Macklemore, Mary Lambert, Madonna, Ryan Lewis, and Queen Latifah perform onstage during the 56th Annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26, 2014. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Of all the beautiful things that have happened on the Grammys throughout the years, Sunday's ceremony may have delivered the most touching of all. Grammy-winning duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, accompanied by singer Mary Lambert, provided the soundtrack as 33 real-life couples exchanged vows during the live awards telecast.
The stage was outfitted like a proper neon church, complete with wedding arches, as Macklemore performed the gay rights anthem "Same Love" backed by strings and horns. Queen Latifah, who also introduced the performance, returned to the stage after the song, clearly overjoyed to preside over the massive matrimony. The couples lined the aisles of the Staples Center. Gay, straight, old, young, interracial, tattooed — couples of all kinds held hands and swapped vows and rings as Latifah choked up.
Then the capper: Madonna emerged through the neon arches in a white suit, hat, and cane to serenade the newlyweds with her classic song "Open Your Heart."
As the couples filed out after the performance to a standing ovation, the assembled music stars could be seen wiping tears from their eyes. And look out, John Mayer, Katy Perry caught one of the bouquets! Grammy nominee Bonnie McKee got a front row seat to the weddings, tearing up as well!
Macklemore announced earlier Sunday that they would be performing the on-air wedding with Queen Latifah, a pioneering feminist in hip-hop, acting as the minister. The couples were found with the help of a casting agency, but were left in the dark as to where the wedding would be held until a few weeks before the awards show.
Daft Punk collaborator and iconic songwriter Paul Williams put it best. Toward the end of the show, when Daft Punk won the Grammy for Album of the Year for "Random Acess Memories," and Williams spoke on behalf of the robots, he called the nuptial celebration "the height of fairness and love and the power of love for any people in any combination."
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