Issa Look: 30 Iconic Times The Culture Showed Up For The Grammys
Before the Grammys tonight (Feb. 12), we combed through nearly five decades of Grammy’s fashion and hand-picked the most legendary looks, for the culture.
At awards shows, the stars show up to show out within their categories and on the red carpet. With the Grammys taking the cake for "music's biggest night," there's a chance you’re going to see your favorite celeb take a larger fashion risk.
The Grammys has been host to some of the greatest failed, barely-getting-away-with-it, and on-the-money fashion faux pas of the century. From Jennifer Lopez's iconic Givenchy dress to Cee-Lo's outrageous peacock get-up, the red carpet and the stage are one big fashion extravaganza that defines the culture.
After digging through our “Grammys Lookbook” crates we found some of the best fashion looks that helped define the culture. Because we can all admit, this part of the night is America’s guilty pleasure.
Stroll down memory lane before Sunday's (Feb. 12) big show in the gallery above.
Issa Look: 30 Iconic Times The Culture Showed Up For The Grammys
Sammy Davis Jr: Grammy Awards (1963 or 1973?)
We may not know what year this was, but Sammy Davis, Jr. was serving OG P.I.M.P. swagger like no other.
Awards: Hall Of Fame (What Kind Of Fool Am I?), Lifetime Achievement Award
Nominations: Best Male Vocal Performance (What Kind Of Fool Am I?), Record Of The Year (What Kind Of Fool Am I?), Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (The Candy Man)
Michael Jackson: 28th Grammy Awards (1984)
Michael Jackson “got the moves” as Big Sean would say. And he undoubtedly has the best male Grammys look of all time. Top 5, no debating. #RIPKing
Awards: Album of the Year (Thriller), Record of the Year ("Beat It"), Best R&B Song ("Billie Jean"), Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (Thriller), Non-Classical Producer of the Year, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Billie Jean"), Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Beat It"), Best Album For Children (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,
Nominations: Song of the Year ("Beat It"), Song of the Year ("Billie Jean"), Best R&B Song ("Wanna Be Startin’ Something")
Milestones: First artist to win 8 Grammys in one night; Became the only artist to win Grammys in all three fields of Pop, Rock and R&B in one year
Diana Ross: 43rd Grammy Awards (1991)
Even though the R&B songstress wasn't among the list of those honored in '91 at the 43rd award show, she turned heads in her get-up.
Mariah Carey: 43rd Grammy Awards (1991)
MiMi was a “Heartbreaker” before the single, in her LBD (little black dress) look and naturally tousled curls.
Awards: Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Vision of Love")
Nominations: Album of the Year (Mariah Carey), Song of the Year ("Vision of Love"), Record of the Year ("Vision of Love")
Selena: 36th Grammy Awards (1994)
Even though the category doesn’t have a home at the Grammys anymore, Ms. Quintanilla brought home her first and last Grammy for the culture signed, sealed, delivered with elegance topped with her signature scarlet lip.
Award: Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album (Selena Live!)
Whitney Houston: 36th Grammy Awards (1994)
Jersey’s sweetheart let her vocals carry her with elegance and poise, despite any roadblock. The vocalist’s gown at the 36th Grammys did the same.
Awards: Album of the Year (The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album), Record of the Year ("I Will Always Love You"), Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("I Will Always Love You")
Nominations: Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ("I’m Every Woman")
Michael & Janet Jackson: 35th Grammy Awards (1993)
Does a more legendary and stylish sibling duo exist? Although the angelic twosome didn’t take home any of their nominated Grammys, they went out in style with Ms. "Poetic Justice's" signature hair-do and MJ's staple arm band.
Janet Nomination: Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group ("The Best Things In Life Are Free" ft. Luther Vandross, Ralph Tresvant, Bell Biv DeVoe)
Michael Nominations: Best R&B Song ("Jam"), Best Male Pop Vocal Performance ("Black Or White"), Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Jam")
TLC: 38th Grammy Awards (1996)
Girl groups were always a thing, but TLC was something special. T-Boz, Left Eye, and Chili proved that with their wins and yet another iconic coordinated trio fit.
Awards: Best R&B Album (CrazySexyCool), Best R&B Performance By A Group or Duo ("Creep")
Nominations: Record of the Year ("Waterfalls"), Best Pop Performance By A Duo or Group ("Waterfalls")
Tupac: 38th Grammy Awards (1996)
Because Pac.
Nominations: Best Rap Album (Me Against The World), Best Rap Solo Performance ("Dear Mama")
J. Lo: 42nd Grammy Awards (2000)
I’m going to let y’all finish this list, but J. Lo’s green Versace dress at the 42nd Annual Grammys is undoubtedly the most iconic of all time.
Nomination: Best Dance Recording ("Waiting For Tonight")
Toni Braxton: 43rd Grammy Awards (2001)
Toni Braxton took the “barely there” fashion statement to a whole new level with this number.
Award: Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ("He Wasn’t Man Enough")
Nomination: Best R&B Album (The Heat)
Bootsy Collins: 44th Grammys (2002)
This funkadelic Rock & Roll Hall of Famer surely brought the funk to the 2002 Grammys.
Alicia Keys: 44th Grammy Awards (2002)
Perhaps an ode to the Queen of Soul’s look, three decades her superior, Alicia Keys looked interestingly exquisite from the waist-up. We’re still not sure what’s quite going on from the waist down. But it was the 2000s and the fashion rule then: anything goes.
Awards: Song of the Year ("Fallin’"), Best New Artist, Best R&B Song ("Fallin’"), Best R&B Album (Songs In A Minor), Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ("Fallin’")
Nominations: Record of the Year ("Fallin’")
Foxy Brown: 45th Grammy Awards (2003)
Foxy Brown didn't let a red carpet switch up her style. But, the Chyna Doll rapper's fit for the 45th annual award show was too much for Getty, so you'll have to do a little digging of your own for Brown's Dior-belted ensemble.
Nomination: Best Female Rap Solo Performance ("Na Na Be Like")
Missy Elliott: 45th Grammy Awards (2003)
The bedazzled adidas, cropped leg sweat suit, topped with a furry pink Kango-styled hat and matching bandana, may be nothing major to the Supa Dupa Fly rapper, but she represented at the 45th Grammys for the 99s and 2000s.
Award: Best Female Rap Solo Performance ("Scream a.k.a. Itchin’")
Nominations: Best Music Video (Knoc)
R. Kelly: 46th Grammy Awards (2004)
Not quite sure what the motive behind the “Bump & Grind” phenom’s 46th Grammy get-up. And that's exactly what brought R. Kelly to this list.
Nominations: Best R&B Male Vocal Performance ("Step In The Name of Love"), Best Contemporary R&B Album (Chocolate Factory)
Kanye West: 48th Grammy Awards (2006)
"Mr. West is in the building. Swagger on a hundred thousand trillion." Hats off to the Purple One's protégé. #WeMissTheOldKanye
Awards: Best Rap Song ("Diamonds From Sierra Leone," Late Registration), Best Rap Album (Late Registration), Best Rap Solo Performance ("Gold Digger" ft. Jamie Foxx)
Nominations: Album of the Year (Late Registration), Album of the Year (The Emancipation of Mimi, Mariah Carey), Record of the Year ("Gold Digger" ft. Jamie Foxx), Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("They Say" Common ft. John Legend, Kanye West), Best R&B Song ("Unbreakable," Unplugged), Best Rap Solo Performance ("Through The Wire," The College Dropout)
Nas & Kelis: 50th Grammy Awards (2008)
Controversial, to say the least. But the former hip-hop couple, Nas and Kelis rocked the demeaning moniker to the 50th Grammy Awards not as a political statement, but in support of his then-upcoming album. The album was released in July of 2008 without a title, but features the track “N.I.*.*.E.R. (The Slave and the Master).”
Nominations: Best Rap Album (Hip Hop Is Dead), Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group ("Classic (Better Than I Ever Was") featuring Kanye West, KRS-One)
Cee-Lo Green: 53rd Grammy Awards (2011)
Who cares what you wore on the carpet when you dress as a peacock during your Gwyneth Paltrow and Sesame Street-assisted performance?
Awards: Best Urban/Alternative Performance ("F*** You")
Nominations: Song of the Year ("Forget You"), Record of the Year ("F*** You"), Best Music Video ("Forget You")
Lady Gaga: 53rd Grammy Awards (2011)
She killed the Super Bowl Halftime Show, but never forget the 53rd Grammys: the year Lady Gaga was reincarnated through an egg and wore butt pads.
Awards: Best Pop Vocal Album (The Fame Monster), Best Music Video ("Bad Romance"), Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Bad Romance")
Nominations: Album of the Year (Fame Monster), Best Dance Recording (Dance In The Dark), Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals ("Telephone" Lady Gaga and Beyonce)
Nicki Minaj: 54th Grammy Awards (2012)
We’re not sure if this was Nicki Minaj, her alter-ego, Roman, Nicki playing Roman, or vice versa. But she came to the 54th Grammys in custom Versace religious attire.. with a pope on her arm.
Nominations: Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance
Milestone: First solo female rapper to perform at the Grammys alone
Rihanna ft. Chris Brown: 55th Grammy Awards (2013)
We were unsure what to think about this, but one thing we all could agree on was that Rihanna was breath-taking in her sultry Azzedine Alaia gown and Breezy’s Lanvin ensemble was so fresh and so clean.
Chris Nomination: Best Urban Contemporary Album (Fortune)
Rihanna Award: Best Music Video ("We Found Love"); Rihanna Nominations: Best Pop Solo Performance ("Where Have You Been"), Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Talk That Talk")
Kelly Rowland: 55th Grammy Awards (2013)
Pharrell Williams: 55th Grammy Awards (2013)
January 26, 2014 a star was born… Not Pharrell, the Vivienne Westwood hat.
Awards: Album of the Year (Random Access Memories, Daft Punk), Record of the Year (Get Lucky), Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (Get Lucky), Non-Classical Producer of the Year (I Can’t Describe (The Way I Feel), Jennifer Hudson)
Nominations: Album of the Year (Good Kid, M.A.D.D. City, Kendrick Lamar), Record of the Year (Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke)
The Dream: 55th Grammy Awards (2013)
The Dream served us caps, on caps, on gaps in his ‘Boyz N The Hood’ fitted hat and parental advisory cap. To top off the producer’s explicit look, he rocked Chanel boots and about 60 gold chains.
Award: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (No Church In The Wild, Watch The Throne)
Rihanna: 57th Grammy Awards (2015)
Beyoncé: 57th Grammy Awards (2015)
“Slay trick, or you get eliminated.” Okay Queen, can we have our edges back though? We’re still recovering from Bey’s Michael Costello look.
Nominations: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Part II, On The Run")
Big Sean: 58th Grammy Awards (2016)
Since Big Sean didn’t go home with a Grammy for the 58th Annual Awards night, his mom just may have to wait until she’s a granny until he sees one. But that doesn’t mean the Don didn’t show up and show out in his Al Pacino-inspired tux.
Nomination: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
(One Man Can Change The World," Dark Sky Paradise)
Ciara: 58th Grammy Awards (2016)
Ciara “glowed up” from all her fashion critique of the past and killed it with the high-slit, low-back Alexandre Vauthier gown. So much so, Twitter heads were questioning how much longer the, then, infamously celibate R&B songstress and her QB could fight temptations.
Jidenna: 58th Grammy Awards (2016)
The classic man, Jidenna stepped onto the 58th Grammy red carpet in nothing less than his best–as always.
Nomination: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Classic Man")
