also used his speech to underscore the โuncertainty and real trauma,โ of the environment in America now. โIt can be easy to feel overwhelmed, even helpless in challenging times. But music never stands still,โ he said. โWhen weโre exhausted, music restores us. When were grieving, music sits with us.โ
Alongside the nightโs words of warning and rage, singer SZA offered what amounted to reassurance in her speech after winning record for โLuther,โ her Hot 100-dominating collaboration with Kendrick Lamar.
โPlease donโt fall into despair,โ she said. โI know algorithms tell us itโs so scary and all is lost. But we can go on, we need each other. Weโre not governed by the government, weโre governed by God.โ