The 10 Best Grammy Performances of All Time

1994: Whitney Houston

All Whitney Houston needed to stun an audience was a stage. Alone on a raised platform, she opened this Grammys show with a powerful rendition of “I Will Always Love You,” from the soundtrack of The Bodyguard. The song won Houston record of the year, album of the year and best female pop vocal performance. At the 2012 Grammys, held just a few days after Houston's untimely death, Jennifer Hudson honored the singer with a cover of the song.

Bonus trivia: When Dolly Parton, who wrote the original song, presented Houston with a Grammy that night, she jokingly thanked Houston on behalf of “myself and the Internal Revenue Service… When I wrote that song 22 years ago, I had a heartache. But it's amazing how healing money can be.”

Watch it: Whitney Houston, on YouTube

RELATED: 10 Reasons Why We'll Always Love Dolly Parton

Aretha Franklin performing at the 40th annual Grammy Awards in New York.

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

1998: Aretha Franklin

The Queen of Soul shows her command of opera in this transcendent performance of “Nessun Dorma” from Giacomo Puccini's Turandot. Luciano Pavarotti was originally scheduled to perform the piece, but called in sick after the show had already started. Franklin, who had sung “Nessun Dorma” a few days earlier at the Grammys MusicCares benefit, agreed to step up.

Bonus trivia: Franklin performed the aria again in 2015, for Pope Francis during his United States Tour.

Watch it: Aretha Franklin, on YouTube

Prince and Beyoncé onstage together at the 46th annual Grammy Awards.

M. Caulfield/WireImage

2004: Prince and Beyoncé

While Beyoncé has put on a slew of remarkable Grammy performances over the years, including stealing the 2017 show while pregnant with twins, the star power in this duet is practically overwhelming — and it's one of just two performances Prince gave at the awards show throughout his career. Come for the “Purple Rain” duet, stay for the guitar-shredding “Crazy in Love” to “Let's Go Crazy” transition.

Bonus trivia: According to producer Ken Ehrlich, Beyoncé was initially hesitant to agree to the duet because she wanted the opportunity to perform solo. She ended up performing twice that night, which was unheard of for artists at the time.

Watch it: Prince and Beyoncé, on YouTube

Christina Aguilera gives a tribute performance to the late James Brown at the 49th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Michael Caulfield/WireImage

2007: Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera proved herself as one of our greatest modern vocalists during this cover of James Brown's “It's a Man's Man's Man's World,” a tribute to Brown a year after his death. While the pairing might have seemed odd at first, rocker Patti Smith later declared Aguilera's rendition “one of the best performances I've ever seen… at the end, I just involuntarily leapt to my feet.”

Bonus trivia: It might be a man's world, but Betty Jean Newsome, one of Brown's girlfriends, claims that she wrote most of the song.

Watch it: Christina Aguilera, on YouTube

Amy Winehouse performs at the Riverside Studios in London for the 50th annual Grammy Awards.

Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images for NARAS

2008: Amy Winehouse

A breakout star of the 2008 Grammys, winning five awards including best new artist, Amy Winehouse had to perform virtually, in a livestream from London due to visa issues. But she playfully ran through her Back to Black hits “Rehab” and “You Know I'm No Good” in front of a live audience at London's Riverside Studios, and took home five awards that night.

Bonus trivia: In order to work with the Los Angeles-based broadcast, Winehouse, her band, and her MC — Cuba Gooding Jr. — had to perform after 3 a.m.

Watch it: Amy Winehouse, on Vimeo

Pink has a soaring performance at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards.

Lester Cohen/WireImage

2010: Pink

Pink's vocals literally soared at the 2010 awards, as she belted her ballad “Glitter in the Air” while hanging from the rafters of the Staples Center. Her aerial acrobatics were such a hit that she incorporated the routine into her touring show.

Bonus trivia: During a “Carpool Karaoke” appearance seven years later, Pink told James Corden that she feels she actually sings better while upside down.

Watch it: Pink, on YouTube

Kendrick Lamar onstage at the 58th annual Grammy Awards.

Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

2016: Kendrick Lamar

Before Kendrick Lamar became a Pulitzer Prize winner, he stole the show at the 2016 Grammys with a political performance from To Pimp a Butterfly, which won best rap album that year. The set, which began with Lamar's hands in chains and included an onstage bonfire, addressed mass incarceration and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Little known fact: During the performance, Lamar debuted a new verse about the death of Trayvon Martin.

Watch it: Kendrick Lamar, on Vimeo