Grammys 2022: Silk Sonic’s Leave the Door Open wins song of the year

Silk Sonic’s 1970s-inspired R&B song ‘Leave the Door Open’ won Song of the Year at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, one of four major trophies to be handed out at the star-studded ceremony in Las Vegas.

The group, the duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak, performed the song on stage to open the ceremony and returned minutes later to accept their trophy. “Because of you guys, I and Andy are going to be singing this song forever,” Mars said.

Silk Sonic defeated Ed Sheeran’s ‘Bad Habits’, Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘drivers license’, H.E.R.’s ‘Fight For You’, Billie Eilish’s ‘Happier Than Ever’, Justin Bieber’s ‘Peaches’, Lil Nas X’s ‘Montero’, Brandi Carlile’s ‘Right On Time’, Doja Cat’s ‘Kiss Me More’, and Alicia Keys’ ‘Beautiful Noise’ to win the coveted award.

The highest honors in music were postponed from January during a spike in COVID-19 cases and moved from Los Angeles to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Thousands of spectators packed the venue, a contrast to last year`s scaled-down outdoor event. Host Trevor Noah urged the audience to think of the evening as “a concert where we are handing out awards.” “We are going to be keeping people’s names out of our mouths,” Noah added, a jab about last Sunday’s Oscars slap by actor Will Smith, who told comedian Chris Rock not to mention his wife’s name.

Jon Batiste, a multi-genre artist who went into the day with a leading 11 nominations, landed four awards handed out before the televised ceremony. They included Best Music Video for ‘Freedom’, a vibrantly colored tribute to New Orleans. “I am so grateful for the gifts God has given me and the ability to share that for the love of humankind,” Batiste said.

Batiste’s ‘Cry’ won Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song. He also shared the award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, along with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, for composing and arranging music for the animated Pixar movie ‘Soul’.