The 66th GRAMMY Awards was held on Sunday, Feb. 4th at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The awards show brings together the most brilliant musicians from all different genres to celebrate their achievements and gifts. There were three new categories added to this year’s award show: Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz Album and Best Pop Dance Recording.
The 2024 nominees include SZA, with a leading nine nominations, Victoria Monét and Phoebe Bridgers of boygenius, with seven nominations, John Batiste, Brandy Clark, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift, all with six nominations, as well as Janelle Monáe, Doja Cat, Ghost, Foo Fighters and many more.
Before the main event began, Killer Mike nearly swept all of the Rap categories during the preshow winning everything except Melodic Rap. boygenius won Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for “Not Strong Enough” and Best Alternative Music Album for The Record.
The Grammys started with a captivating performance from Dua Lipa. She debuted her new single “Training Season” and recent single “Houdini” surrounded by dancers and showing off in a bar cage. Lipa was nominated for “Dance The Night” (From Barbie The Album) for Song of the Year and Best Song Written For Visual Media.
Trevor Noah’s jokes hit well, as expected. He first pointed out how this is the only concert that actually starts on time and the multitude of artists, genres and categories it appreciates including audiobooks, which are hard to twerk to. He followed it with a shout out to Meryl Streep being in the building and how now the Grammys is going to win an Oscar.
As he went around the room, he noted that 21 Savage, nominated for Best Rap Performance with Drake for “Rich Flex,” and Best Melodic Rap Performance for “Sittin’ On Top of the World” with Burna Boy, already had a billion streams, questioned Olivia Rodrigo about what she will rhyme ‘blood sucker’ with on national television and how NFL fans complain about the camera constantly cutting to Taylor Swift during KC games.
The first award of the night, Best Pop Solo Performance, was announced by Mariah Carey and given to Miley Cyrus for “Flowers.” When accepting her FIRST ever Grammy, Cyrus admitted she almost missed the award due to being stuck in traffic which she wouldn’t have cared about, but could not have missed standing next to Mariah Carey for such an iconic moment.
Before Luke Combs and Tracey Chapman performed a tear-jerking duet of “Fast Car,” a video discussing the meaning of the song to Combs played where he admitted it was his favorite song before he knew what a favorite song was. “Fast Car” was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance.
After the break, Best Música Urbana Album was given to Karol G for “Mañana Será Bonito.” This was her first Grammy ever, and she shared how this album has given her the best memories of her whole life.
SZA, who won Best Progressive R&B Album, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with Phoebe Bridgers and Best R&B Song and Best Traditional R&B Performance, performed “Kill Bill” and “Snooze.” In a video played before, she talked about how fear and anxiety are both a part of who she is. There was also a full-circle moment when she said she could have never imagined getting to where she is now considering she use to practice acceptance speeches.
Billie Eilish had an emotional performance singing the “Barbie” ballad “What Was I Made For?” with brother FINNEAS on the piano. The song had already won Best Song Written for Visual Media, and at this point was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Music Video.
Before announcing Miley Cyrus to perform Grammy winning song “Flowers,” Trevor Noah made sure to note how special the 66th Annual Grammys are but that it is also younger than the next president.
This was the first time “Flowers” was performed live on TV. Cyrus interrupted her own performance singing, ‘why are you acting like you don’t know this song.’ The cameras then cut to Taylor Swift, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, and Oparah showing off their love for the song and dancing along, but no one could out do Miley’s star-studded performance.
Noah’s next jokes covered some ‘housekeeping’ rules reminding the artists that speeches need to be short or else Kelly Clarkson, nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, will cover your song better than they could ever sing it. He also pointed fun at Ozempic stating people need to stop asking Dr. Dre for a prescription, he is a doctor of liturgy!
Kacey Musgraves, who won Best Country Duo/Group Performance earlier in the day for “I Remember Everything” with Zach Bryan which was also nominated for Best Country Song, announced Lainey Wilson as the winner of Best Country Album for “Bell Bottom Country.”
Lizzo, 2023 Grammy winner for Record of the Year, then had the honor of announcing dear friend, SZA, as the winner of Best R&B Song for “Snooze.”
Olivia Rodrigo performed “Vampire,” nominated for Record of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance and Song of the Year, with blood smeared on her.
U2’s viral performance featured Bono announcing Best Rock Vocal Album going to Taylor Swift for Midnights. She announced her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, during her acceptance speech which will be released April 19th.
Stevie Wonder performed a “duet” with Tony Bennett via video recording of Bennett which led to a memorial tribute to the fallen artists of 2023 which included Tina Turner, Jimmy Buffet, Clarence Avant, among many more. Performances from Annie Lennox and Grammy nominated Jon Batiste followed. Oprah gave a special moment to Tina Turner as she announced a performance from Fantasia in honor of Tuner.
The Dr. Dre Global Impact award went to Jay-Z, whose influence on hip-hop has been instrumental to the genre and world. He gave a shout to DMX and spoke of inequality in the awards show and Academy. He told of how in 1998 he boycotted going to the Grammys, despite being nominated for best rap album, but still watched it on TV. He spoke his mind saying, “We love y’all, we love y’all. We want you to get it right – or at least get it close to right.” Adding that music is subjective but the fact that the person who has more Grammys than everyone has yet to win album of the year, and by his metrics that just doesn’t add up.
Song of the Year winner was then announced by Lionel Richie. Billie Eilish and FINNEAS were given the award for “What Was I Made For?” Eilish was wearing a Barbie jacket and thanked Greta Gerwig for making the best movie of the year and Paul Walker for the opportunity.
Brandy Carlile, who won Best Americana Performance earlier in the day, spoke of Joni Mitchell’s trial and tribulations before Mitchell herself came on stage to give a truly heart touching performance. She won Best Folk Album for “Joni Mitchell at Newport [Live].”
Travis Scott performed “MY EYES” off of Utopia which was nominated for Best Rap Album. He then brought out Playboi Carti to perform “FE!N.”
Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, touched on the unifying power of music and recognized the horrific attacks that took place in Paris, Manchester, and Las Vegas along with the Hamas attack on a music festival in Israel.
For the first time, viewers heard Afrobeats performed on the Grammy stage with a performance of “Sittin’ on Top of the World” from Burna Boy, 21 Savage and Brandy.
2023’s Best New Artist Winner, Samara Joy who earlier won Best Jazz Vocal Album, announced Best New Artist winner as Victoria Monét. She had already won Best R&B Album for “Jaguar II.”
Mark Ronson presented Best Record with mother-in-law Meryl Streep to Miley Cyrus for “Flowers.” The award also recognizes the artists, producers and engineers involved.
Billy Joel then performed first single in 17 years, “Turn the Lights Back On.”
Five time Grammy winner Celine Dion announced Album of the Year winner as Taylor Swift for Midnights. She thanked Jack Antonoff, who won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical earlier in the day. She now holds the record for being the first singer to win the category four times. On stage with her was Lana Del Rey who was also nominated in the category for Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.”
Billy Joel then closed the show out performing “You May Be Right.”
Winners list:
Album of the Year – Midnights, Taylor Swift
Record of the Year – “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus
Song of the Year – “What Was I Made For?,” Billie Eilish
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical – Jack Antonoff
Producer of the Year, Classical – Elaine Martone
Best Rock Album – This Is Why, Paramore
Best Rock Song – “Not Strong Enough,” Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, songwriters (boygenius)
Best Rock Performance – “Not Strong Enough,” boygenius
Best Metal Performance – “72 Season,” Metallica
Best Pop Solo Performance – “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus
Best Pop Dance Recording– “Padam Padam,” Kylie Minogue
Best Rap Album – Michael, Killer Mike
Best Rap Song – “Scientists & Engineers,” Killer Mike
Best Progressive R&B Album – SOS, SZA
Best R&B Song – “Snooze,” SZA
Best R&B Performance – “ICU,” Coco Jones
Best Traditional R&B Performance – “Good Morning,” PJ Morton featuring Susan Carol
Best Country Album – “Bell Bottom Country,” Lainey Wilson
Best New Artist – Victoria Monét
Best Dance/Electronic Recording – “Rumble,” Skrillex, Fred again.. & Flowdan; BEAM, Elley Duhé, Fred again.. & Skillex producers, Skillex mixer
Best Dance/Electronic Album – Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022), Fred again..
Best Rap Performance – “Scientists & Engineers,” Killer Mike featuring André 3000, Future and Eryn Allen Kane
Best Reggae Album – Colors of Royal, Julian Marley & Antaeus
Best Folk Album – Joni Mitchell At Newport [Live], Joni Mitchell
Best R&B Album – JAGUAR II, Victoria Monét
Best Country Song – “White Horse,” Chris Stapleton & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Chris Stapleton)
Best Country Duo/Group Performance – “I Remember Everything,” Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves
Best Country Solo Performance – “White Horse” Chris Stapleton
Best Musical Theater Album – Some Like It Hot, Christian Borle, J. Harrison Ghee, Adrianna Hicks & NaTasha Yvette Williams, principal vocalists; Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Bryan Carter, Scott M. Riesett, Charlie Rosen & Marc Shaiman, producers; Scott Wittman, lyricist; Marc Shaiman, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album – Bewitched, Laufey
Best Melodic Rap Performance – “All My Life,” Lil Durk featuring J. Cole
Best Pop Vocal Album – “Midnights,” Taylor Swift
Best Jazz Vocal Album – How Love Begins, Nicole Zuraitis
Best Contemporary Classical Composition – Montgomery: Rounds, Jessie Montgomery, composer (Awadagin Pratt, A Far Cry & Roomful Of Teeth)
Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album – Vida Cotidiana, Juanes and De Todas Las Flores, Natalia Lafourcade
Best Música Urbana Album – Mañana Será Bonito, Karol G
Best Latin Pop Album – X Mí (Vol. 1), Gaby Moreno
Best Latin Jazz Album – El Arte Del Bolero Vol. 2, Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo
Best Music Video – “I’m Only Sleeping,” The Beetles; Em Cooper, video director; Jonathan Clyde, Sophie Hilton, Sue Loughlin & Laura Thomas, video producers
Best Music Film – “Moonage Daydream,” David Bowie; Brett Morgen, video director; Brett Morgen, video producer
Best Gospel Performance/Song – “All Things,” Kirk Franklin
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song – “Your Power,” Lecrae & Tasha Cobbs Leonard; Alexandria Dollar, Jordan Dollar, Antonio Gardener, Micheal Girgenti, Lasanna “Ace” Harris, David Hein, Deandre Hunter, Dylan Hyde, Christian Louisana, Patrick Darius Mix Jr., Lecrae Moore, Justin Pelham, Jeffrey Lawrence Shannon, Allen Swoope, songwriters
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance – “Ghost In The Machine,” SZA featuring Phoebe Bridgers
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