Grammy Awards 2018: Jay-Z misses out as Bruno Mars wins big

His album 24K Magic picked up record of the year for the title track, song of the year for That’s What I Like and best R&B album.

But Mars’ victory was rap’s defeat.

Jay-Z was the leading nominee with eight nods but left empty handed, one year after his wife Beyonce missed out on album of the year to Adele.

Kendrick Lamar, widely expected to pick up the evening’s main prize for his fourth album DAMN, was limited to rap-only categories.

He picked up five awards, including best rap album and best rap performance.

The evening was not just a disappointment for those who hoped to see rap break out from genre-specific categories, but it was also noticeably short on female winners.

In a politically charged ceremony where the Time’s Up movement and the #MeToo campaign were celebrated, and where invitees wore white roses to support victims of sexual harassment, only one female artist picked up a major award.

Newcomer Alessia Cara won best new artist, considered the least important category of the main five.

Elton John at Grammys

In total, only a fifth of the Grammys handed out at the ceremony were given to female-led bands or female solo artists.

This included Kesha, whose performance at the Grammys was one of the most powerful moments of the evening.

She was backed by Cyndi Lauper and Camila Cabello on stage to sing Praying, which is about her experience as a survivor of sexual abuse.

Lauper said: “We come in peace, but we mean business.

“And to those who would dare try and silence us. We offer you two words: Time’s Up.

“We say time’s up for pay inequality, time’s up for discrimination, time’s up for harassment, of any kind. And time’s up for the abuse of power.”

Leonard Cohen and the late Carrie Fisher were awarded posthumously, with Fisher’s memoir The Princess Diarist named the best spoken word album.

Main winners

Album of the year: Bruno Mars, 24K Magic

Record of the year: Bruno Mars, 24K Magic

Song of the year: Bruno Mars, That’s What I Like

Best new artist: Alessia Cara

Best pop album: Ed Sheeran, Divide

Best rock album: The War On Drugs, A Deeper Understanding