On the evening of Sunday, February 4th, the Recording Academy hosted the 66th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California. As per usual, many of the winners sparked controversy on social media.
Taking the stage to perform their hits were Dua Lipa, Billy Joel, Olivia Rodrigo, Travis Scott and Playboi Carti, Joni Mitchell, Fantasia Barrino, SZA, Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus, Luke Combs and Tracy Chapman, and Burna Boy with 21 Savage and Brandy.
Taking home the title of the most wins of the night, Phoebe Bridgers was awarded with four Grammys. Bridgers won Best Pop/Duo Performance for her collaboration with SZA on “Ghost in the Machine,” as well as Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Alternative Album with her band, boygenius.
Going into the awards, SZA was nominated the most out of anyone, with nine nominations. She left with three, having performed two of her hit songs, “Snooze” and “Kill Bill.” She won Best R&B song, Best Pop/Duo Performance, and Best Urban Contemporary Album.
It wouldn’t be a proper Grammy recap if the elephant in the room was not addressed: Dr. Taylor Alison Swift. Swift was nominated for six awards and took home two. Earlier in the day, Swift had changed all of her profile pictures to black and white, causing fans to suspect something was up. When U2’s Bono read that Swift was the winner of Pop Vocal Album, she blew fans’ minds with the announcement of her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, coming out on April 19th.
When it came time for the last and most anticipated award, Album of the Year, the music world sat on the edge of their couches desperately hoping for their favorite artist to win. The nominees included John Batiste’s World Music Radio, boygenius’ the record, Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation, Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, Janelle Monàe’s The Age Of Pleasure, Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS, SZA’s SOS, and the eventual winner, Taylor Swift’s Midnights.
In the past, Swift has won Album of the Year three other times. In 2010, Fearless won, making her the youngest artist to win the award. In 2016, Swift’s 1989 won, making her the first woman to win twice. In 2021, she won for folklore, setting the record for the only woman to win thrice and tying the number of times won with Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, and Stevie Wonder. With Midnights, Swift is now the only artist to ever have won the award four times.
Miley Cyrus brought some humor to the show during the performance of her hit song “Flowers.” In the middle of a verse, she yelled out to the crowd, “Why are y’all acting like y’all don’t know this song?”. Cyrus took home the awards for Record of the Year and Pop Solo Performance, scoring her very first Grammys.
Billie Eilish won Song of the Year for ‘What Was I Made For?” from the Barbie soundtrack, scoring her ninth grammy in four years.
As per tradition, the previous year’s Best New Artist winner, Samara Joy, presented this year’s award, with Victoria Monét winning. Monét won against Ice Spice, Gracie Abrams, Noah Kahan, Jelly Roll, Coco Jones, Fred again.., and The War and Treaty.
Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country won Best Country Album.
Although only a small number of awards are televised each year, there are a total of 94 categories at the Grammys, most of which are streamed online at a pre-show on YouTube.
Paramore finally won their first Grammys ever, in Best Alternative Music Performance and Rock Album, both for This is Why.
Dave Chapelle won Best Comedy Album for What’s In A Name, surpassing Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes, and even the host of the night, Trevor Noah.
For the third year in a row, Jack Antonoff won Non-Classical Producer of the Year. Antonoff produces for many of today’s top artists, such as Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, The 1975, Lorde, Clairo, Troye Sivan, The Chicks, and many more.
Killer Mike took home the award for Best Rap Album for Michael. To everyone’s shock, later into the night after winning three Grammys, he was arrested at the venue for an altercation.
The winner of Best New Artist, Victoria Monét, also won Best R&B Album, beating Coco Jones, Summer Walker, Emily King, and Babyface.
Two of the most notable performances came from Luke Combs with Tracy Chapman and Joni Mitchell. Combs’ hit cover of “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman has gone viral, reaching #1 on the Billboard country charts. Rather than just performing alone, Combs brought Chapman on stage to sing a duet of the song.
The legendary Joni Mitchell performed her song “Clouds,” alongside Brandi Carlile and an ensemble of other performers. At age 80, Mitchell tore at heartstrings all across the world. Although having a severe brain aneurysm in 2015, the icon is still standing strong.
Unlike previous years, this year’s Grammys featured no sweep, with the top nominee, SZA, taking home only three awards.
Though the Academy’s selections may remain controversial, the 66th annual Grammy Awards displayed, yet again, how music can bring the world together.
