It was a star-studded night full of raw performances and powerful political statements at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night.

James Corden played host for the second year in a row as the show took place in the Madison Square Garden in New York for the first time since 2003.

The evening began with a commanding performance by Kendrick Lamar who was joined on stage by U2 and included a cameo by Dave Chapelle. With an LED American Flag as the backdrop and a stage full of dancers donned in army fatigue acting as heavily armed soldiers, the tone for the rest of the night.

The night was about the performances just as much as it was for the nominees and winners.

Starting from the end, the last performance of the night was a segue from the ‘In Memoriam’ montage. The last picture showed an image of the late Chester Bennington who committed suicide last year after years of struggling from depression and substance abuse. Logic performed his fitting suicide prevention song “1-800-273-8255” featuring Best New Artist winner Alessia Cara and El Paso’s Khalid who lost out to Cara for the award.

Khalid who was also nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Music Video, and Song of the Year went home without any awards.

The messages from performers such as Logic were strong and hopeful as most of the musicians used their voices to speak out about speaking up.

Kesha delivered an emotional performance of her nominated song “Praying” as she was joined on stage by other female performers rallying around her after her comeback from an excruciating public legal battle with her former producer. Each woman was wearing white, the same color of the roses worn by several other artists to support the Time’s Up movement.

Camila Cabello used her opportunity to recognize Dreamers.

U2 performed a politically charged performance of “Get of Your Own Way” on the Hudson River with the Statue of Liberty illuminating in the background.

Much of the conversation referenced President Donald Trump’s comments about other countries and immigrants, and many artists took their time making sure their words were heard. James Corden even got in on the action as he brought back Hilary Clinton for a pre-recorded skit trolling the president.

Not all the performances had political messages, many were tributes to great performers or performances of time’s past.

Bruno Mars was the big winner of the night winning each one of the six awards he was nominated for including ‘Best Album of the Year,’ ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Record of the Year.’ He was followed by Kendrick Lamar who won five awards including ‘Best Rap Album.’ Jay-Z who led the night with eight nominations walked away winless after ending his six-year boycott of the Grammy’s.

As it happens every year, not everyone was happy with the results especially when it comes to the night’s top honor, but in the end, it was Bruno Mars who proved that he is a force to be reckoned with.