Our cover stars Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have had an incredible year. The duo kicked of Grammy weekend with an intimate concert at Belasco Theater on Jan. 23 presented by T-Mobile. They are nominated for 7 Grammy awards! 

During their performance on Thursday night in Los Angeles, Macklemore yelled to the crowd of 1400 people, “I’ve been writing music half my life…Never thought I would be nominated for a Grammy, let alone 7 of them.” Thursday night’s show sponsored by T-Mobile was the official kickoff of Grammy week in LA. The first song performed during the show, “10 Thousand Hours,” was a fitting anthem to all the hard work they’ve put into their art. They then went on the perform some of their biggest hits such as “Thrift Shop” “Can’t Hold Us” and the gay rights anthem “Same Love.” A song he eluded to as “the most important song I ever wrote.” The audience held up big signs and big shoes as Macklemore crowd surfed several times during his performance. Cameras flashed as fans tried to get a shot of the performer up close and personal. Fans cheered, danced, and rapped along as Macklemore and Ryan Lewis performed “Can’t Hold Us” to close out the show.

-Hakeem Animashaun

Photo credits: Ari Perilstein and Jonathan Leibson, WireImage for T-Mobile