We Attended the Grammys—and Here's Everything That Went Down

When they say that the Grammys are music's biggest night, they aren't joking around. The award show, which celebrated its 59th year last night, is basically like the best concert to ever happen, because where else are you going to see Lady Gaga, Adele, and Beyoncé perform all in a span of three and a half hours? There were multiple tribute performances, a live Carpool Karaoke situation, and multiple Blue Ivy sightings. Plus, with funny guy James Corden as host and a grand total of 23 star-studded performances, it was a truly magical night. We were lucky enough to experience it as an audience guest, so read below to find out what it was really like inside the Staples Center.

3:15 p.m.—After some confusing road blocks and detours en route to the venue, we finally arrived at L.A.’s famed Staples Center and hopped in line to enter the ceremony. Instead of strutting our stuff on the red carpet like the impeccably dressed stars who poured in dressed in our favorite designers, we headed on over to the concession stands and loaded up on snacks and water, which we knew would be hard to come by once the show started. After one last bathroom break to check our makeup, we headed inside.

4:44 p.m.—We spent a considerable amount of time waiting around and scoping out the goings on inside the arena. One thing we couldn’t help but notice was how much larger the venue seems on TV, and even how different the build-out is for other events (like the Drake concert one staffer recently attended). We spotted someone in an eye-catching sequined jacket with a blond bob that looked a lot like Sia take her seat early (we’re still unsure if it was her!), but other than that we relied on Instagram and Snapchat to peep the best red carpet looks (the slayage of Adele on that carpet was unreal!). The anticipation in the arena continued to build, until finally, a voice from above started calling out time markers. Fifteen minutes, five minutes, a minute and a half … the show was about to begin!

5:00 p.m.—A shadowy figure appeared on stage and the moment the lights came up, the dramatic opening chords of the smash hit “Hello” began to play. Adele was opening the show, and the goose bumps had set in! She killed it, as always, and we knew this was going to be an unforgettable night. Host James Corden then made his hilarious entrance, where he experienced some technical difficulties and ended up taking a tumble and losing a shoe before joining in to dance with the chorus line and spitting a little rap about the show to come.

5:10 p.m.—Jennifer Lopez floated onto the stage in her lavender Ralph & Russo gown to reminisce about her first-ever Grammy nom (and that dress, which will forever be revered as one of the most envelope-pushing looks ever!) and to present the best new artist award to none other than Chance the Rapper!

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5:31 p.m.—21 Pilots dropped trou to accept their award for Best Pop Duo and reminisce on how they watched the Grammys together in their underpants and swore to accept their first award in the same state, should that honor ever happen to them. Of course, James Corden returned from the commercial break sans pants to introduce Ed Sheeran.

5:50 p.m.—The number of epic performances was honestly a little overwhelming! From The Weeknd and Daft Punk’s intergalactic rendition of “I Feel It Coming,” to Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood channeling Danny and Sandy with their performance of “The Fighter,” we couldn’t stop dancing in our seats. But during a commercial break, we noticed the crew setting up a circular arrangement of flowers with a stool in the middle. Could that be Beyoncé's set up? Possibly, but Ryan Seacrest appeared to introduce Kelsea Ballerini and Lukas Graham, so there wasn’t much time theorize.

5:53 p.m.—OMG, it's Ms. Tina (Knowles, of course), here to introduce Yoncè! We were right about the flowers! Her performance was notably softer than those we've seen in the past (duh, she's super pregnant), but garnered a standing ovation nonetheless.

6:13 p.m.—It’s Carpool Karaoke time! James Corden brought out a cardboard cut-out of a car, and stars like Jennifer Lopez, John Legend, Jason Derulo, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Keith Urban and Neil Diamond all crowded in to belt out Diamond’s classic hit "Sweet Caroline." And what’s this? Little Blue Ivy Carter scurried across the aisle in her pink Gucci suit to join the fun!

6:48 p.m.—The performances continued to slay us, and Queen Bey emerged to give us another glimpse at her baby bump as she accepted the Best Urban Contemporary album for Lemonade. Finally, Adele appeared again to sing her rendition of “Fast Love” as a tribute to the late singer George Michael. Only, something wasn’t right! She got off to a shaky start and after dropping an F-bomb, she apologized profusely and begged for a do over. She totally redeemed herself with a chilling performance, but rushed off the stage appearing to have broken down into tears.

7:06 p.m.—Corden gave model Heidi Klum a sweet kiss and helped her off his father’s lap after a funny bit where she cozied up to the host's dad. What a good sport!

7:07 p.m.—Lady Gaga showed us her heavy metal side with her performance of “Moth Into Flame” alongside veteran rock band, Metallica. At the end of the performance, Metallica lead vocalist James Hetfield threw his microphone and guitar off into the wings, in true heavy metal fashion.

7:35p.m.—Celine Dion took the stage and shared a sweet sentiment about her late husband René Angélil before presenting song of the year award to Adele for “Hello”. Things got a bit awkward when the songstress passed the mic but was cut off before the song's co-writer Greg Kurstin got the chance to speak. The crowd booed in unison.

7:51 p.m.—Beyoncé and Jay Z couldn't stay in their seats during the electric Prince tribute. The Time got the crowd grooving before Bruno Mars came down out and completely brought down the house with his rendition of “Let’s Go Crazy.” We had no idea Mars had those guitar skills, and many around us echoed similar sentiments.

8:08 p.m.—Halsey and Jason Derulo introduced Chance the Rapper, who performed his songs "How Great" and "All We Got" to the crowd, who had largely risen to their feet. We spotted stars like Taraji P. Henson swaying and cheering from the audience.

8:34 p.m.—Tim McGraw and Faith Hill present Adele with record of the year award for “Hello”. No surprise there! The singer let her writing partner Kurstin speak first this time. She then gave major shout out to Queen Bey, saying she inspires her every day and has for nearly 17 years, even asking the gold-clad queen to be her mummy.

The show wrapped up with Adele winning album of the year for 25, but the songstress couldn't help but shout out Beyoncé's Lemonade. “We fu--ing love you,” she said. Some stars like Rihanna decided to beat the rush and skip out a little early and we soon followed suit, making our way down the steps and out into the foyer where our afternoon began. What a night!