From Lady Gaga in an egg to Nicki Minaj’s exorcism, Taylor Swift throwing shade and Bob Dylan getting ‘soy bombed’ – we take a look back at the most controversial Grammy moments
Awards season is in full swing, and tonight is the night that will see the coveted Grammy Awards take place.
The awards are presented by the recording academy in America, and they exist to recognise and congratulate outstanding achievements within the realm of the music industry.
Kicking off for the first time in 1959 – Grammy Awards have been awarded to hundreds of musicians for decades upon decades.
Tonight (April 3), the 64th Annual Grammy Awards will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas – where Olivia Rodrigo is in the running for Best Album with SOUR, and Ed Sheeran is up for Best Song with Bad Habits.
And with any awards ceremony, as we all know from the past week at the Oscars when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock live on stage, controversial moments are a given.
From Bob Dylan getting ‘soy bombed’ to Will Smith boycotting the Grammys, and Lady Gaga arriving in an egg – a lot tends to happen at these events.
Lady Gaga arrives in an egg
Lady Gaga arrived at the ceremony in 2011 while being carried in an egg shaped vessel (Image: REUTERS)
Back in February 2011 Lady Gaga left fans completely taken aback when she arrived at the Grammys inside an egg… yes, really.
At the time Gaga was 24 and was carried into the event and down the iconic red carpet in an egg shaped vessel at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in LA.
She then ‘hatched’ when she was carried onto the stage and performed her then-new track Born This Way.
Speaking to British Vogue more recently about her most iconic outfits, Lady Gaga spoke about her egg-cellent entrance to the Grammys.
The singer ‘hatched’ as she performed Born This Way (Image: REUTERS)
“We would call this an outfit,” she said, before adding: “Everyone calls this the egg but it’s actually a vessel that was designed by Hussein Chalayan.”
She explained: “I was very particular about the way the fashion looked for this performance in so much as the night before the performance I said, ‘The fashion’s wrong, we don’t have it. We need it to be latex. We need nude latex’.”
Nicki Minaj performs an exorcism on stage
Nicki Minaj posed with a man dressed as a bishop in 2012 (Image: Getty Images)
Nicki Minaj confused her fans when she arrived at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2012, with a man dressed like a bishop.
Performing at the awards ceremony, she began raging at the man with her track Stupid Hoe before singing her own rendition of I Feel Pretty.
The Super Bass singer could then be seen ‘possessed’ by her alter ego Roman Zolanski.
In need of an exorcism, she could then be seen chained to a wooden board while hooded priests circled her.
Taylor Swift shades Kanye West
Taylor Swift winning Album of the Year while throwing shade at Kanye West (Image: CBS via Getty Images)
We all know that Taylor Swift and Kanye West have beef thanks to the huge VMA bust-up in 2009.
And then Kanye released a track that included some misogynistic lyrics about Taylor: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have 𝑠e𝑥 // Why, I made that b**ch famous”.
So when Taylor got the opportunity to snap back at the rapper and throw some shade his way in 2016 – she couldn’t resist.
Accepting her Grammy for the Album of the Year for 1989, she shaded the rapper by saying: “As the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice, I want to say to all the young women out there.”
She then added: “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.”
Beyonce and Jay-Z’s Drunk In Love performance
With bumping and grinding, they caused a stir among viewers (Image: WireImage)
In 2014 Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z performed an ultra sultry and 𝑠e𝑥y performance of their hit Drunk In Love.
E! News reported that Smoking Gun obtained documents that said viewers at home ended up complaining to the FCC because of the sizzling display.
The performance got the audience and people at home hot under the collar thanks to the grinding, dancing and red-hot chemistry on-stage.
Some people were quick to brand the performance as “soft porn” and “grossly inappropriate”.
Whether people loved it or loathed it, it was a memorable performance for sure – and one we won’t forget in a hurry.
Bob Dylan gets ‘soy bombed’
Bob Dylan performs his song Love Sick while a random man stormed the stage with Soy Bomb written on his chest (Image: Reuters)
In 1998 Bob Dylan got ‘soy bombed’.
If you’re unsure what this means, well, Bob was on-stage at the time singing Love Sick when a random man named Michael Portnoy jumped onstage.
With no t-shirt on and the words Soy Bomb painted on his chest, he started to dance around Bob in a strange way for around 30 seconds before being removed.
Like a total pro, Bob continued to sing and didn’t bat an eyelid at the random man on stage with him.
Speaking about the words written on his body afterwards the stage-bomber explained that soy represents nutritional life and he wanted art to represent a “dense, transformational, explosive life”.
J-Lo’s revealing Versace dress
Jennifer Lopez in Versace at the 42nd Grammy Awards (Image: Getty Images)
Looking incredible in a green plunging Versace number, Jennifer Lopez left fans enamoured by her sultry display on the red carpet.
She donned the green silk chiffon dress to the 42nd Grammy Awards ceremony on February 23, 2000 – and fans couldn’t believe their eyes over the risqué ensemble.
Incredibly sheer and with a plunging deep V-neck that showed off her cleavage and belly button – all at once – the dress is famous for leaving little to the imagination.
Because of the sizzling display that J-Lo put on at the Grammys in 2000, Google Images was born.. yes, really!
In 2015, former Google CEO and executive chairman Eric Schmidt wrote on Project Syndicate: “People wanted more than just text.
“This first became apparent after the 2000 Grammy Awards, where Jennifer Lopez wore a green dress that, well, caught the world’s attention.
“At the time, it was the most popular search query we had ever seen.
“But we had no surefire way of getting users exactly what they wanted: JLo wearing that dress. Google Image Search was born.”
Will Smith boycotts the Grammys
Hip hop duo Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince boycotted the Grammys in 1989 (Image: Michael Ochs Archives)
Back in 1989 – years prior to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars – Will boycotted the Grammys.
Will and his music partner DJ Jazzy Jeff were nominated at the 31st Grammy Award in the Best Rap Performance category for their track Parents Just Don’t Understand.
But they decided to not attend the event because the category of best rap performance would not be televised.
At the time Will explained to Entertainment Tonight that the duo didn’t have a problem with the Grammys.
