Every year since 1959, the most successful musicians rejoice for recognition of their musical achievements in the past year. The Grammy awards are divided into categories by genre, group and gender.

This year, the 56th annual Grammy awards aired on CBS on January 26, 2014.

To kick off the show, musical power couple Beyoncé and Shawn Carter, usually known as Jay Z, electrified the stage with the first-ever live performance of ‘Drunk in Love,’ a song from Beyoncé’s most recent album. The empty stage and subtle outfits worn by Mr. and Mrs. Carter allowed viewers to focus on the incredible performance put on by the couple.

After the jaw-dropping opening performance, the first award was Best New Artist, given to both Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, followed by a captivating performance from the New Zealand native Ella Yelich O’Connor, also known as Lorde.

Throughout the night, many artists performed and received awards for their music, including a dark fairytale-style performance from Katy Perry of a song from her newest album, Prism. The song, ‘Dark Horse,’ was performed on a foggy stage with dancers dressed as dark, demented creatures and Perry as the main witch.

Not only are musicians recognized for their musical talent during the Grammy’s, but unexpected artists are brought together in collaboration to perform on the Grammy stage. Some of those artists include Robin Thicke performing with Chicago, playing both songs written by the two. Also, rapper Kendrick Lamar performed with indie-rock band, Imagine Dragons. The performance was both fascinating and surprising because no one would expect the two artists of such different genres to perform so flawlessly.

By the close of the show, seventeen year old pop star, Lorde, won her first Grammy for Best Pop Performance along with Song of the Year for her most famous song, ‘Royals.’  Record of the Year was awarded to the French electronic music duo Daft Punk for their song ‘Get Lucky.’ The duo was also awarded Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.  In addition to these awards, a performance from Macklemore and Ryan Lewis was both beautiful and surprising. Near the end of the performance of ‘Same Love,’ a song about equal marriage rights for those gay and straight, Queen Latifah emerged and recognized 34 couples standing in the aisles of the entire bottom floor of the arena. The couples were in the midst of getting married and Queen Latifah sealed the deal. After the couples exchanged their rings, Madonna appeared on stage to join the artists already present, closing the performance with singing a section of one of her most famous records, ‘Open Your Heart.’

Just like every year before this one, the Grammy Awards were unforgettable for both the artists and the viewers. Until next year, America!