Each year, the Grammys gathers some of the biggest musicians in the world under one roof to find out whether they’ve been honoured with the industry’s most prestigious accolade.

For the rest of us, though, what gets us tuning in year after year are the show-stopping performances, with huge stars gracing the stage to deliver memorable, impactful and, at times, outrageous renditions of their big hits, in the hopes of being the stand-out star of the evening.

With countless offerings to choose from, we’ve put together a timeline of 37 incredible performances that have stuck with us over the decades, beginning back in the 1980s…

For a lot of people, this 1986 Grammys performance will have been their first time hearing the unmistakeable and incomparable live vocals of Whitney Houston.

While this is far from the most awe-inspiring performance she’d give in her lifetime, this Grammys rendition of the early hit Saving All My Love allowed Whitney to show off her amazing potential, and was undoubtedly a glimmer of the greatness that would follow later in her career.

Fast-forward another eight years, and Whitney had become one of the biggest stars on the planet, and was riding a huge wave of success after her appearance in The Bodyguard.

By the time the Grammys rolled around in 1994 there was no escaping I Will Always Love You – which, to be fair, was also the case for many years afterwards.

However, even the song’s loudest critics can’t deny that there’s no beating Whitney’s song in its flawless live form.

The story goes that Luciano Pavarotti had initially been scheduled to perform at the 1998 Grammys, but pulled out at the last minute on doctors’ orders, leaving his friend Aretha Franklin to step in instead.

With limited time to rehearse, the soul singer completely floored everyone with her vocals on the night.

It’s a rendition that – at least on paper – shouldn’t work on any level, but who could honestly argue with that voice?

Her performance in the film Evita, mixed with her game-changing Ray Of Light album, helped breathe new life into Madonna’s career after a string of projects that had been met with a lukewarm reception in the early 90s.

Ray Of Light went on to gain critical acclaim and huge chart success, but the cherry on top was the Queen of Pop finally winning her first ever Grammy, and delivering this stunning and surprisingly haunting performance on the same night.

A collaboration that no one saw coming, Eminem and Elton John made headlines the world over when the Your Song singer stepped in to replace Dido’s parts on the song Stan.

This performance was considered by many to be a response to critics who panned Eminem’s past homophobic lyrics, particularly as the two stood together in solidarity at the end.

However, almost 20 years later, the rapper was still receiving criticism for his use of anti-LGBTQ+ language in his music…

This Lady Marmalade performance allowed each of the track’s four performers to enjoy their time in the spotlight – complete with all the sequins, feathers and big hair it’s become synonymous with – before coming together as a four-piece.

As if there wasn’t enough talent on stage already, they were joined on stage first by its producer, Missy Elliott, and Lady Marmalade’s original performer, Patti LaBelle, who showed those younger viewers (and, indeed, artists) a thing or two about high notes.

We all know that when it came to rising stars and new talent, no one had a better eye than Prince. It’s no surprise, then, that right at the beginning of Beyoncé’s solo career, he chose her to perform with him at the Grammys.

And no, in case you’re wondering, this is not Beyoncé’s last appearance on this list…

Listen, we all know Madonna is a great pop star, but it’s not unfair to say that her sense of humour is something she’s… less associated with.

So, it was so great to see her interacting with Gorillaz at the Grammys in 2006, first crashing their performance of Feel Good Inc before launching into an energetic version of her own hit, Hung Up.

It had been a tough time for The Chicks – then still known by their old moniker The Dixie Chicks – in the lead-up to their performance at the 2007 Grammys.

The group had been at the centre of controversy when they criticised then-president George W Bush over the Iraq war, leading to them being shunned by the country music scene and receiving abuse and even death threats.

Their defiant appearance at the 2007 Grammys saw them address the backlash head-on in Not Ready To Make Nice, and the group wound up becoming the night’s big winners, taking home all five of the awards they’d been nominated for, including “the big three”.

By the time Amy Winehouse’s Grammys performance came around, the sad truth was that while everyone was talking about her, it was rarely in conjunction with her songwriting talents or incomparable vocal abilities.

In fact, her Grammys performance was aired live over satellite link, as she wasn’t granted a visa to travel to the US for the ceremony.

Still, with this performance, she managed to silence all of her critics, and remind everyone why she had become one of the world’s most famous people in the first place.

And as if duetting with Prince wasn’t enough, four years later Beyoncé was tasked with introducing the legendary Tina Turner, only for the two of them to perform the classic Proud Mary together.

Tina looked totally thrilled to be sharing the stage with Beyoncé, while Queen Bey truly held her own next to one of her idols, while managing not to outshine her.

It was the stuff legendary duets are made of. Also… what a brilliant intro from Cher.

Lady Gaga had already become the biggest pop star in the world when she made her Grammys debut, so the stakes were pretty high for her first ever performance at the ceremony.

Did she manage to pull it off? Well, let’s see, shall we?

Ridiculous OTT introduction? Check. Giant sets? Check. Multiple songs? Check. Amazing outfit? Check. Casually performing with a musical legend, proving just a couple of years into her career that they were already contemporaries? Check.

We’d say that’s an emphatic yes.

Pink’s fans had long been aware of quite how much she put into her live performances prior to her solo appearance on the Grammys stage, but in 2010, she made sure the world knew about it.

Singing the haunting ballad, Glitter In The Air, Pink first walked out into the crowd, before performing aerial acrobatics while hanging from the ceiling and belting out the track.

In her lifetime, Whitney performed at the Grammys on multiple occasions, each time bringing the house down with her powerhouse vocals.

Her death in 2012 came just 24 hours before that year’s ceremony, and it would have been remiss for organisers not to pull together a tribute.

It was decided that Jennifer Hudson was the star with the vocal capabilities of doing Whitney justice, and with less than a day to prepare, we can’t imagine how she could possibly have bettered this stirring performance.

Another performance that hits even harder when you know the context behind it, the Grammys in 2012 marked Adele’s first live performance after undergoing throat surgery.

The world hadn’t heard her sing in a long time, and fears began to rise about whether she’d ever be able to match her old vocal offerings.

Clearly, we needn’t have worried.

The music world was still reeling from the shock release of her self-titled visual album when Beyoncé took to the stage at the Grammys in 2014.

This time, she wasn’t there as a member of Destiny’s Child, she wasn’t promoting a song from a film, and she wasn’t anyone’s special guest.

She was standing on her own two feet, and it felt like after years of being one of the world’s most famous singers, she’d really cemented her place as a superstar.

At a time when the debate around equal marriage was still raging on in America, Macklemore decided to use his slot at the Grammys to make a bold statement.

Performing his song Same Love, 33 couples of all different genders and sexualities gathered to tie the knot there and then (with Queen Latifah officiating, natch), before Madonna appeared in full cowboy attire to sing Open Your Heart with a gospel choir.

While on paper it sounds like a clunky and even arguably insincere stunt, we struggle to hold back tears every time we re-watch this clip.

When you’re a singer who’s become known for never showing your face and standing in a corner when you perform live, how do you make an impact at a public spectacle like the Grammys?

You bring in Maddie Ziegler, Kristen Wiig, a load of wigs and what appears to be the set of an episode of Hoarders, of course.

Best known for her elaborate and cartoonish performance style, Katy Perry stripped it right back for her Grammys performance in 2015.

She performed the lesser-known ballad By The Grace Of God, which discusses overcoming the suicidal feelings she felt after the end of her marriage to Russell Brand.

The performance was in support of victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, with a short message from Barack Obama in support of the #ItsOnUs campaign playing shortly beforehand.

And talking about making a statement on the Grammys stage… wow.

While that year’s decision to award Taylor Swift Album Of The Year over Kendrick Lamar may have been controversial in 2016, his was the performance that had everyone talking.

Just watch it to see what we mean.

Lady Gaga managed to squeeze in a whopping 10 of David Bowie’s iconic hits into her tribute, a performance that divided opinion.

Some felt it reminded viewers of Bowie’s greatness and influence on pop music, while others – including the late musician’s son – were less impressed by the elaborate performance (and the fact it was so heavily sponsored by Intel).

Adele may have won the three biggest awards at the 2017 Grammys, but even she admitted that the night really belonged to Beyoncé.

Bey’s elaborate and beautiful rendition of Love Drought and Sandcastles came shortly after the news that she and husband Jay-Z were expecting twins, and her 10-minute performance celebrated motherhood, serving as the perfect closer to her stunning Lemonade era.

A year after a rather shaky version of All I Ask, Adele opened the 2017 Grammys with a flawless rendition of Hello. Sadly, her second performance of the night didn’t go quite as smoothly.

Having been chosen to pay tribute to George Michael with a rearranged version of Fastlove, Adele restarted the performance a minute in, declaring: “I’m sorry. I can’t do it again like last year.

“I’m sorry for swearing and sorry for starting again, can we please start it again? I’m sorry, I can’t mess this up for [George]. I’m sorry.”

At the 2018 Grammys, the Time’s Up movement was a major talking point, which the stars in attendance honoured by wearing black and holding white roses on the red carpet.

This emphasis on honouring the survivors of sexual abuse, particularly in the workplace, made Kesha’s stunning version of Praying – surrounded by other female singers – all the more striking.

Janelle Monáe’s 2018 album Dirty Computer was accompanied by a short film of the same name, which was brought to life on the Grammys stage the following year.

And while Janelle may have gone home empty-handed on the night, this performance – which included provocative choreography, homages to Prince and *those* vulva trousers – was undoubtedly a stand-out.

This performance was pretty much everything we love about Cardi B. It was in-your-face, it was loud, it was confident, it was totally extra, it was brilliant.

No, we’re not 100% convinced there wasn’t a bit of *ahem* help in the ol’ vocal department, but who else in the industry right now is going to give us a perfectly-executed routine on top of a grand piano, before giving a shout out to her infant daughter and strutting about in a leopard-print peacock tail?

A year after snubbing the Grammys due to a dispute with organisers, this performance served as a victory lap for Ariana Grande at the end of her hugely successful Thank U, Next era.

After delivering some powerful vocals on album cut Imagine (and a quick blast of My Favourite Things from The Sound Of Music), Ari served a quick costume change and brought the house down with renditions of her chart-topping tunes 7 Rings and Thank U, Next.

Side note… in what world has a vocalist as iconic as Ariana Grande only ever performed at the Grammys once?

Tyler, The Creator brought his unique brand of showmanship to the Grammys stage in 2020, the same year he’d take home his first award from the Music Academy.

Despite clocking in at under five minutes, Tyler took us on a wild ride with this performance, which included a Boyz II Men cameo, pyrotechnics, moshing and a whole lot of bowl cuts.

This 2020 performance can’t have been an easy one for Demi Lovato.

Not only was it the first time they’d sung live in public since their near-fatal overdose two years earlier, they were also debuting a brand new song about their experiences written just days after they were hospitalised.

Accompanied by just a piano, the extremely personal lyrics really shone, and although the singer had to begin the number again near the beginning due to being too choked up, they ended up completely nailing their performance, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

After dominating the charts with their number one song WAP in 2020, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion were finally able to give their track the live debut it deserved at the following year’s Grammys.

The pair each performed a string of their solo hits on the night, but it was when they came together for an outrageous, raunchy and all-round WAP-tastic routine to their much-discussed collab that they really stole the show.

On a somewhat more subdued note, Taylor Swift brought her Folklore album to life when she created a whole world for her 2021 Grammys performance.

As well as performing tracks from Folklore and its follow-up Evermore, she also scooped Album Of The Year on the night, marking her third win in the prestigious category.

Bare-chested and wrapped up in a feather boa, Harry Styles certainly got the Grammys off to a special start in 2021 when he opened the show with this performance.

Frankly, we’ve still not recovered.

If you cast your mind back to some of Sam Smith’s more subdued awards show appearances in the early years of their career, there was no indication a few years later they’d be dominating the conversation with a Grammys performance complete with choreography, pyrotechnics and a whooole lot of backlash from conservative critics.

Sam and collaborator Kim Petras gave their chart-topping hit Unholy its inaugural live performance at the 2023 Grammys – and it’s fair to say it got a few people talking.

To say that Miley Cyrus played the long game when it came to waiting for a Grammy would be something of an understatement.

The former Disney star finally won her first Grammy in 2024 – a full 17 years after releasing her first single – so when the time came to perform she was ready.

First, she chastised the audience for not getting up and dancing with her (“why are you acting like you don’t know this song?” she demanded during the first chorus), and then jubilantly declared “I just won my first Grammy!” towards the end of the performance.

And the fact it was all done in Bob Mackie with some of the biggest hair to grace awards season in recent years was just the cherry on top.

Despite being an 11-time Grammy recipient, Joni Mitchell had somehow never actually performed at the ceremony until as recently as 2024.

At 80 years old, Joni proved to everyone watching why she’s still considered such a legendary force within the music scene, with a star-studded backing band for this rendition of her signature tune, Both Sides Now.

By the time her Grammys debut came around, Chappell Roan was already a household name on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to hits like Good Luck, Babe!, Hot To Go! and Red Wine Supernova.

For her first time on the Grammy stage, Chappell decided to bring her signature hit Pink Pony Club to life with a cowgirl-inspired performance complete with rodeo clowns, a full live band and, naturally, an enormous candy-coloured horse in the middle of the fun.

If there’s one thing we’ve loved about Sabrina Carpenter’s ascent to global stardom it’s having a pop star with a sense of humour at the top of their game.

She showed this off to great effect with her Grammys debut, a farce-inspired routine that was a little bit Chicago, a little bit Goldie Hawn, a little bit Muppet Show, a little bit Betty Boop, a little bit Cher and a whole lot Sabrina Carpenter.

The 2026 Grammys will take place on Sunday 1 February, with performances from the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Addison Rae, Olivia Dean and Pharrell Williams to look forward to.