With six nominations, Brandi Carlile is the most recognized female artist at the 2019 Grammy Awards. As a celebration of her accomplishment, the Americana star got to perform her four-time nominated “The Joke” during Sunday’s ceremony.
The song is a confidence cry for marginalized people, whether that be women, transgender individuals, or refugees. “I chose ‘The Joke’ because I just feel like it’s an important song at this time and in this country,” Carlile told Taste of Country ahead of Music’s Biggest Night, “and I think that that song’s success says more about our nation’s willingness to receive it than it does actually what I’m saying and what I’m doing.”
(Read: Brandi Carlile, Courtney Barnett, and Erika Wennerstrom on the Past, the Present, and the T-Shirts)
Carlile sang the powerful anthem on a selectively lit stage while the lyrics were scrawled on the screen behind her. Check out the video below.
Prior to her performance, Carlile swept the Americana categories, taking home Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song for “The Joke”, while the album the track comes from, By the Way, I Forgive You, was named Best Americana Album. However, she ultimately lost in the categories for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year.
Pick up By the Way and other Carlile releases on vinyl by heading to ReverbLP.
Catch up on other Grammy performers and see who won by following our 2019 Grammys coverage.
