Madonna the wedding singer performs as 33 gay and straight couples wed
at the Grammys... and Katy Perry catches a bouquet
- Queen Latifah officiated
the mass wedding during Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' powerful rendition
of their song 'Same Love,' which has become a marriage equality anthem
- The song overtly addresses the cultural divide on the issue of gay marriage
- The
stage was transformed into a makeshift church, with an alter and
stained glass windows, for the emotionally-charged performance
- Following
the vows, Madonna performed 'Open Your Heart' to a standing ovation and
tears from not just the brides and grooms but celebrity guests
including Keith Urban
- Lewis' own sister Laura even was part of the mass wedding, tying the knot with her boyfriend, Alex
- Queen
Latifah was recently deputized by Los Angeles County to legally conduct
wedding ceremonies and will sign the marriage certificates for each
couple
- The performance polarized viewers with some slamming the Grammys for taking such a stance on a political issue
Thirty-three
gay and straight couples were married live at the Grammy Awards last
night in an emotionally-charged performance celebrating a year where the
Defense of Marriage Act was struck down and scores of states legalized
same-sex unions.
Queen
Latifah officiated the mass wedding during Macklemore & Ryan Lewis'
powerful rendition of their song 'Same Love,' which has become a
marriage equality anthem.
Following
the vows, delivered as the stage was transformed into a makeshift
church, with an alter and stained glass windows, Madonna, wearing a
white suit and hat, performed 'Open Your Heart' to a standing ovation
and tears from not just the brides and grooms but celebrity guests
including Keith Urban.
Lewis' own sister Laura even was part of the mass wedding, tying the knot with her boyfriend, Alex.
Queen
Latifah was recently deputized by Los Angeles County to legally conduct
wedding ceremonies and will sign the marriage certificates for each
couple. The lovers stood on platforms in the crowded venue as they
exchanged rings and said 'I do' during the performance.
Scroll down for video
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Macklemore (L), Ryan Lewis (2nd R), Mary Lambert
(2nd L), Madonna (C) embrace on stage after performing the song 'Same
Love' while Queen Latifah officiated over a mass wedding at the Grammy
Awards
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The performers also embraced Queen Latifah onstage during the performance, who acted as officiant
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Couples teared up during the mass wedding on Sunday night
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One of the couples at the ceremony were caught beaming as newlyweds
Dressed in a sparkling evening
dress, Queen Latifah glowed as she introduced Macklemore & Ryan
Lewis at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
'Music
has the power to bring people together at the Grammys,' the actress and
talk show host said. 'This song is a love song not for some of us but
all of us!'
Macklemore
was dressed in a velvet suit with a bolo tie, and vocalist Mary Lambert,
wearing a sparking red evening gown, performed next to him, as did
Trombone Shorty and producer Ryan Lewis kept a low profile, standing
further back on stage.
The
rapper was full of adrenalin as he delivered lyrics like: 'The
right-wing conservatives think it's a decision/And you can be cured with
some treatment and religion/Man-made rewiring of a predisposition.
Playing God, aw nah here we go/America the brave still fears what we
don't know/And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten/But we
paraphrase a book written 3500 years ago.'
That's when Queen Latifah reemerged on stage, introducing the couples.
'It is my distinct honor to ask the participants to exchange rings,' she said.
She
then acted as officiant for the lovers, who stood on platforms away
from the stage in an array of formal and casual wedding attire.
One
of the couples married during the awards ceremony included Spencer
Stout and Dustin Reeser, whose Home Depot marriage proposal went viral, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. They are planning a ceremony later in the week for family and friends.
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An intimate moment was captured from one bride during the Grammy's mass wedding portion
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One happy couple wore what appear to be matching sunglasses for the big day
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Katy Perry caught the bouquet during Sunday's ceremony, expressing her support for the newlyweds
Once
the official business was taken care of, Madonna joined the performers
onstage, singing 'Open Your Heart' as the newlyweds kissed, hugged,
laughed and cried. The married couples then moved along to the music, as
a backing gospel choir joined in.
The
couples walked down the center aisle of the theater away from the stage
as Mary Lambert joined Madonna for a duet performance.
Country singer Keith Urban was seen with tears in his eyes during the performance.
Celebrity fans of the performance included Neil Patrick Harris and Ellen DeGeneres on Twitter.
Patrick
Harris wrote, 'My face hurts from smiling. That was one of the coolest
things I've ever gotten to see. Much much love. Well done, Grammys.'
DeGeneres
tweeted, '#SameLove was incredible. Love to @Macklemore, @RyanLewis,
@MaryLambertSing @Madonna & @IAmQueenLatifah for a beautiful
performance #GRAMMYs.'
Other
Twitter users announced their support. One user wrote 'I would never
stop telling people Beyonce and Jay-Z were at my wedding. #GRAMMYs'
However, some were predictably critical of the surprise performance.
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Snap happy: Anna Kendrick sneaked over with her smartphone in hand so she could take a candid shot of a couple having a dance
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Celebrity fans of the performance included Ellen
DeGeneres who tweeted, '#SameLove was incredible. Love to @Macklemore,
@RyanLewis, @MaryLambertSing @Madonna & @IAmQueenLatifah for a
beautiful performance #GRAMMYs'
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Neil Patrick Harris wrote, 'My face hurts from
smiling. That was one of the coolest things I've ever gotten to see.
Much much love. Well done, Grammys'
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The couples, gay, straight and interracial, were lined up in the venue, standing on platforms as they said their vows
On Twitter, users slammed the Grammys for
taking such an overt stance on a political issue,
claiming the show-stopper was both inappropriate for a music awards show
and an attack on religious values.
Prior
to the event, Billy Hallowell from The Blaze tweeted 'Why can't the
event just be about the music? So tired of political and social messages
being infused into everything.'
Conservative
pundit Todd Starnes, who has appeared on Fox News, also tweeted 'The
Grammys to make a mockery of marriage tonight.'
Others dubbed the mass wedding as 'anti-Christian' and leftist 'propaganda.'
'I
don't care if they are gay or straight this is wrong. Quit shoving your
leftist agenda down my throat. Enough is enough,' another tweet read.
An earlier report by the New York Times
announced that more than three dozen gay, straight and interracial couples - including
Lewis' sister and her boyfriend - would exchange vows.
For Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, whose
'Same Love' was up for song of the year, the event took on a personal
note with the participation of Lewis's sister Laura, who married her
boyfriend during the ceremony.
'A night that is already tremendous for
me, for the music,' the Times quoted him as saying, 'but to have my
sister get married and my family there watching it — that makes it a
whole other level of amazing.'
Lewis also said that the weddings 'will
be in our minds the ultimate statement of equality, that all the couples
are entitled to the same exact thing.'
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Couples were beaming during the televised mass wedding
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The stage was made to resemble a chapel with beautiful stained glass windows
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The performers were clearly moved by the significant moment
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Even Ryan Lewis' sister Laura married her boyfriend, Alex, during the memorable performance
The wedding's rehearsal took
place on Saturday, where the couples walked up and down aisles near the
main GRAMMY stage. Show producer Ken Ehrlich stated that putting the
soon-to-be-wed pairs onstage 'could be viewed as more exploitative.'
'It
seemed like less of a "show" than if I put them onstage,' Ehrlich
explained. 'I don't want them to feel as though they're on parade,' he
told the New York Times.
The
idea for the weddings originated last fall when Mr. Ehrlich sat down
with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis over lunch to brainstorm ideas for a
possible performance. Knowing that their concerts have occasionally
featured onstage marriage proposals, Mr. Ehrlich suggested taking it a
step further with a full wedding.
The
band was into it, so a casting agency was hired to find the couples,
who at first were told only that the ceremony would take place on live
television. The couples each signed confidentiality agreements —
promising not to tell even their families.
Defending
the multi-marriage stunt from critics against the Grammy wedding
ceremony, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences president Neil
Portnoy said, 'I expect that people with all kinds of opinions might
voice them, and that's healthy, but we don't need to stoop to the level
of trying to find gimmicks and sensationalistic approaches to what we
do.'
In a charming twist,
pop star Katy Perry
caught a bouquet thrown into the crowd, and tweeted a picture of herself
holding it with the comment, 'Congrats to all the #samelove couples
tonight. You had me in tears of joy for y'all! Also... Look who caught
the bouquet!!! #okuuuurrrr
Earlier in the evening, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won Best New Artist, Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Son
