The Awardist Grammys Silk Sonic accept Song of the Year Grammy with emotional speech — and a lengthy bleep While accepting for writing Silk Sonic's "Leave the Door Open," Dernst Emile II was comforted by Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak after dedicating the win to his mother, who died Wednesday. By Sydney Bucksbaum Sydney Bucksbaum Sydney Bucksbaum is a writer at Entertainment Weekly covering all things pop culture – but TV is her one true love. She currently lives in Los Angeles but grew up in Chicago so please don't make fun of her accent when it slips out. EW's editorial guidelines Published on April 3, 2022 09:16PM EDT The 2022 Grammy Awards kicked off with a big win and a touching moment. "Hi hi I just want to say thank you to my team, my family, my beautiful wife out there. This is for my mom, she passed on Wednesday, so this is for her," songwriter Dernst Emile II said, holding back tears as he, Bruno Mars, and Anderson .Paak accepted the Grammy for Best Song of the Year for Silk Sonic's "Leave the Door Open." Emile's story was met with an audible gasp from the audience, followed by uproarious applause. "Come here D, love you D," Mars — who formed the duo Silk Sonic with his pal .Paak — said, taking over the mic. "Andy, I love you. I want to thank everybody who helped us with this album...Andy, I couldn't be prouder of doing this with you. Thank you so much. Thank you guys so much..." Bruno Mars, Dernst Emile II, and Anderson .Paak at the 2022 Grammys. Rich Fury/Getty Images Then the audio dropped out as .Paak turned around to zip up his pants. When the audio came back on, Mars had taken over the speech again: "You know what, because of you guys, me and Andy are going to be singing this song forever, so god bless you." "For the rest of our lives, we love you!" echoed .Paak. The full list of writers credited with the Best song win are Brandon Anderson (.Paak's real name), Christopher Brody Brown, Dernst Emile II, and Bruno Mars. With this win, Mars ties the record for most wins by one writer for Song of the Year; he joins Adele, U2, Will Jennings, James Horner, Johnny Mercer, and Henry Mancini with two. Last year's award went to H.E.R.'s "I Can't Breathe." "Leave the Door Open" beat out the following contenders for the award: Olivia Rodrigo's "Drivers License," Billie Eilish's "Happier Than Ever," Doja Cat ft. SZA's "Kiss Me More," Ed Sheeran's "Bad Habits," Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile's "A Beautiful Noise," H.E.R.'s "Fight for You," Lil Nas X's "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)," Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar and Giveon's "Peaches," and Brandi Carlile's "Right on Time." Check out more from EW's The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's best films. Related content: Grammy Awards 2022: See the list of winners The 2022 Grammys secret ballot: 3 Academy voting members share their unfiltered thoughts on who should win Kanye West's performance at the Grammys canceled over 'concerning online behavior'