• Our critics and writers weigh in on the best and worst moments of the 61st annual Grammy awards. • At a ceremony dominated by female performers and presenters, Kacey Musgraves won album of the year for “Golden Hour,” as well as three other awards. Cardi B became the first woman to win best rap album as a solo artist for “Invasion of Privacy.” • See the full list of winners and the red carpet looks. • Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” won four awards and Lady Gaga’s “Shallow,” from the movie “A Star Is Born,” won two. • This year’s ceremony was perhaps as notable for who didn’t show up — Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Ariana Grande — as who did. LOS ANGELES — Women took center stage at the 61st annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night, with bold performances and wins in many top categories, a year after the awards came under withering criticism for its track record in gender representation.<doc-sep>(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy) Shout out to Kacey Musgraves' little sister. Musgraves thanked her sis for shooting and designing all of her album covers, including the one for her latest, "Golden Hour" -- which took home the prestigious album of the year Grammy. The album takes Musgraves' country sound in a poppier direction, adding dance beats on a few songs. In all, the singer-songwriter took home four Grammys, making her one of the night's biggest winners. And Musgraves' acceptance speech may have been the closest we had all night to a political statement. "Life is pretty tumultuous for all of us right now...and because of that I feel like art is really important right now," the 30-year-old country star said. She also won for best country album, best country solo performance for "Butterflies" and best country song for "Space Cowboy."<doc-sep>Michelle Obama, Dolly Parton and Kacey Musgraves were the biggest winners at the 2019 Grammys — even though Musgraves was the only one of the three to take home a trophy. Musgraves was visibly shocked when she was announced as the night's biggest winner for album of the year for her record "Golden Hour" which won earlier in the evening for best country album. ALL THE WINNERS OF THE 2019 GRAMMYS "I don't even know what to say," Musgraves said. "I am very thankful. Winning doesn't make my album any better than anybody else in that category." While Musgraves' win finished off the three-and-a-half-hour star-studded affair, host Alicia Keys set the tone for the show with a somewhat rambling opening speech about music being our "global language" before shocking the audience by bringing Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Jada Pinkett Smith on stage. "Music has always helped me tell my story," said Obama, whose appearance had the crowd roaring. "Whether we like country or rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves. It allows us to hear one another." MILEY CYRUS RISKS WARDROBE MALFUNCTION ON GRAMMYS RED CARPET Gaga told the crowd: "They said I was weird, that my look, that my choices, that my sound wouldn't work. But music told me not to listen to them." She had several other big moments during the show, taking home three awards and performing "Shallow" from "A Star Is Born." ARIANA GRANDE A NO-SHOW AS SHE WINS FIRST GRAMMY The opening contrasted with last year's Grammys, where male acts dominated in nominations and the only woman competing for the top award, Lorde, didn't get a chance to perform onstage. Cardi B made history as the first solo female to win best rap album (Lauryn Hill won as a member of the Fugees at the 1997 Grammys). She was shaking onstage as she tried to give a thank-you speech with her rapper-husband Offset holding her arm. DOLLY PARTON HONORED, PERFORMS WITH MILEY CYRUS, MAREN MORRIS, KACEY MUSGRAVES AND KATY PERRY "The nerves are so bad. Maybe I need to start smoking weed," she said as the audience laughed. "I just want to say thank you everybody that was involved ... I want to thank my daughter." COUNTRY MUSIC STAR'S NAME MISSPELLED DURING GRAMMY AWARDS Perhaps the biggest moment of the night was when Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves and Little Big Town all performed with MusiCares Person of the Year Dolly Parton. The crowd went wild while Parton and her fellow artists ticked through a medley of the country legend's greatest hits. Lopez also had the crowd on their feet when she performed a Motown tribute inserting her energetic dance-pop flavor into memorable Motown melodies such as "Dancing Machine" and "Dancing in the Street." She faced backlash on social media for her lead participation in a tribute recognizing an historic African-American record label. GRAMMYS CUT OFF DRAKE'S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH BEFORE RAPPER FINISHES AFTER HE REPORTEDLY DECLINED TO PERFORM Some online questioned why a black artist wasn't chosen instead of Lopez, but she did receive support from Smokey Robinson, who joined her in a duet to perform "My Girl," a song he co-wrote. She then briefly teamed up with Alicia Keys on "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" and sang "Another Star" with Ne-Yo, who played the piano. HOST ALICIA KEYS UNAWARE SHOW RETURNS FROM COMMERCIAL BREAK Another shining moment for female artists came as British singer Dua Lipa won the best new artist Grammy Award after performing a sultry duet with St. Vincent. Earlier in the show, H.E.R. wong the best R&B album for her self-titled album. Ariana Grande also had a big reason to celebrate when she won best pop vocal album for "Sweetener." But the singer, who this week publicly clashed with a Grammys producer, did not attend the show despite having won her first Grammy. The superstar accused Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich of lying about discussions with Grande about performing at Sunday's ceremony. Ehrlich told The Associated Press on Thursday that Grande had told producers that she said she didn't have adequate time to prepare. JOY VILLA DRESSES AS A BORDER WALL, RICKY REBEL ROCKS PRO-TRUMP MAGA MERCH Grande blasted the comments in a social media post, saying she could have prepared a performance overnight. Another artist who won an award but did not attend the show was Childish Gambino, who is the alter ego of singer-actor Donald Glover. His song "This Is America" won the Grammy Award for record of the year. Rapper Drake, who was rumored to not attend the show, surprised audiences when he did show up to accept best rap song for "God's Plan." TAYLOR SWIFT FANS CALL FOR GRAMMYS BOYCOTT, SAY POP STAR WAS WRONGLY SHUT OUT OF AWARD SHOW Another memorable moment came when Diana Ross took the stage in an uplifting performance of a pair of her classics in honor of her forthcoming 75th birthday. Introduced by her grandson and wearing a dress of flowing bright red chiffon, Ross told the audience Sunday night that "when I was a little girl, I felt the joy of singing. It made me happy, it made my parents happy, and it led to this day." JENNIFER LOPEZ TURNS HEADS WITH MOTOWN TRIBUTE AT 2019 GRAMMYS FOLLOWING BACKLASH She sang "The Best Years of My Life" followed by "Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand)" and strode out into an audience at the Staples Center in Los Angeles that included her fellow Motown star Smokey Robinson and Motown founder Berry Gordy. Other performances including Miley Cyrus with Shawn Mendes, country duo Dan + Shay, Camila Cabello with Ricky Martin, Young Thug, and J Balvin, Brandi Carlile among others. The Associated Press contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
Who run the world? Tonight (and most nights), that would be Michelle Obama, who made a surprise appearance at the Grammys alongside a group of powerful women. Host Alicia Keys and Obama were joined by Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jennifer Lopez, who deviated from the traditional mean-spirited joking opener typical of awards shows and spoke about the power of music instead. Obama shone in a custom Sachin & Babi sparkling top paired with matching wide-leg pants. When it was her turn to speak, Obama could hardly get a word in before the theater erupted with thunderous applause. Once she was able to speak, she talked about how music has helped her share her story. "From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side, to the 'who run the world' songs that fueled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story, and I know that's true for everybody here," she told the crowd. "Whether we like country or rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves," she continued. "Our dignity and its sorrows, our hopes and joys, it allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in. Music shows us that all of it matters. Every story within every voice, every note within every song. Is that right, ladies?" Obama tweeted about the experience afterward: "A big part of friendship is showing up for your girls—that’s why I was thrilled to be there for the one and only @aliciakeys at the #GRAMMYs. She is one of the most genuine and thoughtful people I know—there’s no one better to help us all celebrate the unifying power of music!" Showed up for her girls (and the rest of America), she did. More:Grammys: Bebe Rexha stuns in red gown after designers told her she was 'too big' More:As Iran's Islamic Republic turns 40, Michelle Obama's 'Becoming' hits bestseller list