Queen Latifah to Officiate 34 Weddings at the Grammy Awards During Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Madonna's Performance of "Same Love"
The 2014 Grammys will be a special night, not just for the honored nominees, but also for the 34 couples who will be getting married live on stage at the awards ceremony.
As exclusively reported by Us Weekly, iconic pop star Madonna will be joining rappers Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and featured singer Mary Lambert on stage for a special duet of the duo's marriage-equality anthem "Same Love."
But that's not the only momentous element of the performance. While the group is performing, The New York Times reports that Queen Latifah will officiate 34 on-air weddings, including the wedding of Ryan Lewis' sister Laura and her boyfriend Alex. (Two sources also confirm this to Us Weekly.)
The Times reported that the featured couples will be "gay, straight, old, young, of many races and colors," and revealed that they were left in the dark for months about where the special services would be taking
place. Per their confidentiality agreements, the couples weren't even allowed to tell their families.
DJ and producer Ryan Lewis talked with The New York Times about the Grammys, describing them as, “A night that is already tremendous for me, for the music, but to have my sister get married and my family there watching it — that makes it a whole other level of amazing.”
Producers for the Grammys promise this isn't a simple publicity stunt.
"We don’t need to stoop to the level of trying to find gimmicks and sensationalistic approaches to what we do,” said Neil Portnow, the president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are nominated for seven Grammys, including Best New Artist.
