Lizzo took the stage at the 2020 Grammy Award to give a performance of “Cuz I Love You” and hit single “Truth Hurts.” She is the night’s most-nominated artist with eight total nods, including Album of the Year.
Sporting a sparkling black gown, Lizzo opened the show by noting that her performance was dedicated to Kobe Bryant, who died early Sunday. She was joined by an orchestra while she belted the soulful track “Cuz I Love You.” On a smaller stage, a ballerina wearing a durag performed during a simple musical interlude before being joined by more dancers.
Lizzo then changed into a bodysuit and joined the dancers for a string-heavy take on “Truth Hurts.” Of course, before the end of the performance her flute floated down to join her; she then accented a flute solo with a “Period!” Before leaving the stage, she added “Welcome to Grammys, bitch!”
Alongside her Album of the Year nomination for her major label debut Cuz I Love You, Lizzo is up for Best New Artist, Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The latter two categories recognized her 2017 single “Truth Hurts,” which found success in 2019 after being featured in the Netflix film Someone Great. Prior to the ceremony, she took home the awards for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Jerome.”
In her recent Rolling Stone cover story, Lizzo revealed that she found out about her nominations as she was boarding her flight back to Los Angeles from the last date of her fall European tour. Her manager FaceTimed her as the nominations broadcast aired. “Then I had to sit on a plane for 10 hours,” she said.
The Detroit-born, Houston-raised singer also addressed claims of her soul-pop being “white-washed” for her audience. “I’m making music that hopefully makes other people feel good and helps me discover self-love. That message I want to go directly to black women, big black women, black trans women. Period,” she said.