Forget the chill: New York City was the place to be before, during and after the Grammy Awards.
The parties raged on for hours after the Grammys were handed out as top musicians and leading industry execs celebrated at exclusive events across the Big Apple. Billboard, of course, was there to soak up all the action.
Stay tuned to this page as Billboard staffers give you real-time updates on NYC’s most star-studded parties. Check back throughout the night for updates. All times listed are ET.
12.03 a.m.: At Spring Studios. Very quiet til now. But it’s booming at midnight. Seen in a corner: Lucian Grainge, Michele Anthony, David Joseph, Bruce Resnikoff. Spotify’s Daniel Ek has been spotted.
12:05 a.m. Derek Trucks and wife Susan Tedeschi, who have three Grammy Awards between them, are relaxing at the Concord Music Group party at Bryant Park Grill. Trucks is especially pleased that the Grammys paid tribute to his mentor, Col. Bruce Hampton, in the memoriam section. His favorite performance? Kendrick Lamar. “He started the show with a bang,” he said.
12:30 a.m. Valerie June, whose album The Order of Time landed on many 2017 best-of lists, was raving about Pink’s powerful performance of “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken.” “It was so simple,” said June, “When so many people go over the top, she stood out.”
12:40 a.m. At Spring Studios. Universal Music’s David Joseph says, “I was thrilled to see Alessia Cara win best new artist. She’s one of the most exciting, interesting, talented young artist we’ve worked with in a long time.”
12:59 a.m. At Spring Studios: Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds, Sting and Shaggy all walk in together. Lorde is here.
1:00 a.m. After midnight, the Universal Music Group party at Spring Studios sprawls into a second room, and sponsor American Airlines has taken over a room off of it, with clocks set to different time zones, to showcase its lounges. It’s a nice, quiet place to talk, too.
1:15 a.m. Dave Chappelle introduces Erykah Badu who is DJ-Ing in a gigantic colorful top hat at Spring Studios.
1:30 a.m. On the other side of the second room at the Universal Music party, in a glass-walled exhibit room, Citi is presenting a set of “Art-Object Boomboxes” — old-school portable stereos decorated by street artists in honor of Universal Music’s Grammy nominees. (They’ll be auctioned off to raise money for Musicians on Call.) Dozens of guests walk in with some skepticism and leave impressed.
1:32 a.m. UMG’s Michele Anthony and her mom, Amazon Music’s Steve Boom and his team socialize with Daniel Glass over latkes and lox at Glassnote’s Grammy After-Afterparty Breakfast at Barney Greengrass on the Upper West Side. “This is the best party!” Anthony says to Glass.
2:00 a.m. Overheard at Spring Studios: “Did you see? Quincy Jones is here!”
2:05 a.m. Chris Stapleton at the UMG party. The country star is walking around, looking very laid back, just chilling out. And he’s not in the VIP area.
2:50 a.m. At Spring Studios, Erykah Badu is finished DJ-ing and poses for photos in her giant top hat, now paired with giant prop boxing gloves. The party is still packed.
3:09 a.m. Execs at the jam-packed Interscope-sponsored party at China Chalet commiserate over sushi about the categories Kendrick didn’t win, with one lamenting: “First Hillary, now this!”
3:15 a.m. On the way down from the fifth floor at Spring Studios, the elevator stops on 4, where there’s either another event or a lot of guests running around. “Is that another label party?” someone asks. At this point in the night, it takes a minute before everyone realizes he’s kidding.
