The 66th annual Grammy Awards aired live on Sunday night at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.
Phoebe Bridgers took home the most trophies from the 2024 Grammy Awards, earning four wins, including three with her band, boygenius.
But when it comes to dominating headlines, Taylor Swift might have the edge. With her big win for ‘Midnights,’ Swift became the first artist to win best album of the year four times. Plus, she announced that yet another new album is on the way.
.webp)
It’s been a stormy weekend in Los Angeles, and while the vibes in the Crypto.com Arena were largely good, the Grammys are over.
Attendees donned rain gear before taking to the streets of downtown LA, some with trophies in hand and some merely with umbrellas.
In her home, Coco Jones has a photo of Beyoncé holding several Grammys, but with her own face replacing her idol’s.
Now, Jones can have a photo of her holding her own trophy.
The singer won her first Grammy, in the best R&B performance category, for her ballad “ICU.” She went up against some stiff competition beating out the likes of SZA and Victoria Monét, among others.
Jones first heard about her Premiere Ceremony victory on the red carpet.
“I was under the rain on the red carpet on my last stop and that’s when I heard that I won the award,” she said backstage. “I’m really soaking it in right now, looking at this award, thinking about my vision board and editing my face on Beyoncé’s picture of her holding the award. It’s totally surreal. It’s a lot to unpack at this stage.”
Jones said she’s grateful for her journey after finding stardom as a Disney child star. She struggled to maintain momentum and then fell out of the spotlight before she found success through her EP “What I Didn’t Tell You,” which was anchored by “ICU.”
“All of the uncertainty can really be answered by God’s timing,” she said. “I’ve at this since I was 9. And to reap the benefits at this time, makes way more sense than I could ever imagine. I’m just truly grateful for all the obstacles that made me who I am.”
The Grammys brought no sweeping winners or major losers, but top nominee SZA won just three of nine and was shut out in the major categories.
The hip-hop soul dynamo came into the ceremony with momentum and mojo that made it appear like she might run the board the way Billie Eilish did in 2020.
But her win list was limited to two awards won before the telecast began – “Ghost In The Machine” with Phoebe Bridgers won Pop Duo/Group Performance and “SOS” won best progressive R&B album – and one on the telecast, when “Snooze” won best R&B song.
She lost to Taylor Swift for album of the year, to Miley Cyrus for record of the year and to Eilish for song of the year.
Her total – along with similar snubs two years ago – arguably had echoes of Beyoncé, who as her husband Jay-Z called out during the show, has won more Grammys than anyone while being consistently shut out of the top categories.
Seven out of eight artists nominated for the Album of the Year category are for albums by women artists under the age of 40: the rock group Boy Genius, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey, Janelle Monáe, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, and SZA.
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
The outlier in that group is five-time Grammy winner Jon Batiste, who is nominated for six awards tonight and who took home the Album of the Year trophy in 2022 for We Are. But the category's inclusion of women artists across the pop and R&B spectrum stands in stark contrast to candidates nominated last year, which included Latin pop star Bad Bunny, rock band Coldplay, and a win by Harry Styles' Harry's House over Beyoncé's RENAISSANCE.
Tonight's main event, hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, opened with a medley of two new songs performed by Dua Lipa — her recent single "Houdini" and the unreleased "Training Season," both from her forthcoming studio album — sandwiching a snippet from her song from the Barbie soundtrack, "Dance the Night."
In the first televised award presentation of the evening, Miley Cyrus won Best Pop Solo Performance for her song "Flowers." As she noted a few minutes later during a raucous performance of the hit, it was her first-ever Grammy win. Cyrus took full advantage of the spotlight during the performance, ribbing the audience for not singing along to the song more at the start, and throwing her mic down at its end.
Never one to be upstaged, Taylor Swift took her turn at the spotlight — while accepting her 13th career Grammy, this time for best pop vocal album — to let the audience and her fans in on a secret: she has a new album on the way, The Tortured Poets Department, dropping April 19.
The Grammys are notable (or infamous) for their unlikely live collaborations, but one of the most hotly anticipated joint performances of this year was Luke Combs and Tracy Chapman's duet on Chapman's song "Fast Car," which Combs has brought back into the public eye. Chapman, who performed the song at the Grammys 35 years ago, when it was nominated for record and song of the year and she won best new artist along with two other prizes, was not announced as a performer.
Colombian singer and songwriter Karol G took home the award for best musica urbana album, for her album Mañana Será Bonito. "This is my first time at the Grammys, and this is my first time holding my own," Karol G said during her acceptance speech.
SZA performed a duet of two of her hits: "Snooze" and "Kill Bill," the first with a stage set featuring a literal dumpster fire, and the second with references to Quentin Tarantino's films of the same name. Later, she won the Grammy for best R&B song for "Snooze," thanking her family and team. "You don't understand, I came really, really far, and it feels very fake," she said during her emotional speech. "I'm not a very attractive crier."
Billie Eilish performed her song "What Was I Made For?" from the Barbie soundtrack, which beat out three other cuts from the soundtrack (Dua Lipa's "Dance the Night," Ryan Gosling's "I'm Just Ken," and Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice's "Barbie World") to win the Grammy for best song written for visual media earlier in the night. "
Since there are actually 94 Grammy categories, most awards are presented hours before the televised ceremony. Among the winners in that pre-telecast ceremony were Boy Genius, the indie supergroup composed of singer-songwriters Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker, and Phoebe Bridgers, who took home three awards for best rock song, best rock performance and best alternative music album for its release the record. SZA, nominated for nine Grammys, the most of any artist, earned her first two in the best progressive R&B and best pop duo/group performance categories, the latter for "Ghost In The Machine," featuring boy genius member Bridgers.
Killer Mike's solo autobiographical album, Michael, and his first in more than a decade, won in three of the four rap categories, taking home Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap Album. The rapper was handcuffed and escorted out of the venue by police shortly before the televised ceremony, according to a report in Variety. When reached by NPR, the LAPD did not provide more information about reports of the arrest.
BEST NEW ARTIST
Victoria Monét
SONG OF THE YEAR (SONGWRITER’S AWARD)
“What Was I Made For?” Billie Eilish and Finneas
BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM
“Midnights,” Taylor Swift
BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE
“Flowers,” Miley Cyrus
BEST NEW ARTIST
Gracie Abrams; Fred again..; Ice Spice; Jelly Roll; Coco Jones; Noah Kahan; Victoria Monét; The War and Treaty.
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM
“Bell Bottom Country,” Lainey Wilson
BEST R&B SONG
“Snooze,” SZA
BEST MUSICA URBANA ALBUM
“Mañana Será Bonito,” Karol G
BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
“Ghost in the Machine,” SZA featuring Phoebe Bridgers
BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM
“The Record,” Boygenius
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL
Theron Thomas
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL
Jack Antonoff
BEST R&B ALBUM
“Jaguar II,” Victoria Monét
BEST PROGRESSIVE R&B ALBUM
“SOS,” SZA
BEST AUDIO BOOK, NARRATION AND STORYTELLING RECORDING
“The Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times,” Michelle Obama
BEST REGGAE ALBUM
“Colors of Royal,” Julian Marley and Antaeus
BEST LATIN ROCK OR ALTERNATIVE ALBUM (tie)
“Vida Cotidiana,” Juanes and “De Todas Las Flores,” Natalia Lafourcade
BEST LATIN POP ALBUM
“X Mi (Vol 1),” Gaby Moreno
BEST RAP ALBUM
“Michael,” Killer Mike
BEST RAP SONG
“Scientists & Engineers,” Killer Mike ft. André 3000, Future and Eryn Allen Kane
BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE
“White Horse,” Chris Stapleton
BEST COUNTRY SONG
“White Horse,” Chris Stapleton
BEST FOLK ALBUM
“Joni Mitchell at Newport (Live),” Joni Mitchell
BEST POP DANCE RECORDING
BEST ROCK ALBUM
“This Is Why,” Paramore
BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE
“Not Strong Enough,” Boygenius
BEST ROCK SONG
“Not Strong Enough,” Boygenius
BEST AMERICANA ALBUM
“Weathervanes,” Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
BEST METAL PERFORMANCE
BEST JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM
“The Winds of Change,” Billy Childs
BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM
“How Love Begins,” Nicole Zuraitis
BEST COMEDY ALBUM
“What’s in a Name?,” Dave Chappelle
BEST COMPILATION SOUNDTRACK FOR VISUAL MEDIA
“Barbie The Album,” various artists
BEST SONG WRITTEN FOR VISUAL MEDIA
“What Was I Made For?,” Billie Eilish
BEST SCORE SOUNDTRACK FOR VISUAL MEDIA
“Oppenheimer,” Ludwig Göransson
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
“I’m Only Sleeping,” the Beatles
BEST MUSIC FILM
“Moonage Daydream”
BEST MUSICAL THEATER ALBUM
BEST GOSPEL ALBUM
“All Things New: Live in Orlando,” Tye Tribbett
BEST CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC ALBUM
“Church Clothes 4,” Lecrae
BEST AFRICAN MUSIC PERFORMANCE
“Water,” Tyla
The Grammys brought no sweeping winners or major losers, but top nominee SZA won just three of nine and was shut out in the major categories.
The hip-hop soul dynamo came into the ceremony with momentum and mojo that made it appear like she might run the board the way Billie Eilish did in 2020.
But her win list was limited to two awards won before the telecast began – “Ghost In The Machine” with Phoebe Bridgers won Pop Duo/Group Performance and “SOS” won best progressive R&B Album – and one on the telecast, when “Snooze” won best R&B song.
She lost to Taylor Swift for album of the year, to Miley Cyrus for record of the year, and to Eilish for song of the year.
Her total – along with similar snubs two years ago – arguably had echoes of Beyoncé, who as her husband Jay-Z called out during the show, has won more Grammys than anyone while being consistently shut out of the top categories.
Taylor Swift made a big announcement during her 13th Grammy Awards win at Sunday's show. Many thought she had something up her sleeves given her outfit choice and Easter eggs planted all over, and it turns out they were right.
As she revealed during her acceptance speech, Swift has a brand new album dropping in April. She even revealed the cover art on Instagram, claiming she was going to post it immediately after leaving the stage.
"This is my thirteenth Grammy, and thirteen is also my favorite number, I don't know if I've ever told you guys that," Swift told the crowd while thanking her fans. "I'm going to tell you a secret I've been keeping for the last two years, which is that my brand new album comes out April 19th and is called The Tortured Poet's Department."
"I know that the way that the Recording Academy voted is a direct reflection of the passion of the fans," Swift noted during her speech, giving plenty of love to those people who made a cultural monster. She might get two Sundays in a row for attention if she can make it to the Super Bowl.
Miley Cyrus took home her first Grammy Award at the 2024 ceremony standing beside a living legend: Mariah Carey. Cyrus couldn't contain her excitement for the milestone. The "Vision of Love" presented the Hannah Montana staple with the first award of the night for Best Pop Solo Performance. Cyrus was visibly shocked when Carey announced her as the winner. She gasped all the way to the podium before giving her acceptance speech. "This is just too iconic," Cyrus said. "Oh my God, I just got stuck in the rain in traffic and thought I was going to miss this moment." She added, "And I could've missed the award- that's fine, but not Mariah Carey. I just saw you at the Hollywood Bowl; it was everything." Cyrus noted that she "got sat in my lucky number 3 seat and went on to tell a story during the speech she didn't initially plan to, but took the moment as her chance.
Carey, whose fans know she adores butterflies, talked about a little boy that "all he wanted for his birthday was a butterfly." "His parents gave him a butterfly net," Cyrus said, adding that the little one couldn't catch one. "With no luck, he sat down on the ground, he finally let go and he surrendered. And he was OK that he wasn't going to capture this beautiful butterfly," she continued. "And right when he did, is when the butterfly came and landed right on the tip of his nose. This song 'Flowers' is my butterfly."
In total, Cyrus has been nominated for eight Grammy awards. Her latest album, Endless Summer Vacation, earned her nominations in the categories for best pop vocal album and album of the year, as well as best pop duo/group performance for "Thousand Miles" and best pop solo performance, song of the year and record of the year for "Flowers." She revealed her excitement about the nominations in an Instagram post in November 2023, writing, "It's fun to be nominated & exciting to win but having my music LOVED around the world is the real trophy." She was more excited that the Grammys' top categories this year were almost entirely dominated by women, with Cyrus noting: "Watching women rule the music industry makes me proud."
Tracy Chapman surprised guests and viewers of the 2024 Grammy Awards when she appeared on stage for a performance of her biggest hit, "Fast Car," 35 years after its original release. The beloved singer joined fellow country singer Luke Combs to duet the song and received a standing ovation. The performance marked one of just a few she's had since finishing her 2009 tour. Despite her popularity, she's remained quite the recluse, preferring a private life outside of the spotlight. Combs recorded his own country rendition of the emotional single on his 2023 album, Gettin' Old, giving the original 1988 single a new audience. The remake became the most-streamed song off Combs' album. Chapman made history with her release when she became the first Black woman with a No. 1 single on the country charts for a solo composition, and also the first Black woman to win the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year at the 2023 awards ceremony.
The performance began with a visibly emotional as she played the opening cords before starting the performance. Combs emerged in an all-black suit, not his typical flannel look. The audience, including big names like Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey, and Meryl Streep, stood on their feet and sang along.
Chapman spoke about the success of "Fast Car" and some of her other famous songs, including "Talkin' Bout a Revolution" and "Give Me One Reason" in a 2015 interview with The Daily Telegraph.
"All I can say is that there are some themes that are timeless," she said at the time. "There are some concerns that are universal. Everyone wants to be loved and everyone wants to feel like they belong somewhere in the world. Everyone wants to do something and feel like they have a sense of purpose. These are just the things that I think about and the things that make their way into my songwriting."
Chapman was a GRAMMY nominee for "Fast Car" during its original run, being nominated for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year following its release. She didn't win in the big categories, but she took home awards for Best New Artist, and her self-titled debut won Best Contemporary Folk Album, while the lead single won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.