Steve Lacy made his debut as a Grammys performer at the 65th annual awards on Sunday night (Feb. 5) with a captivating rendition of a song host Trevor Noah said “has become an anthem all over the world”: his multi-Grammy-nominated breakthrough hit “Bad Habit.”
“Hello Grammys, I’m Steve Lacy,” the singer-songwriter introduced himself, before launching into the Billboard Hot 100-topping smash. The smoothly electric performance, featuring the alt-R&B star really flexing his falsetto range, also featured extended bass soloing from alt-funk maestro Thundercat. Lacy’s performance seemed to be very well received by the bigger names in the Grammys crowd, with stars like Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo, Machine Gun Kelly and H.E.R. all seen excitedly singing along, and Taylor Swift and Beyoncé seen grooving at their tables as well.
Lacy was nominated for four Grammys on the night: record of the year, song of the year and best pop solo performance (all for “Habit”), and best progressive R&B album (for his Gemini Rights album). He lost the first three (to Lizzo’s “About Damn Time,” Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That” and Adele’s “Easy On Me”), but won the last one. Despite being one of the past year’s biggest mainstream crossover success stories, Lacy was not considered eligible for this year’s best new artist trophy, as he had already been nominated for best progressive R&B album already in 2020.
“Bad Habit” marked the first Hot 100 hit for Lacy last year, ultimately reaching No. 1 on the chart for three weeks in October, and remaining in the top 20 through Grammys week this February.
