5 shocking moments in Grammy history: Jennifer Lopez’s green dress and more

The Grammy Awards ceremony is one of the most important events of the year. The 66th Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 4 (Monday morning in India). Ahead of the awards ceremony, let us take a look back at some of the most controversial and shocking moments from the annual awards throughout its history. (Also read: How and where to watch the 2024 Grammy Awards: A complete guide)
Remember the 1990 lip-synching scandal involving Milli Vanilli? Milli Vanilli’s Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan won the Best New Artist award. But the Recording Academy stripped them off their Grammy after it was revealed that they were lip-synching during a performance on MTV.
Bob Dylan’s performance of Love Sick was interrupted at the 40th Grammy Awards, when one of his backup dancers ran up shirtless with the words “SOY BOMB” painted on his chest. As Bob continued with his performance as if nothing had happened, the man was then taken off stage. It was revealed that the person was performance artist Michael Portnoy, who said that soy represents dense nutritional life, and he wanted art to represent “dense, transformational, explosive life.”
Although Jennifer Lopez did not win a Grammy that night, she made the maximum impact. Lopez attended the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in a jungle-print Versace dress with a plunging neckline. The attention that the dress received was so huge that it culminated in the creation of Google Images.
M.I.A. did not let a 9 months-pregnancy stop her from performing at the Grammys. She performed with Jay-Z, Kanye West, T.I., and Lil Wayne. Later, it was also reported that the singer was actually having contractions while performing on stage.
At the 2014 ceremony, Queen Latifah emerged at the end of the performance of the pro-love anthem Same Love, and officiated the marriage of 34 same sex couples. “This song is a love song, not for some of us, but for all of us,” Latifah said, while introducing Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Even Madonna joined her during the performance!
The 66th Annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 4, at 8 p.m. ET. The award show will be accessible for live streaming and on-demand viewing on Paramount+.