HAIRSTYLE FLASHBACKS
Courtesy of This Year's Grammy Awards

On February 10th the Grammy Awards celebrated their 50th anniversary. To mark this milestone the awards show gave viewers a walk through musical history, highlighting many of music’s most important icons. In keeping with this year’s walk down memory lane many of the night’s hairstyles also gave us glimpses of years gone by. Some were odes to beautiful and sophisticated trends of the past while others reared their ugly heads and reminded us of why they became history in the first place.  Grammy Hair Gallery

The Red Carpet Hair Fashions On the red carpet this year the overall trend was soft and flowing hair. Gone are the stiff updos of the past and instead a new age of softer, more sophisticated styles reigned the carpet. Most ladies chose to wear their hair down for the event, opting for soft waves that flowed freely. Those that did pin their hair up kept the styles soft and casual as well.

Winners on the red carpet include singers such as Natasha Bedingfield, with her super sexy curls, and Faith Hill sporting a sophisticated chignon. Natasha's big, luscious waves gave her hair the perfect amount of volume and the swooped up bang hinted at the elegant hairstyles of the 40s. Faith Hill wore a low-lying bun at the nape of her neck, accented by a full crown area and a side-swept bang-the result was a hairstyle worthy of a country-crooning queen.

Not all the hairstyles on the red carpet were long on style-in fact artists such as Kelis and Rihanna proved that short hair can be just as sexy as long hair. Rihanna showed off her newly shorn locks in a piece-y pixie cut that framed her gorgeous face while Kelis' wedge cut with exaggerated points just in front of the ears proved that hair doesn't have to be complicated in order to look amazing. Other notable styles were Corinne Bailey Rae's pinned up mass of natural spiral curls and Fergie's long and wavy perfection.

On with the Show

During the Grammy Awards itself some hairstyles were revealed for the first time while other singer's showed their versatility by sporting new 'dos. Alicia Keyes opened up the ceremony with a video duet along side the late, great Frank Sinatra. Her faux-hawk updo was a little stiffer than most worn during the evening but its retro feel was the perfect accompaniment to the song's vibe. Her hair was slicked up at the sides and back, with curls being piled and pinned in a soft Mohawk pattern atop her head. She later let her hair down while performing her hit song "No One" and showed off a straight style with defined pieces around her face.

Big hair was a noticeable trend during the evening and while some hit a high note with their hairstyles others would have done well to hit a flatter (hair) note. In typical Beyonce style, the songstress proved that big sexy hair doesn't have to be over the top to work. While full of volume, Beyonce's subtle waves and side part added just enough width to the style without becoming overpowering. Rihanna also pumped up the volume, sleeking her short hair back on the sides and rocking some super big waves up top for a very sexy 80s feel. Carrie Underwood also went the mid-volume route but with a more coiffed feel to it. While there was nothing wrong with her hair, per se, it did look about as stiff as her performance of "Before He Cheats". She needed to loosen up on both counts.

The Men of Music The ladies weren't the only attendees rocking a good hair style. Dierks Bentley, Josh Groban and singer Mika's natural curls prove that mid-length hair can look super sexy on men as long as it's well tamed. Ringo Starr of The Beatles fame was sporting a very flattering cropped Caesar cut and Kanye West gets points for shaving the word "Mama" into his head as a tribute to his Mother-we love a guy who loves his Mama, don't we? For trendiest men's hair the award has to go to both Josh and Zac Farro of Paramour for their piece-y, metro-sexual hairstyles.

In the "please get a haircut" category the nominees are Kid Rock for his scraggly locks peeking out from under his trademark hat and the Foo Fighter's lead singer David Grohl for his bad 70s rock band hair.

When Bad Hair Happens to Good People

You can't have an awards show without those dreadful hairstyles that make you wonder if mirrors just became a scarce commodity. Some committed crimes against color while others just couldn't seem to get a handle on how much volume evening hair should have.

Canada's Feist fell flat with her hairstyle, which was so underwhelming it looked like she went out to do grocery shopping and stopped off at the Grammy Awards to sing. Offenders of over the top volume were the presenting duo of Cyndi Lauper and Miley Cyrus. Cyndi's hairstyle looked somewhat like a dandelion gone to seed with its platinum blonde color and frizzy, corkscrew curls pinned every which way but the right way. Miley's motto must have been more is more with hair extensions that were too long, curls that were too tight and hair color that was just too dark. Hopefully both took notes from Beyonce and will promise to do better next time.

Others guilty of color gone criminal were Cher with her calico cat-like wig, Fantasia as Cruella De Ville with her half black/half blonde disaster (the blonde part was shaved for an extra-horrifying effect) and Hayley Williams of Paramour with her traffic-light-red hue. Hayley-there's a reason red means stop.

Top winners for worst hair go to Amy Winehouse and Jeremy Davis. While Amy wasn't able to attend the awards ceremony live she did perform and accept her awards via satellite. She wins the worst female 'do of the year for that dreadful trademark bee-hive hairstyle of hers. Granted she did try and dress it up a little with some silk roses stuffed in the mass but a few faux flowers couldn't improve that rat's nest-but thanks for trying, Amy. Paramour's Jeremy Davis wins for putting the "gory" in bad hair category with his inability to pick one hairstyle and stick to it. With super long, wispy bangs, a spiky crown area and a mullet in the back Jeremy managed to achieve a trifecta of bad hairstyles all on one head.

Overall the Grammy Awards of 2008 were a tribute to elegance and style. While there were a few thorns among the many roses the hairstyles at the Grammy Awards reflected music itself-many different styles to suit many different people.

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