A TIME list of some of the best, worst, and most baffling Grammy performances

Best and Worst Performances
by Josh Tyrangiel E-Mail this
Lucy Nicholson / Reuters
The Death Reel
Grade: A

Not technically a performance, but who doesn't love a good awards show death reel? Alice Coltrane, Floyd Dixon, Arthur Lee, Denny Doherty, Syd Barret, Ali Farka Toure—those are quality deaths, but they were mere appetizers in this titanic memory montage. Buck Owens, Freddy Fender, Ed Bradley, Billy Preston and Ahmet Ertegun followed and received awkward montage-interrupting applause, but it was James Brown who brought the house down. (Really, he was everywhere at this show.) The piece ended with a brief dance tribute and a tasteful (only in this context) draping of a Godfather of Soul red cape over a lonely microphone stand.





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