Ranking all the performances from the 2024 Grammy Awards

The worst 2024 Grammy Awards performances

TRAVIS SCOTT

This will be a bit of a theme. When you’re doing these types of performances, medleys rarely work as well as a single song. Scott did a medley of three songs from his UTOPIA album and until he got to “FEIN,” it was fairly muddled and surprisingly low energy. He took care of the energy part at the end, but it was an awkward concoction, seriously marred by all the bleeping out of lyrics. You might see this as a symbolic moment for hip hop, which struggled in 2023 to remain the fresh and innovative force it has been now that it has turned fifty.

U2

Note to awards shows. Don’t do remotes. OK – if you really want someone there and they are unable to travel for whatever reason, maybe you can do a remote. But there was no reason to beam U2 in from the Sphere. This was not really much of a coup for the Grammys or for U2. I think it may have been a nice bit of free pub for the Sphere though, which is exactly what the world needs right now.

SZA

This may be a wee bit controversial. SZA is pretty darn important to the music world today. Remember what I said about medleys? Oh, how I wish she had just done “Kill Bill” and left it at that. It certainly wasn’t a bad performance, but it didn’t exactly bring the house down. She did redeem herself a little bit with one of the best walk-off lines of the night when accepting her award for Best R&B Song. “I’m not an attractive crier. Good evening.” Mic drop.

ANNIE LENNOX

No one can sing “Nothing Compares 2 U.” It’s Sinead O’Connor’s song borrowed from Prince. Annie Lennox gave it a good try, and she certainly has the pipes to do it. But it did not rise to the level of Jennifer Hudson’s “I Will Always Love You,” performed at the 2012 Grammys, just 24 hours after Whitney Houston passed away.