The
show-stopping moment of the 56th annual Grammy Awards was the live nuptials of
33 couples, a mix of gay and straight, who tied the knot during a performance
of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ same-sex marriage anthem “Same Love.”
Queen Latifah officiated the ceremony, while Madonna
joined the crowd on stage for “Same Love” and a rendition of “Open Your Heart.”
The moment marked a remarkably overt political statement for the Grammy cast,
albeit one for a cause that has broad support throughout the entertainment
industry.
Grammy producers went to great lengths to pull off the
live wedding, which focused on a ring exchange as the couples lined up facing
each other on stage. Latifah had to go through the official process of becoming
licensed to perform weddings by Los Angeles County prior to Sunday’s telecast
in order to lend authenticity to the stunt.
As the couples filed off the stage, plenty of audience
members at Los Angeles’ Staples Center were seen wiping tears from their eyes.
“This song is not a love song for some of us but for
all of us,” said Latifah at the start of the segment.
“Same
Love” has taken on a life of its own as a same sex anthem, with lyrics like “If
I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me / Have you read the YouTube comments
lately?” Lewis told
the New York Times 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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