The Grammys are this Sunday night, so “Billboard” has put together a list of ‘The 100 Greatest Award Show Performances of All Time.’
And even though the list covers 50 years . . . they didn’t even have to go back six months to find their #1. It was Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” medley at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards.
“Billboard” acknowledged that there’s more recent stuff, because there are more award shows than there were in the ’70s. And performances today get more of an emphasis, since they’re more memorable than the winners and losers at any ceremony. Plus, people can now share and re-watch them on YouTube.
They didn’t completely disqualify obvious lip-synching, although they said performers better have had “a damn good reason for doing it” to make this list.
Here’s the Top 11:
Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” medley at the VMAs in 2016. (Video)
Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” at the VMAs in 1984. (Video)
Prince & the Revolution’s “Purple Rain” at the AMAs in 1985. (Video)
Aretha Franklin’s “Nessun Dorma” at the Grammys in 1998. (Video)
Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” at the VMAs in 2009. (Video)
Pearl Jam and Neil Young’s team-up on “Animal” and “Rockin’ in the Free World” at the VMAs in 1993. (Video)
Pink’s “Glitter in the Air” at the Grammys in 2010. (Video)
Kanye West’s “Runaway” at the VMAs in 2010. (Video)
Nirvana’s “Lithium” at the VMAs in 1992. (Video)
Mariah Carey’s “Vision of Love” at the Grammys in 1991. (Video)
Michael Jackson’s great performance of “The Way You Make Me Feel” and “Man in the Mirror” at the Grammys in 1998. (Video)
Several other performances from last year made the Top 100.
Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks’ team-up on “Daddy Lessons” and “Long Time Gone” at the CMAs is #33 . . . and then at #99 is Sheila E’s tribute to Prince at the BET Awards.
(Billboard.com has the whole list, along with videos for a lot of them.)
