Grammys
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Here are some controversial moments from the 2024 Grammy Awards. Tetris Kelly:While the Grammys is a night of celebrating music, it doesn’t go off without its fair share of controversy. Presenter:The Grammy goes to Killer Mike. Tetris Kelly:Killer Mike’s Grammy day was one for the books. He took home three trophies at the Grammy Premiere […]
Gracie Abrams, Fred again.., Ice Spice, Jelly Roll, Coco Jones, Noah Kahan and The War and Treaty may be disappointed that they didn’t win the Grammy for best new artist on Sunday (Feb. 4), but they shouldn’t despair. No less a Grammy GOAT than Taylor Swift came up short when she was nominated in that category 16 years ago.
When Cyndi Lauper (who had won in the category in 1985) and Miley Cyrus (who won her first two Grammys just last night) announced the winner for best new artist at the 50th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, 2008, the award went to the gifted but troubled Amy Winehouse.
Winehouse was widely expected to win. She went into the night with six nominations, more than any of the other best new artist nominees that year. Fellow nominee Feist had four, Ledisi had two and the two remaining nominees, Swift and Paramore, each had just that one nod.
The bookings on the telecast reflected the nominations. Winehouse was invited to perform two songs, “You Know I’m No Good” and “Rehab.” (The performance was beamed in by satellite from a London studio when a work visa for Winehouse to enter the U.S. didn’t arrive in time.) Feist performed her hit “1234” on the telecast. Swift wasn’t invited to perform on the show, but she did at least get to co-present an award (best rap/sung collaboration) with Juanes.
Winehouse won five awards on the night. In addition to best new artist, she won record and song of the year and best female pop vocal performance for “Rehab” and best pop vocal album for Back in Black. She was the fifth female solo artist to land five awards in one night, following Lauryn Hill, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys and Beyoncé.
Here’s the thing people sometimes forget: Awards are a snapshot in time. They can’t predict the future. Who could have known that Swift would build (and build and build) as an artist, demonstrating amazing resilience, determination, ambition, grit and focus? Who could have known that Winehouse’s career would come to a tragically premature end with her death at 27 in 2011?
Winehouse had fully broken through commercially and had shown her full creative potential by the time of Grammy voting that first year. Back to Black entered the Billboard 200 at No. 7 in March 2007 (ultimately peaking at No. 2 in the wake of the Grammys). “Rehab” reached No. 9 on the Hot 100 in June 2007, well before the voting period began.
Swift’s development took much longer. Her debut album, Taylor Swift, didn’t crack the top 10 on the Billboard 200 until November 2007 (when it was in its 55th week on the chart). It ultimately peaked at No. 5 in January 2008. Swift didn’t land her first top 10 hit on the Hot 100 (“Change”) until August 2008.
The situation with Swift and Winehouse is similar in some ways to the situation with the Carpenters and Elton John at the very first live Grammy telecast on March 16, 1971. Karen and Richard won best new artist, besting Elton, country crossover star Anne Murray, R&B and Broadway star Melba Moore and The Partridge Family, then winding up the first season of their hit TV series. At the time of voting, Carpenters were headed for their third smash hit in a row, with “For All We Know” following “(They Long to Be) Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun.” At that same point, Elton had just landed his first top 10 hit, “Your Song.”
Carpenters went into Grammy night with four nods, plus an additional nod for Richard for his arrangement of “Close to You,” a little-known Bacharach-David song from 1963 that he turned into a standard, earning the respect of no less an arranger than Bacharach himself. By comparison, Elton had three Grammy nods that year.
Voters at the time of course could not have known that Karen would later develop an eating disorder that she would battle for the last eight years of her life, leading to her death at age 32 in February 1983. (Elton also battled personal demons, as he has freely acknowledged.)
All four of these artists were/are tremendous talents. It’s a shame that they have to be pitted against each other like this, but that’s the nature of awards.
The thing to remember is that all career trajectories are different. To look once more at the best new artist nominees from 16 years ago, Feist has yet to land another nomination after the four nods that greeted her breakout hit “1234.” Winehouse won just one more Grammy after her five-award sweep – a posthumous win for best pop duo/group performance in 2012 for “Body and Soul,” a collaboration with Tony Bennett. Ledisi didn’t finally win her first Grammy until 2021. Paramore has won three Grammys – best rock song for “Ain’t It Fun” nine years ago and two more just last night: best rock album for This Is Why and best alternative music performance for the title track.
Swift is now up to 14 Grammys. In 2010, she became the youngest artist to win album of the year (a record that has since been eclipsed by Billie Eilish). In 2016, she became the first woman to win album of the year twice as a lead artist. In 2021, she became one of just four artists to win album of the year three times. And last night she became the first artist to win four times in that category.
I guess the old saying is true: It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.
Andra Day, Keke Palmer, Stevie Wonder and more continued with the celebrations after the 66th annual event.
Ice Spice checked off another item from her bucket list on Sunday night (Feb. 4) when she had the opportunity to meet Beyoncé at the Grammy Awards. In video shared by the Recording Academy, the “Munch” rapper pulls up on Bey, Jay-Z and their daughter Blue Ivy as the trio walks through Crypto.com Arena. Queen […]
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Jay-Z doesn’t make many public appearances where he speaks these days, but that shifted majorly over the weekend. During his acceptance speech at the annual Grammy Awards ceremony for the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, Jay-Z took a slight shot at the Recording Academy and mentioned that his wife, Beyoncé, has a leading 32 Grammy Awards but has never won the coveted Album of The Year trophy.
Flanked by his daughter Blue Ivy, Jay-Z took to the stage but humbly thanked Dr. Dre, the man for whom the award is named. In a loose moment for both men, Hov is heard lavishing praise upon the veteran producer, who bashfully tried to keep the moment focused on the man on the stage.
From there, the rapper born Shawn Carter launched into a freewheeling speech where he mentioned Beyoncé, who looked on with a beaming smile, stating that he doesn’t understand how the Academy hasn’t voted for her to win the AOTY Grammy.
Jay then spoke about the nature of the award show itself, mentioning the historic win for DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince and their 1989 boycott of the ceremony. The Brooklyn bomber then made mention of how the pair went on to watch the Grammys anyway. He then turned the moment on himself after he boycotted the Grammys in 1998 for snubbing the last DMX, who had a monster year with two top-charting and acclaimed albums.
It didn’t end there as Jay continued to shoot from the hip, saying that some nominees will feel like they were robbed and that some might actually get robbed before wrapping it up and saying that some people probably didn’t deserve to be nominated.
Check out the speech from Jay-Z below. Keep scrolling for reactions from X, formerly Twitter.
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Photo: Getty
Jay-Z wanted to celebrate his Dr. Dre Global Impact Award win at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards with a drink, and he ended up filling his trophy with a shot of D’USSÉ.
After taking the Crypto.com Arena stage on Sunday night (Feb. 4) with his daughter Blue Ivy to defend Beyoncé with a candid acceptance speech that is sure to ruffle the feathers of the Recording Academy, Jay turned his gramophone into an expensive cup.
Footage emerged of the Brooklyn rap icon with a smile on his face as he poured some of his cognac into the trophy for a celebratory shot.
“That’s hilarious, man,” an onlooker said while Jay posed for photos with his newest accolade after taking a sip.
During his viral acceptance speech, Jay spoke his truth and jabbed the Recording Academy when it came to his wife never winning album of the yeardespite boasting the most Grammy Awards of all time.
“I’m just saying, we want y’all to get it right. We love y’all; we love y’all; we want you to get it right, or at least get it close to right, and obviously it’s subjective,” he said as Blue Ivy stood next to him. “Because it’s music and it’s opinion-based, but some things — I don’t want to embarrass this young lady [Beyoncè], but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year, so even by your own metrics that doesn’t work. Think about that: the most Grammys and never won an album of the year. That doesn’t work.”
“Some of you are going to go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may get robbed, some of you don’t belong in the category — when I get nervous I tell the truth.”
“But outside of that, we’ve gotta keep showing up,” he continued. “And forget the Grammys for a second, just in life — as my daughter sits and stares at me nervous as I am — just in life, you’ve gotta keep showing up and keep showing up. Forget the Grammys.”
“You’ve got to keep showing up until they give you all those accolades you feel you deserve, until they call you ‘chairman,’ until they call you a ‘genius,’ until they call you ‘the greatest of all time.’ You feel me?”
Watch Jay-Z’s entire speech below.
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Taylor Swift is proud of her boys. After she and Boygenius both took home multiple awards at the 2024 Grammys on Sunday (Feb. 4), the 34-year-old pop star joined the indie rock trio — comprised of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus — for a celebratory round of photos in the press room. In […]
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On Sunday (Feb. 4), social media was abuzz when word that Killer Mike won the Grammy Award for “Rap Album Of The Year” hit the internet well before the Grammy Awards even aired. But unfortunately, the celebration was short-lived as not too long after it was being reported that Killer Mike was taken away from the festivities in handcuffs for reasons unknown.
Now, TMZ is reporting that the Michael rapper was booked on a citizens arrest after he got into it with a security guard at the Crypto.com Arena. According to the report, Killer Mike allegedly knocked down said security guard for “not getting out of his way quick enough” and that in turn led to a citizens arrest, which resulted in the pictures and videos of Mike being led away from the venue in handcuffs. Though Killer Mike wasn’t actually placed under arrest, he was detained and removed from the vicinity following the incident.
Per TMZ:
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … Mike was booked for misdemeanor battery Sunday evening, this after a private person’s arrest took place at Crypto.com Arena. We’re told KM is accused of knocking down a security officer after they did not get out of his way quick enough — the apparent aftermath of which looks to have been caught on tape, seen here.
We got a hold of video that seems to show Mike being chased down outside in the windy rain, where security personnel can be seen attempting to stop him … with Mike looking determined to get by them. You can’t see any “knock-down” as has been described to us by law enforcement — but it does look like he faces off with security guards in tense fashion.
Terrible ending to what should’ve been a night filled with joy and celebration for Killer Mike. The incident came after Mike took home three Grammy Awards including “Best Rap Song,” “Best Rap Performance,” and as we stated earlier, “Best Rap Album.”
Though we’re sure the incident put a damper on Mike’s night, they can’t take away the fact that the man earned those Grammys and will be putting them on a mantle somewhere in his home.
Check out video of the incident below, and let us know your thoughts on Mike’s Grammy wins and eventual arrest in the comments section below.
This year’s Grammy season officially came to a close at Crypto.com Arena Sunday (Feb. 4), with the biggest stars in music all gathering under one roof to celebrate each other’s wins and, in between, cheer on each other’s performances. And, as usual, the 2024 ceremony offered up a diverse smattering of musical numbers from chart-toppers […]
The 2024 Grammys ceremony on Sunday (Feb. 4) was a fairy tale for Jelly Roll, even if he didn’t win in either of the categories he was nominated for. That’s because the country star had the opportunity to meet someone he admires: Taylor Swift. “When your hubby gets to meet his crush finally,” Bunnie XO, […]