Michelle Obama, Cardi B., Lady Gaga, HER and All the 2019 Grammy Winners

The Sunday’s 61st Annual Grammy Awards, held at the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles, seemed at risk of being defined more by who didn’t show up than by the actual attendees, performers, and winners.

Thankfully a handful of brilliant performances — mostly by women like Brandi Carlile, Janelle Monáe and HER, Lady Gaga — saved the day. However, the internet was not loving Jennifer Lopez‘s Motown tribute.

However, no one got the applause like Michelle Obama did.

Grammy’s host Alicia Keys said she wanted everybody to feel a little less nervous and let their “shoulders drop” because she was at the helm and she gave shoutouts to several of the evening’s honorees, mostly women.

“Music is what we all love,” she said. “Music is what we cry to. It’s what we march to. It’s what we rock to. It’s what we make love to. It’s our shared global language. And if you really want to say something, you say it with a song.”

She then introduced her “sisters” — Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Jada Pinkett Smith and former First Lady Michelle Obama — who walked downstage hand in hand to the delight of the cheering audience inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Obama, who got the loudest cheers, also expressed what music has meant for her.

“From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side to the ‘Who Run the World’ songs that have fueled me through the last decade. Music has always helped me tell my story, and I know that’s true for everybody here,” she said.

“Music helps us share ourselves, our dignities and sorrows, our hopes and joys. It allows to hear one another, to invite each other in. Music shows us that all of it matters.”

On the awards front, Childish Gambino was the first rap artist to win song of the year for “This Is America.” The song also won Record of the Year. Kacey Musgraves took home the album of the year for Golden Hour, and this time it was an album that deserved to win. Cardi B was the first solo female to win Rap Album of the Year for Invasion of Privacy.

Here is the complete list of 2019 Grammy Award winners:

Album Of The Year — Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves

Record Of The Year — “This Is America,” Childish Gambino

Best New Artist — Dua Lipa

Best Rap Album — Invasion Of Privacy, Cardi B

Best R&B Album Winner — H.E.R., H.E.R.

Best Rap Song — “God’s Plan,” Drake

Best Country Album — Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves

Song Of The Year — “This Is America,” Childish Gambino

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance — “Shallow,” Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical — Pharrell Williams

Best Rap/Sung Performance — “This Is America,” Childish Gambino

Best Rap Performance — King’s Dead, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future & James Blake / Bubblin, Anderson .Paak

Best Rock Album — From The Fires, Greta Van Fleet

Best Rock Song — “Masseduction” St. Vincent

Best Metal Performance — Electric Messiah, High On Fire

Best Rock Performance — When Bad Does Good, Chris Cornell

Best Urban Contemporary Album — Everything Is Love, The Carters

Best R&B Song — “Boo’d Up,” Ella Mai

Best Traditional R&B Performance — Bet Ain’t Worth The Hand, Leon Bridges / How Deep Is Your Love, Pj Morton Featuring Yebba

Best R&B Performance — Best Part H.E.R. Featuring Daniel Caesar

Best Latin Jazz Album — Back To The Sunset, Dafnis Prieto Big Band

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album — American Dreamers: Voices Of Hope, Music Of Freedom, John Daversa Big Band Featuring Daca Artists

Best Jazz Instrumental Album — Emanon, The Wayne Shorter Quartet

Best Jazz Vocal Album — The Window, Cécile Mclorin Salvant

Best Improvised Jazz Solo — Don’t Fence Me In, John Daversa

Best Reggae Album — 44/876, Sting & Shaggy

Best Dance/Electronic Album — Woman Worldwide, Justice

Best Dance Recording — Electricity, Silk City & Dua Lipa Featuring Diplo & Mark Ronson

Best Contemporary Classical Composition — Kernis: Violin Concerto, James Ehnes, Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony

Best Classical Compendium — Fuchs: Piano Concerto ‘Spiritualist’; Poems Of Life; Glacier; Rush, Joann Falletta

Best Classical Solo Vocal Album — Songs Of Orpheus – Monteverdi, Caccini, D’india & Landi, Karim Sulayman

Best Classical Instrumental Solo — Kernis: Violin Concerto, James Ehnes

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance — Anderson, Laurie: Landfall, Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet

Best Choral Performance — Mcloskey: Zealot Canticles, Donald Nally

Best Opera Recording — Bates: The (R)Evolution Of Steve Jobs, Michael Christie, Garrett Sorenson, Wei Wu, Sasha Cooke, Edward Parks & Jessica E. Jones

Best Orchestral Performance — Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11, Andris Nelsons

Producer Of The Year, Classical — Blanton Alspaugh

Best Engineered Album, Classical — Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11, Andris Nelsons & Boston Symphony Orchestra

Best Pop Vocal Album — Sweetener, Ariana Grande

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album — My Way, Willie Nelson

Best Pop Solo Performance — Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?), Lady Gaga

Best Country Song — “Space Cowboy,” Kacey Musgraves

Best Country Duo/Group Performance — Tequila, Dan + Shay

Best Country Solo Performance — “Butterflies,” Kacey Musgraves

Best Music Film — Quincy, Quincy Jones

Best Music Video — “This Is America,” Childish Gambino

Best Regional Roots Music Album — No ‘Ane’I, Kalani Pe’a

Best Tropical Latin Album — Anniversary, Spanish Harlem Orchestra

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano) — ¡México Por Siempre!, Luis Miguel

Best Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative Album — Aztlán, Zoé

Best Latin Pop Album — Sincera, Claudia Brant

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling) — Faith – A Journey For All, Jimmy Carter

Best Children’s Album — All The Sounds, Lucy Kalantari & The Jazz Cats

Best Folk Album — All Ashore, Punch Brothers

Best Contemporary Blues Album — Please Don’t Be Dead, Fantastic Negrito

Best Traditional Blues Album — The Blues Is Alive And Well, Buddy Guy

Best Bluegrass Album — The Travelin’ Mccourys, The Travelin’ Mccourys

Best Americana Album — By The Way, I Forgive You, Brandi Carlile

Best American Roots Song — The Joke, Brandi Carlile

Best American Roots Performance — The Joke, Brandi Carlile

Best New Age Album — Opium Moon, Opium Moon

Best Song Written For Visual Media — “Shallow,” Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media — Black Panther, Ludwig Göransson

Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media — The Greatest Showman, Hugh Jackman (& Various Artists)

Best World Music Album — Freedom, Soweto Gospel Choir

Best Roots Gospel Album — Unexpected, Jason Crabb

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album — Look Up Child, Lauren Daigle

Best Gospel Album — Hiding Place, Tori Kelly

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song — “You Say,” Lauren Daigle

Best Gospel Performance/Song — “Never Alone,” Tori Kelly Featuring Kirk Franklin

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album — Steve Gadd Band, Steve Gadd Band

Best Immersive Audio Album — Eye In The Sky – 35th Anniversary Edition, The Alan Parsons Project

Best Remixed Recording — “Walking Away (Mura Masa Remix),” Haim

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical — Colors, Beck

Best Historical Album — Voices Of Mississippi: Artists And Musicians Documented By William Ferris

Best Album Notes — Voices Of Mississippi: Artists And Musicians Documented By William Ferris

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package — Squeeze Box: The Complete Works Of “Weird Al” Yankovic, Weird Al Yankovic

Best Recording Package — Masseduction, St. Vincent

Best Arrangement, Instruments And Vocals — “Spiderman Theme,” Randy Waldman Featuring Take 6 & Chris Potter

Best Arrangement, Instrumental Or A Cappella — “Stars And Stripes Forever,” John Daversa Big Band Featuring Daca Artists

Best Instrumental Composition — Blut Und Boden (Blood And Soil), Terence Blanchard

Best Alternative Music Album — “Colors,” Beck

Best Musical Theater Album — The Band’s Visit, Original Broadway Cast

Best Comedy Album — Equanimity & The Bird Revelation, Dave Chappelle