Ed Sheeran onstage at
Billboard Women In Music event in November
2017.
Michael
Kovac/Getty Images
Ed Sheeran won the Grammy for best pop solo
performance for "Shape of You."
People thought the award should have gone to one of his
four fellow women nominees.
Kesha's single, "Praying," felt particularly
snubbed.
"Praying" is a powerful song that exemplifies the
Time's Up and #MeToo
initiatives.
Kesha was allegedly abused by her former collaborator
Dr. Luke.
Many fans see "Praying" as a message about surviving
assault and abuse.
Ed Sheeran's smash hit "Shape of You" was named best pop solo
performance at the 2018 Grammys, sparking outrage
among music fans who were hoping to see the honor go to one of
the four women nominees.
Sheeran's "Shape of You" was up against four singles by
powerhouse women artists: "Praying" by Kesha, "Million
Reasons" by Lady Gaga, "Love So Soft" by Kelly Clarkson, and
"What About Us" by Pink.
When Sheeran won the award (though he wasn't there to accept
the Grammy onstage), people immediately took to outlets like
Twitter to express their dismay.
Many of the negative reactions to Sheeran's win came from a
place of disappointment. Much of the conversation was focused on
the snub of Kesha's "Praying," which is seen as an emotional and
culturally relevant expression of the Time's Up and #MeToo
initiatives.
— Ira Madison III (@ira) January 29, 2018
I guess it’s a good thing Kesha didn’t win over Ed Sheeran, since the music industry doesn’t seem to care about examining its abuses of power
— PokeFromHome (@PokeFromHome) January 29, 2018
I have to admit I'm bummed Ed Sheeran won. Yeah his song was catchy and popular, but Kesha had a really good song with an important message at the right time that resonated with a lot of people. Also he's not even there 😒 #GRAMMYs
Sheeran's "Shape of You" was a certified smash hit of 2017.
The song was Spotify's most-streamed single of the year, with a reported
1.32 billion listens. The song topped many charts, including the
Billboard Hot 100.
But despite the undeniable popularity of "Shape of You,"
people clearly think the Grammy should have gone to
Kesha.
Others simply thought Sheeran's "Shape of You" was a mediocre pop
song, and would have rather seen any of the women take home the
Grammy.
— Luke O'Neil (@lukeoneil47) January 29, 2018
lol Ed Sheeran the one dude in a category with 4 iconic women and he wins and doesn't show up. Music industry in a nutshell.
— Timothy Groninger ♐️ (@JerseyKYboy) January 29, 2018
Four strong female singers with crazy powerful vocals and the award goes to Ed Sheeran. Ed Sheeran is the definition of boring. This is not right at all. #GRAMMYs #Grammys2018 #TheGrammys
— Anthony | Lady Gaga (@antpats2) January 29, 2018
Disgusting. He didn’t even attend the show, his music is generic (the other albums and songs in his two categories were higher acclaimed), and there is no emotion or soul in his music. Gaga, Kesha and Lana deserved better.
— Monster Reactions (@LMonsterReacts) January 29, 2018
Lady Gaga wrote Million Reasons in a healing process to recover from a severe heartbreak. Kesha wrote Praying after being through her literal worst nightmare. Ed Sheeran wrote Shape Of You about a club girl he was horny for. Congratulations Recording Academy. Thank you for this.
Throughout the first half of the evening, Grammy announcements
teased "a special performance by Kesha that speaks to our
times."
When Kesha finally took to the stage to perform "Praying," she
was introduced by Janelle Monae with a powerful speech about the
Time's Up movement. Kesha was joined onstage by Cyndi Lauper,
Andra Day, Bebe Rexha, Camila Cabello, Julia Michaels, and the
Resistance Revival Chorus.
Everyone wore white — the color that represents the Women's
Suffrage movement and the same color as the roses people wore on the
Grammys red carpet.
Kesha
performing "Praying" at the 2018 Grammy
Awards.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for
NARAS
Kesha's performance was staggeringly raw, and ended with the singer crying while
embracing other women on stage. As Grammys host James Corden
pointed out afterwards, the song felt like the perfect
accompanyment to the #MeToo and "Time's Up" movement.
When "Praying" was first released, Kesha explained the inspiration for the
single on Lenny Letter.
"This song is about coming to feel empathy for someone else
even if they hurt you or scare you," Kesha wrote. "It's a song
about learning to be proud of the person you are even during low
moments when you feel alone."
"Praying"
is a song about survival, empathy, and
strength.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
for NARAS
"Praying" was a comeback single for Kesha. She was unable
to release music for several years when she had been trying to
free herself from a contractual agreement
with
Dr. Luke, her former producer and mentor whom she alleges drugged, and sexually
and verbally assaulted her during her time recording with him
at Sony.
You can
watch
Kesha's full performance of "Praying" at the Grammys
here. For all of INSIDER's Grammys 2018
coverage, follow along here.
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