{"id":792910,"date":"2019-02-10T19:12:32","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T02:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=792067"},"modified":"2019-02-10T19:12:32","modified_gmt":"2019-02-11T02:12:32","slug":"grammys-2019-watch-alicia-keys-kicks-things-off-with-michelle-obama-lady-gaga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/grammys-2019-watch-alicia-keys-kicks-things-off-with-michelle-obama-lady-gaga\/","title":{"rendered":"Grammys 2019: Watch Alicia Keys Kicks Things Off With Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/alicia-keys-monologue-michelle-obama-gaga-jlo.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"\/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/alicia-keys\/\" id=\"auto-tag_alicia-keys\" data-tag=\"alicia-keys\">Alicia Keys<\/a> joked about the power of music and showed the crowd \u201cwho runs the world\u201d during opening monologue for the 2019 Grammy Awards at Los Angeles\u2019 Staples Center.<\/p>\n<p>Keys kicked things off by calling out her friends in the audience. \u201cWhen you really want to say something, you say it with a song,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let\u2019s just be honest. This is a celebration. And y\u2019all didn\u2019t think I was coming out here by myself, did you?\u201d Then she welcomed four more of her friends to the stage: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/michelle-obama\/\" id=\"auto-tag_michelle-obama\" data-tag=\"michelle-obama\">Michelle Obama<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/lady-gaga\/\" id=\"auto-tag_lady-gaga\" data-tag=\"lady-gaga\">Lady Gaga<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/jennifer-lopez\/\" id=\"auto-tag_jennifer-lopez\" data-tag=\"jennifer-lopez\">Jennifer Lopez<\/a> and Jada Pinkett Smith, who each spoke to how music had transformed their lives.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"4.8802816901408\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">It&#8217;s already a night to remember at the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GRAMMYs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">#GRAMMYs<\/a>. ? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MichelleObama?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">@MichelleObama<\/a> has arrived! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/F142ju4otY\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/F142ju4otY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CBS (@CBS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBS\/status\/1094769943084756993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">February 11, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThey said I was weird, that my look, my choices, my sound, that it wouldn\u2019t work,\u201d Gaga said. \u201cBut music told me not to listen to them. Music took my ears, took my hands, my voice, and my soul. And it led me to all of you and to my little Monsters who I love so much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBack in the Bronx, music gave me a reason to dance,\u201d Lopez offered. \u201cFrom hip-hop to freestyle, pop, soul and salsa, and it kept me moving from the block to big stages and even bigger screens. It reminded me of where I come from but it also reminds me of all the places I can go. Music has always been the one place we can all feel truly free.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe express our pain, power and progress through music, whether we\u2019re creating it or just appreciating it,\u201d Pinkett Smith said. \u201cBut here\u2019s what I know: Every voice here deserves to be honored and respected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then came Obama\u2019s turn. As she started to speak, she got a huge applause that she had to quell by telling the crowd, \u201cWe got a show to do.\u201d Then she explained how music affected her life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the Motown records I wore out on the South Side to the \u2018Who Run the World\u2019 songs that fueled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story,\u201d she said. \u201cI know that\u2019s true for everybody here. Whether we like country, rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves, our dignities and sorrows, our hopes and joys. It allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in.\u00a0 Music shows us that all of it matters. Every story within every voice, every note within every song. Is that right ladies?\u201d All the women on the stage agreed.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"6\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">This host is on?! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/aliciakeys?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">@aliciakeys<\/a> is here to spread the power of music, ALL night long. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GRAMMYs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">#GRAMMYs<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sIMYFs4z6N\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/sIMYFs4z6N<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CBS (@CBS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBS\/status\/1094768513577861122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">February 11, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWhat is better than this?\u201d Keys said. \u201cTonight we celebrate the greatness in each other <em>through music<\/em>. I\u2019m taking it in. Excuse me. \u2026 Who runs the world?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Keys, who took over hosting duties from James Corden last year, is the Grammys\u2019 first female host since Queen Latifah in 2005. It\u2019s been a long journey since she won Best New Artist at the 2002 installment of the awards show.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am truly excited to be here hosting the Grammy Awards this year,\u201d Keys <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/grammys-2019-alicia-keys-hosting-791553\/\">said at a pre-Grammys press conference<\/a> Thursday. \u201cI feel like we are truly part of a celebration, bringing the light, bringing the energy and continuing to make the statement that music is such an important part of all of our lives. Sunday is going to absolutely reflect that light, that love. We feel this Grammys is going to be different and bigger and better than any other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Keys, a 15-time Grammy winner, added of her decision to host the Grammys, \u201cThe reason I felt like this was such \u2014 I think we all felt like this was such \u2014 a natural moment is because I have been so blessed to have been on this stage before, multiple times, and understand what it is, what it feels like, what the artists are going through. That\u2019s what makes me excited to celebrate so many amazing nominees, particularly women nominees, so many who are my friends. There is a sense of true music community I can bring to the stage and I love the ability to lift each other up. It feels like it\u2019s the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/grammys-2019-alicia-keys-792067\/\" target=\"_blank\">via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alicia Keys joked about the power of music and showed the crowd \u201cwho runs the world\u201d during opening monologue for the 2019 Grammy Awards at Los Angeles\u2019 Staples Center. Keys kicked things off by calling out her friends in the audience. \u201cWhen you really want to say something, you say it with a song,\u201d she [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-792910","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-13 22:20:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792910\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}