Petras earlier said she was the first transgender woman to win in the category of best pop duo-group performance.
Kim Petras and Sam Smith, who won the 2023 Grammy award for best pop duo-group performance for Unholy, performed the song at Sunday’s show.
Madonna introduced the performance with a monologue about what she’s learned about rebellion and being a troublemaker after her 4 decades in the music industry, noting that an artist is doing something right if they’re being called provocative.
Surrounded by a monochromatic wash of red lights and in front of a backdrop of fire, Smith opened up the song, encircled by dancers, wearing an ensemble and working with props that had allusions to BDSM themes. Halfway through the song, Smith added a horned hat to his look.
After the commercial break, Trevor Noah faked a call to his mother, acknowledging the “unholy” themes of the performance’s set design and the singers’ wardrobe choices, joking: “No, it wasn’t the actual devil, they were just dressed like the devil, mom,” before panning to the audience: “She said she’ll be praying for all of us.”
Earlier Petras and Smith won the Grammy for best pop duo-group performance for “Unholy” making Petras the first transgender winner in the category’s history.
