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Celine Dion’s Sudden Emergence From Backstage, Other Unforgettable Moments Of Grammys Night

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The 66th Grammy Awards on Sunday offered up history-making wins, dazzling performances by new stars, poignant songs from legendary veterans and even a few surprises.

Here is a look at the unforgettable moments of music’s biggest night in Los Angeles:

– Surprise guest: Celine Dion –

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For the final award of the night, organizers of the gala had a big surprise: pop diva Celine Dion, who has been battling the rare neurological disorder Stiff-Person Syndrome, emerged from backstage to a standing ovation.

“When I say that I’m happy to be here, I really mean it from my heart,” Dion said, to more applause.

“Those who have been blessed enough to be here at the Grammy Awards must never take for granted the tremendous love and joy that music brings to our lives and to people all around the world,” she added.

She then presented the Album of the Year award to Taylor Swift for “Midnights” — a history-making fourth for the 34-year-old pop artist.

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Dion, 55, has been forced to cancel a string of shows over her condition, a progressive disorder for which there is no cure. Symptoms include stiff muscles in the torso, arms and legs, with noise or emotional distress known to trigger spasms.

– Joni, Tracy, Billy –

Joni Mitchell brought the room to tears as she performed her beloved track “Both Sides Now,” fresh off a win for Best Folk Album for her live record “Joni Mitchell at Newport.”

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Stars including Meryl Streep and Beyonce swayed to the music as Mitchell performed from an armchair — a literal throne — surrounded by famous collaborators including Brandi Carlile, who hailed the icon as “the matriarch of imagination, a true Renaissance woman, my hero and yours.”

“We all know she’s timeless. If we are so lucky that history remembers any of us, one thing I know for sure is that it will remember that we lived in the time of Joni Mitchell,” Carlile said.

Tracy Chapman delivered a moving rendition of her 1988 classic “Fast Car” with country star Luke Combs, who found streaming success with a cover of the track.

It was a rare public appearance from Chapman, whose crystal-clear vocals had many audience members swaying and singing along, including Swift.

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READ ALSO: FULL LIST: 2024 Grammy Winners

And “Piano Man” Billy Joel closed the night with the first live performance of his first original single in nearly two decades, “Turn The Lights Back On.”

– Striking performances –

The gala opened with electrifying sets from Dua Lipa, who wore skimpy black leather as a troupe of dancers writhed in an onstage cage, while triple winner SZA offered a revenge fantasy for her darkly humorous track “Kill Bill.”

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Miley Cyrus, who won two prizes, showed off her vocal range as she belted out “Flowers” in a shimmering dress with revealing cutouts and fringe.

Fellow winner Billie Eilish gave a soft but powerful performance of her award-winning “What Was I Made For?” and Nigerian superstar Burna Boy made history by bringing Afrobeats to the Grammys stage for the first time.

Stevie Wonder opened the In Memoriam segment honoring those the industry has lost, including the crooner Tony Bennett.

“Tony, I’m going to miss you forever,” Wonder said, calling it a blessing that “God allowed us to have you and have us in this time and space in our lives.”

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READ ALSO: 2024 Grammy Award: Davido, Burna Boy Seats Revealed

Annie Lennox was brought to tears as she delivered a sparse, heart-wrenching performance of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” the late Sinead O’Connor’s most famous song.

She raised her fist and urged “Artists for Ceasefire,” a call and clear reference to O’Connor’s long history of advocating for Palestinian rights.

And Oprah Winfrey paid tribute to her longtime friend Tina Turner, who was honored by a rollicking performance of the classic “Proud Mary” by Fantasia.

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– Jay-Z –

Jay-Z accepted The Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, which he received alongside his eldest daughter, Blue Ivy, as a cowboy hat-sporting Beyonce proudly looked on from the audience.

He took the moment to acknowledge his fraught history with the Recording Academy, who he has long accused of marginalizing Black artists.

READ ALSO: Burna Boy To Perform At 2024 Grammy Awards

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The hip-hop mogul specifically noted that his wife has won more Grammys than any other artist — but never the prestigious Album of the Year despite a smattering of nominations.

“Think about that, most Grammys, not one Album of the Year — that does not work,” he said.

“Some of you are going to go home tonight and feel like you have been robbed. Some of you may get robbed,” he continued to laughter.

He then laid in with a final dig: “Some of you don’t belong in the category.”

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– New Taylor Album –

One of the night’s viral moments had nothing to do with the Grammy Awards themselves: in accepting her first trophy of the night, Swift announced a whole new body of work was on the way.

I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I have been keeping from you for the last two years, which is that my brand new album comes out April 19th.”

She said it was called “The Tortured Poets Department,” and told the audience, “I’m going to go and post the cover right now backstage.”

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The cover art hit social media, and the moment immediately went viral.

“Thank you, I love you! Thank you!” said Swift, by far one of the world’s most bankable stars.

AFP

 

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Afrobeat Superstar, Wizkid, Sets Social Media On Fire After Slamming Davido, Don Jazzy

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Afrobeat music giant, Ayodeji Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, on Monday, set microblogging site, X.com, on fire when he took swipes at Davido and Mavin Records boss, Michael Ajereh, popularly known as Don Jazzy.

As a result of the controversial tweet, Wizkid is now trending on X. He is number 4 on Nigeria’s X trends.

During exchanges with his followers, Wizkid dismissed the very successful music producer and label owner, Don Jazzy, as an ‘influencer’, and mocked Davido for his recently leaked viral video where he was seen on his knees crying and begging someone believed to be a female associate.

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The Jaiye Jaiye crooner who hardly tweets but has a penchant for posting controversial tweets set X on fire when he tweeted, “Every day I get things to say but my mouth no good”, at exactly 4:28 am on Monday, to which a fan who tweets as @demigadd responded, “Sha release song”, prompting Wizkid to respond with “Na by force.”

This singular tweet set the pace for an avalanche of conversations, resulting in Wizkid eventually taking a sarcastic swipe at Davido and Don Jazzy.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Finidi George Appointed New Super Eagles Head Coach

It was like the ‘On Top Your Matter’ hitmaker’s fans had been anticipating his tweet, the comment section came alive with a barrage of comments, retweets, likes and views.

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As of the time of this report, his first tweet (Every day I get things to say but my mouth no good), had garnered a whopping 3.5k comments, 8.8k retweets, 36k likes and 1.3m views, and also generated a series of conversations.

At 4:42 am, a fan who tweets as @iretomiwa03 asked if Wizkid could revert to when he used to be very active and interactive on X. The fan wrote, “Can you just go back to old Twitter wiz”, to which the ‘Holla at your Boy’ singer responded by saying “That’s a bully! Let’s leave him for now”.

When another fan who tweets as @patdafenet also pleaded with him to release a new song, Wizkid responded with a viral video of Davido on his knees begging an unseen person, with the caption “Beg me like this. Send video.”

Recall that on April 15, 2024, a leaked video of the ‘Unavailable’ crooner went viral on social media. In the video, he was seen on his knees crying and begging someone.

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While speculations went viral that he was probably begging his wife, Chioma, for an offence he might have committed, some Netizens speculated that he might have been begging American model, Bonita Maria for an undisclosed offence.

The not-so-friendly fire released by Wizkid then turned in the direction of Don Jazzy when a fan who tweets as @miracledc12 posted, “Wizkid Ladipo still talk nonsense yesterday o. Abeg enter that one too.”

Like he was out for his fellow music stars, the ‘Ojuelegba’ hit singer responded at 6:03 with an innuendo describing Don Jazzy as an influencer. He wrote, “Lol, never chatting to anyone signed to an influencer. Next.”

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Ladipoe is a Nigerian rap artiste signed to popular record label, Mavin Records, headed by ace music producer, singer and music executive, Don Jazzy.

This is not the first time Wizkid would be slamming of fellow celebrity or posting something very controversial on social media.

In April 2016, he took a swipe at Celebrity Blogger, Linda Ikeji, when she posted that the Afrobeat singer had received an eviction notice from his Lekki apartment which he claimed to own.

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She wrote, “In 2013, Wizkid showed off his new place of abode and many people, including myself assumed he bought the house. But it’s been revealed that he only rented the place…and this is a fact. His rent at the 4-bedroom duplex at Ayinde Akinmade in Lekki Phase 1 expired in January 2016 and for reasons best known to him, he refused to renew his rent.

“He was served quit notice yesterday Friday, April 1st. (His reps collected it on his behalf) and he was given until April 11th to vacate the premises. A source close to the singer said his people had already started to gradually move his things out of the house”, to which Wizkid replied with unprintable comments on the blogger’s Instagram page.

Disappointed by their messy public war, popular filmmaker, Charles Novia, reacted. He said, “Wizkid’s reaction was true-to-type. He’s a street kid. A Surulere or Ojuelegba product and he’s not expected to have any chill. Unlike Linda, who is also from a poor background and has some understanding of the rules of the streets of Surulere. Wizkid is a supposed nouveau rich kid whose fame and fortune are grounded in the music of his streets.”

Recall that in November 2022, Wizkid surprised his fans when he made a shocking revelation about his relationship status, lamenting that he had been single for too long. He wrote, “Been single for so long! Gotta find one or two.”

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Many were shocked by his remark because the singer had before then shared a rare family photo of himself, his son, Zion, and a then-pregnant Jada Pollock.

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Reacting to the comment, Pollock, music executive and Wizkid’s baby mama, said, “Taking arguments to social media is never going to end well.”

She also followed up with another tweet that read, “controlling emotions,” with a padlock and key emoji. The tweets by Jada have since been deleted.

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However, reacting to Wizkid’s tweets which have since gone viral, popular Nigerian journalist and afrobeat music enthusiast, Joey Akan, said, “A manufactured and enforced silence made everyone forget who Wizkid was on the come up. A troll, Linda Ikeji had to go beg the commissioner of Police for protection. The same person who gave Dammy Krane a sneak attack at Quilox.

“With Afrobeats to the world, he simply stopped talking and interacting, leading everyone to ascribe maturity to a mischievous machine on hiatus. The moment he’s started talking again, it’s back to familiar ways. “Una Papa.” “I go do giveaway.” “I make Bollywood.” “…signed to an influencer.” Just like he never left. Same old Wizkid. Same old troll.”

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You’re Wicked Soul – Actress Okorie Slams Zubby Michael For Mourning Junior Pope On Instagram

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Actress Angela Okorie has again slammed her colleague, Zubby Michael for mourning late actor Junior Pope on Instagram.

In an Instagram post she shared, Angela alleged that Zubby took to the social media platform to mourn Junior Pope because he was called out. She also claimed that Zubby never celebrated Junior Pope when he was alive, adding that he should take his ‘’fake love” to Lucifer.

Angela further claimed that some people have planned to attend Junior Pope’s burial to ‘’pack sands from his grave to chain his spirit.”

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READ ALSO: Junior Pope: Delta Billionaire Clergy Gifts Late Sound Engineer’s Family N10m, Nigerians React

She wrote: “Zubby onye bu Nwanne gi cos we don drag you,you Dey post JP make people think say you be better person,
You are a very wicked soul zubby everybody knows that
You have never celebrated him RIP too sweet u to post E
what de heck nigga Ina puala onye iberibe
Take your fake love elsewhere we know you Lucifer
You have never ment well for him people wey know know,
You never posted his birthdays,films,achievements, why posting him now Muderfu*cker

Zubby boli boli wey you give demonic money
Where is he, we all know anybody wey you give money,
His or her life never remains same,is either they stop growing or stop excelling,or fall sick and die, you are evil
Untie peoples destinies else you will have me to contend with for the rest of your life, I Angel of the most high God is your karma, I am the Lords battle Axe, you know say spiritually and physically all of you can’t do me shit,touch me by mistake and die by correction filthy things.
I am light and I have no business with darkness.

READ ALSO: Junior Pope: Delta Billionaire Clergy Gifts Late Sound Engineer’s Family N10m, Nigerians React

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Note: The lord revealed that some people going to Junior pop’s burial are planing to pack sands from his grave to chain his spirit.
Y’all should put your eyes on the ground , his grave should be sealed immediately no1 apart from his family members should go close to his grave,they want to chain his spirit Ndi ala

Rest in power Bro, it’s so painful to know you are gone forever but you are in our hearts forever,we will never forget all your good deeds
While you are alive,The world will miss you, I miss you, nollywood is miss you , bro is still like a dream to me so na JP we Dey go put for ground ah I Dey
Vex.”

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JUST IN: Nollywood Veteran Actor, Ogunjimi Is Dead

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The Nigerian movie industry has again been thrown into mourning after the news of the death of another veteran Yoruba Actor Ganiyu Oyeyemi popularly known as Ogunjimi, surfaced on social media on Friday.

Ogunjimi’s death was announced by a Yoruba actor, Kunle Afod, in a post on his Instagram page.

READ ALSO: Nollywood Actor, Zulu Adigwe Is Dead

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Mourning the actor, Afod wrote, “We tried our best but God loves you more.

“May his soul rest in peace. Baba Ogunjinmi, RIP, Sun re oooo.”

At the time of writing this report, the cause of death has not yet been ascertained.

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