State Champ Radio Grammys
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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, […]
In 2024, music award shows are defined more than anything by what (and who) they’re missing. Who got snubbed? Who should’ve performed but didn’t? Who didn’t bother showing up at all? In a moment where panic about the fading relevance and impact of so many of our past cultural institutions is consistently palpable, these questions of absence are usually what drives the most discussion and engagement relating to shows like the Grammys — to the point where they often overwhelm whatever and whoever actually is there.
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That’s what made it so conspicuous that the 2024 Grammys, which took place in Los Angeles on Sunday night (Feb. 4), felt so, well, full. The artists who’d defined the previous year in music were basically all present and accounted for: six of Billboard‘s top seven picks for the Greatest Pop Stars of 2023 were in the building, with Morgan Wallen (whose relationship with the Recording Academy remains understandably frayed) the lone holdout. The top categories were suspenseful, and the wins cathartic, occasionally historic. The performances were a dazzling mix of contemporary pace-setters and all-time legends. The energy on the floor was buzzing — sometimes even a little too audibly during the quieter on-stage moments. It was the extremely rare three-and-a-half-hour award show that felt… not necessarily shorter than that, but not significantly longer either, an accomplishment in itself.
It was as successful a Grammys in providing just about everything you could want from the show that we’ve had in recent memory, very possibly one of the greatest Grammys in the telecast’s 54-year history. But it wasn’t quite complete, as the dearth of representation from a genre at the core of the show’s greatest issues in recent years lingered uncomfortably at its center — even being loudly and specifically called out on stage by one of the defining figures in the genre’s history.
Of course, this being an award show in 2024, the night began and ended (in near-exact bookends) with Taylor Swift. The world-conquering pop star showed up to her table midway through host Trevor Noah’s introductory remarks, mere seconds after his first mention of her, invoked like an awards-show genie. Swift would not be performing on the evening, but as she proved at the MTV Video Music Awards and even the Golden Globes in recent months — not to mention however many NFL Sundays — she was more than capable of dominating the evening with her mere presence, a constant cutaway as she danced and sang along and palled around with fellow superstar (and designated bestie for the evening) Lana Del Rey. And as with the last two VMAs, Swift also came armed with a major reveal: the April arrival of The Tortured Poets Department, follow-up album to 2022’s Midnights, which she announced while accepting the best pop vocal album Grammy for the latter set — officially ending one album cycle by kicking off the next, just in case you mistakenly thought she might be putting her imperial phase on pause for 2024.
And of course, that wasn’t the last award of the night for Taylor Swift or Midnights: It also emerged victorious in the final category, for album of the year. The win was a historic one for Swift, breaking her tie with Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra and making her the lone recording artist in history with four album of the year Ws. You could argue about whether or not Midnights was definitely the most deserving winner — in a loaded AOTY race, it was one of multiple plausible candidates — but not about whether it made intrinsic sense that Swift should emerge the biggest winner from Music’s Biggest Night, shortly after wrapping up Music’s Biggest Year of the entire 21st century.
Perhaps the ultimate testament to the strength of the 2024 Grammys, however, was that even with Swift looming so large on the evening, the rest of the ceremony didn’t feel particularly stuck in her shadow: Dozens of other winners, performers and attendees also made their presences memorably felt. Superstar singer-songwriters Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish both added chapters to their growing Grammy legacies with strong performances, the latter even picking up her second song of the year trophy and sixth (!!!) career Big Four win for “What Was I Made For?” Victoria Monét capped one of the most satisfying breakout years in recent pop history with her best new artist victory, true mainstream validation for a veteran pop songwriter who’d too long been stuck behind the scenes. And it was nearly as rewarding to watch a different kind of overdue industry acceptance bestowed upon Miley Cyrus, who — 15 years after “Party in the U.S.A.” — finally took home the first two Grammys of her brilliant career, best pop solo performance and record of the year for “Flowers.”
You may notice a common theme among all the artists mentioned so far, and it was one that continued throughout the evening: Grammy night was, first and foremost, a night of women. Executive producer Ben Winston had mentioned to the Associated Press that he’d raised the idea of an a “ladies’ night” at the Grammys with an all-female roster of performers and rightly been shot down; such a heavy-handed setup would’ve felt wildly unnecessary when the women present were clearly more than capable of controlling the evening regardless. From Karol G becoming the first woman winner of the best música urbana album award (for Mañana Será Bonito) to the long-absent Tracy Chapman reclaiming the spotlight (and her signature song) on her “Fast Car” duet with Luke Combs to Annie Lennox paying heart-stopping tribute to Sinéad O’Connor with an appropriately tearful rendition of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” — to, yes, four different women artists taking home the Big Four categories, for the second time in four years — women across genres and generations were centered throughout. The most hardened Grammys skeptic would still have to admit gender equity has come a long way at the awards in the six years since “step up.”
And even among all the greatness on display on the Grammy stage on Sunday night, including long-overdue stage returns from Chapman and the 30-years-gone Billy Joel, special mention simply must be made of Joni Mitchell’s spellbinding rendition of “Both Sides Now.” Nearly a decade after Mitchell’s health situation seemed dire enough for many publications to start writing pre-obituaries for the legendary singer-songwriter, to get any kind of performance from her on the Grammy stage (the very first of her career, unbelievably) would seem a small miracle. But to get a version of “Sides” — a song that has soundtracked and defined countless life-changing moments among listeners for 55 years now — audibly imbued with the full weight of Mitchell’s own 80 years of experience and her deepened, weathered, but still singular voice, was a moment as indelible as the Grammys has produced. You could see it in the cutaways to the folks (again, mostly women) in attendance, perhaps best in the fighting-back-tears shot of acting GOAT Meryl Streep and daughter Grace Gummer, no doubt reflecting the reactions of thousands of mother-daughter viewer pairs watching from home. It was as profoundly raw and beautiful a living-legend showcase as the show could’ve hoped for, and will undoubtedly go down as an all-time performance in award show history.
But as much progress as the Grammys has clearly made in recent years when it comes to the representation of women, it continues to come up short in doing the same for Black music. Monét’s best new artist win saved the Grammys from the nightmare scenario of an all-white Big Four, but SZA was arguably the people’s-champ pick in the top categories this year — particularly for album of the year nominee SOS, which topped the Billboard 200 for 10 weeks and was only held from topping pretty much every 2023 year-end critics’ list by the fact that it technically bowed at the end of 2022. No shame in losing to Taylor Swift in 2024, of course, but with echoes of the similar fate that befell Beyoncé and Renaissance at last year’s awards (to a dominant-but-not-Swift-dominant Harry Styles and Harry’s House), complaints of it seemingly never being certain Black artists’ turn would hardly seem unfounded.
The audience got a specific reminder of Bey’s career snubbing in the general categories — she’s still never won album of the year, despite being the preeminent pop and R&B albums artist of her generation — from her own husband, rap god Jay-Z, during his acceptance speech for the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. In addition to memorably airing grievances on his wife’s behalf, Jay also voiced the longtime and continuing frustrations for hip-hop’s perpetually poor showing at the awards, dating back to the first best rap performance award in 1989, which several nominees (including winners DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince) boycotted due to the award not being televised on the broadcast. He admitted that he and other rappers — even those who boycotted back in ’89, only to watch the awards from their hotel — still care about the Grammys: “We love y’all and we want y’all to get it right… At least get it close to right.”
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see what Jay thought about this year’s hip-hop winners, because the Grammys decided not to air any of the rap awards — Killer Mike, a beloved and recognizable figure in hip-hop but not a true crossover star, won in three out of the four — and rap played a minimal part at best in the general categories. (SZA’s chances may have even been hurt by her modern hip-hop leanings; the Recording Academy has historically preferred to reward R&B artists who are more retro-minded.) The irony, given Jay’s ’89-invoking speech, was certainly not lost on many viewers. It’s easy to point to much-discussed downward trending in hip-hop’s preeminence and the relative dearth of obvious four-quadrant rap releases on the calendar last year and say it was understandable for the Grammys to give hip-hop short shrift this year, but even in a down year, the genre remains music’s biggest by a wide margin. To see the Grammys’ relationship with hip-hop only getting more fraught in 2024 is concerning.
And while hip-hop was also under-represented in the performances — a frustrated Travis Scott Utopia mini-medley that felt a bit like an afterthought, particularly following Mitchell’s showstopper, was rap’s primary representative for the night — it wasn’t the only essential 2024 genre to be lacking on stage. Not getting a single Spanish-language performance in such a massive year for Latin pop, reggaetón and música Mexicana was inexplicable, and the awards’ continuing lack of interest in (non-BTS) K-pop also remains disappointing. In fact, non-English-language pop music of any kind was strangely missing from the telecast, with Afrobeats star Burna Boy’s multi-song performance serving as the lone indication of pop’s rapid globalization of the 2020s.
But even with these obvious blemishes, there’s no denying that the 66th Annual Grammys was the most vital the awards have felt in some time. The performances were blessedly lacking in the kind of third-hour filler that have dragged the broadcast down in recent years, instead showcasing pop’s current best and brightest, along with some true icons of the past. Even when controversial, none of the wins were outright perplexing, uniformly rewarding artists and works that truly felt crucial to the past year. And, well, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé were both there — a good start to any event’s case for being must-watch, center-of-the-culture fare right now. We’ll remember this year’s Grammys much more for what they were than what they weren’t. And that’s closer to getting it right than the great majority of award shows can claim in 2024.
Question for you: Why do Grammy voters love Taylor Swift for album of the year, but have yet to give her song of the year?
Music’s Biggest Night really soared in 2024.
Just as the feared rainfall started in Los Angeles on Sunday (Feb. 4) — aka Grammys night — things inside the Crypto.com Arena were a bit sunnier as artists, composers, producers and more started to accept the first wins of the night.
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And throughout the action-packed night — during which Grammy winner Taylor Swift announced a new album while accepting her trophy, Miley Cyrus scored her first win (“Flowers” took home best pop solo performance) and more — Billboard was positioned on the red carpet, backstage and in the audience to report on all things behind the scenes.
Read on for everything you didn’t see on TV. (All times in PT.)
1:05: A soft yet communal gasp is heard backstage when Billie Eilish and Finneas accept their pre-show award for best song written for visual media with “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie. Equally surprised was Eilish herself, saying: “This was shocking to me… I was expecting to turn right around and leave… I am in awe, I feel so grateful every second of my life to do everything that I do… Thank you to Greta [Gerwig] for making the most empowering movie and Margo for being so amazing. Making this song saved me a little bit.”
1:20: Lostboy (winner, best pop dance recording, “Padam Padam”) says the weirdest place he has heard Kylie Minogue’s hit song was at a funeral: “It’s quite dark… [It’s the kind of setting where if] you’re not laughing, you’re crying,” he says.
1:28: Brandon Davis and George Drakoulis from Barbie talk about the film’s success… “I don’t think you can [soak in the success],” says Drakoulis. “It’s become ubiquitous. I remember I was in New York a couple weeks after it opened and kids were going in their pink outfits… We haven’t had a monoculture in a long time so it’s been great to have everybody rally around something…We made a real effort to make sure the musical experience was as exciting or as heartfelt as the film.” When asked how the team scored the amazing collaborators on the album – including Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice and more – Drakoulis has a simple answer: “Nobody said, ‘No.’” Davis added the early investment from artists who were seeing footage early and sitting with Greta, “It was that time spent investing and understanding the movie that really allowed people to write the perfect songs for the picture.”
1:58: Seven-time Grammy nominee Victoria Monét secures her first win of the night with best engineered album, non-classical for Jaguar II – and five of the six winners come backstage to celebrate. As for the sixth winner, Monét herself, her engineers assure the room they FaceTimed her a bit earlier: “She’s super excited… this is a great start to the day.”
2:27: Boygenius runs up to the stage – in matching off-white suits – to accept their first win of the night for best rock performance with “Not Strong Enough.” Member Lucy Dacus says, “We were all delusional enough as kids to think this might happen one day…” to which member Julien Baker adds: “This band is my family.” Minutes later, the trio (which also includes Phoebe Bridgers) returns to accept a second win for best rock song with the same track and soon after come back to accept alternative music album with The Record.
2:33: Jason Isbell enters the press room to celebrate his first two Grammys of the night (for best American roots song with “Cast Iron Skillet” and best Americana album with Weathervanes). When asked about his performance this weekend at the MusiCares concert honoring Bon Jovi – during which he covered “Wanted Dead Or Alive” alongside Bruce Springsteen” – Isbell called the song the ultimate Americana track from Bon Jovi’s discography. At the same time, on the pre-show, Paramore wins its first Grammy for best alternative music performance with “This Is Why.”
2:48: Theron Thomas, who earlier in the day took home the second-ever award for songwriter of the year (a category that was introduced at the 2023 ceremony), speaks about the category’s continued historic streak, saying: “I’m the first Black person to win…I just made history and it was very important. My dad told me when I was 9 I was going to do this – they had to create an award for somebody as special as myself.”
3:02: Killer Mike comes backstage holding his three Grammys – and has plenty to say. “It feels absolutely grand and I want to encourage people out there to chase their dream…If it feels like you’re slow, just keep running your race…The only limitation you have is your imagination. For 20 years I’ve been saying, ‘I can do it. I can do it. I can do it.’ And in [my] 20th year of hip-hop, here I am doing it…I remember being in the 4th grade, they said it wouldn’t last two years. I remember being in 8th grade and they said it wasn’t a real artform. I remember being in 12th grade and my homeroom teacher telling me it would never happen. And here we are. The only thing that limits you is you. At 20 years old I thought it was cool to be a drug dealer. At 40 years old I started to live with regrets. At 45 I started to rap about it, at 48 years old I stand here a man with empathy and sympathy for the things I’ve done…and I’m grateful to be holding these [awards] today.”
3:09: Laufey comes backstage after performing on – and winning an award – during the preshow. And while she’s thrilled about recent events, she’s most proud of what her music has inspired: “I grew up singing jazz standards and loving jazz music and I felt a little bit alone in it, but I noticed that no one really hated it either, so I made it a goal to create a community of an audience that likes this kind of music and I think that’s been the biggest gift in this process, finding like-minded people.” Of all of those people, she was asked who might be the most surprising person to have reached out so far, to which she was quick to reply: “Jack Harlow.”
3:13: Soon after winning the first award for best African music performance (for her hit “Water”), Tyla comes backstage to celebrate the historic moment. “Everything that’s been happening has shocked me, honestly,” she says. “I feel like God called me to do this, so that peace is in me, but the fact that this is happening…Grammy nomination, Billboard Hot 100, it just keeps piling on and I’m just excited.” She then teased that the best could be yet to come: “My debut album drops in March,” she says. “I’ve been working on it for over two years now. My album is an introduction of myself and my sound and there’s a lot of bangers on there, just like “Water,” and even better ones.”
3:39: Winning best album notes (for Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos) was a particularly proud moment for Deanie Parker. “I started working at Stax as a junior in high school,” she shares, “and I thought that I knew it all. But this project has been extremely revealing.”
3:53: Brandy Clark wins her long-awaited first Grammy for best Americana performance with “Dear Insecurity,” which features Brandi Carlile. But, as she shares backstage, Carlile wasn’t originally intended to be on the track: “When we were in the studio she was the one who suggested we turn it into a duet and I loved that idea, and she said, ‘I think we should get someone like Lucinda Williams to sing it with you, I’ll sing the [demo].’ Brandi started singing it and when we came in together on that chorus, it really felt like magic to me. So then I had the task of talking Brandi into it because she had been really adamant that she not be the feature, but she felt that same magic.”
4:05: Jack Antonoff wins producer of the year, non-classical, for the third year – and brings engineers Laura Sisk and Oli Jacobs onstage with him (along with a beige tote bag he clutches rather tightly). About 40 minutes later, he’s backstage – and affirming that winning in this category will never get old. “I’m more and more shocked. You know, it’s not like a huge decision because you make [something] and then people you work with say, ‘Do you want to throw this into the pool’ and you’re proud of it and you say yeah and then when you see your name come up…Anyone who tells you they’re used to it, I think [they’re] completely full of it. Laura, Oli, the Bleachers guys, the people who are in the studio every day…We’re so focused on the future. We’re so focused on what we’re doing. We don’t sit around and then talk about the past. You just don’t, because we’re mixing something to sound a certain way. We’re writing something. We’re touring, literally, like, moving forward. The bus doesn’t go in reverse often. And so in my life, there’s very little looking back. And so on days like today, I feel like I’m hit by a sentimental boulder.” Antonoff was also asked about his feelings about Universal Music Group removing its roster’s music from TikTok, to which he replied: “I’d like it to go back up… You’ve got a whole industry like, ‘You’ve got to do everything’ and then one day it’s like, ‘Poof.’ As an artist, you can’t get used to getting paid less, which they try to get you used to. But I think it’s ass backwards. Is that the one that’s going to make the news?”
5:51: Lil Durk speaks about representing Chicago with his first Grammy win, saying “I’m definitely shocked, but appreciate it every step of the way, too…It was a goal for me, so it means a lot. My biggest thing is to keep coming every year, hopefully.”
5:56: Karol G celebrates her first Grammy win as the sound from the live debut of Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” bleeds into backstage. “I’ve done a lot of things in my life that I never thought were going to happen to me,” says Karol. “So my mind is still getting new ideas, new visions, it’s open to more, more, more. I just want to keep working super hard, and I’m going to have God surprise me…Many times before, I would watch all of this on the other side of the TV and I would ask myself how it could ever be possible for me to be there one day and for them to recognize my name and my music and sell tickets around the world. I found a way to do what I wanted to do. I feel very proud to be here, to recognize that the limits are only in our head, to represent my Latin community all over the world, women and my country Colombia, it’s the most important thing for me, for them to feel proud of me.” Karol G also shared this piece of advice for anyone else hoping to cut through: “Social media teaches you all the time to be similar to everybody: how you have to look, how you have to speak, what you have to wear, what you have to do. Just believe in yourself. Everybody has their own gift. So represent yours, embrace it and go out and be yourself. You’re going to have more attention if you’re different than if you are the same as the rest of the people.”
6:35: After winning her first Grammy, Lainey Wilson shares that she FaceTimed her entire family backstage. “I’m on Cloud 9,” she says. “And even though I’ve been at this a long time, I’ve been in Nashville for 13 years, for some crazy reason, it still feels like tonight is the beginning. ”As a little girl, you sit in front of the TV And you watch the Grammys and you think about being a part of something like this. And you think about, ‘Man, how cool would it be to be friends with the people in the crowd and to have some mentors in the crowd of people that you can go to. Because this business is crazy. And I did look around tonight, and I found a lot of people, not just in country music, who I can go to and I can ask questions. Tonight I feel the love. I feel the support from everybody. And like I’ve said before, I don’t know if every artist gets to feel this genuine support, but I feel it to my core.”
7:31: Ludwig Goransson, who was competing against himself in the category of best score soundtrack for visual media (includes film and television) for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Oppenheimer ended up winning for the latter. “At this Grammy Awards being nominated with Christopher Nolan and also Ryan Coogler for Black Panther and “Lift me Up,” it’s just such an incredible time for me because I love writing music with film, and I love writing music with artists. And it’s such a great feeling to be able to celebrate both of those worlds that I’m working in at the same event…Music has always been a place where you can create your own world or go to different worlds or dream away from where you are at the moment, and that’s very close to cinema…And what I love is to combine both of those art forms…that’s that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. That’s why I’m here.”
7:57: As the bass from Burna Boy’s historic Grammys performance vibrates throughout backstage, songwriter Khris Riddick-Tynes was celebrating his win for best R&B song with SZA’s “Snooze.” He calls SZA “an amazing truth teller. She has the ability to tell the truth in a way that just hits everybody’s heart and, you know, she’s the juice and we’re just there to support that.”
8:04 :Backstage erupts in applause as Victoria Monet wins best new artist.
8:31: Slow claps can be heard backstage as Trevor Noah announces that Taylor Swift – having just won album of the year for Midnights – becomes the first artist to ever win the category four times.
8:36: After the ceremony wraps, Coco Jones is the first artist to come backstage to celebrate her win for best R&B performance with “ICU,” saying this win is right on time. “All of the uncertainty can be answered by God’s timing for you,” she says. “I’ve been pursuing this since I was 9 and to reap the benefits at this time makes way more sense than I could have ever imagined…I’m very transparent about my journey… I have to be the inspiration for the next young Black girl because that’s what I was looking for…I’ll do my best to open more doors for women like me.”
8:54: Billie Eilish and Finneas took home song of the year for the second time, with their Barbie hit “What Was I Made For?” The superstar siblings have started to tease a new album, and backstage reveal that this song in particular is what helped to get them back on track: “We had really been writing absolutely nothing before we had that opportunity to write for Barbie,” says Eilish. “We had been working three days a week and not coming up with stuff. And even if we were coming up with stuff, it just didn’t feel right. Didn’t feel good. Didn’t feel real. And I got really worried. I got nervous. I felt like it was gonna be over, a little bit. I was in a really dark place and it’s kind of hard to think back to it, but Greta came to us and she offered us this life changing thing that we didn’t really realize was gonna be life changing like that. And we wrote that song 24 hours after we saw the movie, and we wrote it in under two hours, if not one hour. And honestly, from then on, we were just creative again. It woke us up and got us back on our thing.”
9:07: After winning three Grammys tonight, boygenius spoke on the recently-announced hiatus while backstage, saying this feels like a fitting end point. “I guess we just didn’t tell anybody, but we told each other at the beginning of this project that it would have a finite date, like a finite amount of time devoted to it. And we completed that time, and now we walk into the sunset,” says member Phoebe Bridgers. Julien Baker adds, “It feels nice to have a cap on what we’ve done.”
9:44: Victoria Monet closes out the evening, coming backstage to celebrate her best new artist win. She reflected on what she said in her acceptance speech, about this win being a “15-year pursuit,” adding backstage: “ I think the only thing that you can hold on to when pursuing something for this long is the fact that you actually really love to do it,” she says. “I genuinely love making music and doing it with the people that I do it with. So that’s been my determining factor on whether I should stop or keep going and because of the people around me and the camaraderie within us and the creativity we feel together, I feel so honored to be on this journey with everyone who is a part of my music so I have so many thank yous to give out. I don’t know what the heck I said during my speech, but I have so many more thank yous to give.”
As Music’s Biggest Night came to a close, Grammy winners boygenius came backstage to celebrate — and deliver a crucial message. But first, the trio addressed the recent news of its hiatus. “This is funny because I guess we just didn’t tell anybody, but we told each other at the beginning of this project that […]
Female artists dominated the 2024 Grammys, just as they dominated pop music – and pop culture in general – last year. The 66th annual Grammy Awards were presented at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday (Feb. 4).
Female artists swept the Big Four awards for the third time in the past five years. Taylor Swift’s Midnights won album of the year. Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” took record of the year. Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” (which she wrote with her brother Finneas) won song of the year. Victoria Monét grabbed best new artist.
Swift became the first four-time winner for album of the year. She previously won for Fearless, 1989 and Folklore. Swift had been tied with Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon with three wins each in this category.
Serban Ghenea won as an engineer/mixer on Swift’s album. He’s the first person (not artist, mind you) to win album of the year five times. The Canadian engineer/mixer previously won in the category as an engineer/mixer on Swift’s 1989 and Folklore, Adele’s 25 and Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic.
“Flowers” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks – Cyrus’ longest run by far. “Flowers” represented a major breakthrough for Cyrus: If anyone still thinks of her as the former Hannah Montana star who then went a little overboard in trying to smash that image, it’s time to get over it. “Flowers” proved that she’s a thoroughly credible mainstream pop star.
Eilish and Finneas first won song of the year four years ago for “Bad Guy.” This year’s win for “What Was I Made For?” puts the sibling pair in a tie for the most wins in this category with (take a deep breath) Henry Mancini & Johnny Mercer, James Horner, Will Jennings, U2, Adele, Bruno Mars & Christopher Brody Brown and Dernst Emile II (D’Mile).
“What Was I Made For?” is likely to win the Oscar for best original song on March 10. If it does, it would be the first song to win a Grammy for song of the year before winning the Oscar since “You Light Up My Life” 46 years ago.
Monét’s win for best new artist marks the seventh consecutive year that a female solo artist has won in that category, following wins for Alessia Cara, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, Olivia Rodrigo and Samara Joy. This equals the longest consecutive win streak by female artists in the category’s history. From 1997-2003, the award went, in turn, to LeAnn Rimes, Paula Cole, Lauryn Hill, Christina Aguilera, Shelby Lynn, Alicia Keys and Norah Jones.
Female artists or female-led groups also took top album awards in most major genres, including pop (Taylor Swift’s Midnights), alternative music (boygenius’ The Record), rock (Paramore’s This Is Why), progressive R&B (SZA’s SOS), R&B (Victoria Monét’s Jaguar II) and country (Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country).
Boygenius, SZA, Victoria Monét and Killer Mike were the night’s top winners in terms of number of awards won, with three awards each.
Trevor Noah hosted the Grammys for the fourth consecutive year. Songwriter Justin Tranter hosted the Premiere Ceremony, where more than 80 of the 94 awards were presented, live from Peacock Theater, which is adjacent to Crypto. Both hosts were Grammy nominees this year. Noah was nominated for best comedy album; Tranter for songwriter of the year, non-classical. Alas, both lost.
Killer Mike swept the rap categories, winning best rap album for Michael and best rap performance and best rap song for “Scientists & Engineers.” Killer Mike, 48, accepted the awards exuberantly, saying they proved that you’re never too old to rap.
Boygenius’ The Record won best alternative music album. This is the fourth consecutive year that a female solo artist or all-female or female-led group has won in this category. Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters won three years ago. St. Vincent’s Daddy’s Home won two years ago. Wet Leg’s eponymous debut album won last year.
Jack Antonoff became only the second producer to win producer of the year, non-classical three years in a row. The first was Babyface, who managed to threepeat in 1995-97. In his acceptance speech, Antonoff gave thanks to Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey, praising Swift for remaining loyal to him back when he wasn’t that big a name.
Theron Thomas won songwriter of the year, non-classical, a newish category which is in its second year. Thomas’ credits for the year include Lil Durk featuring J. Cole’s “All My Life,” which won best melodic rap performance.
Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country won best country album, having already won album of the year at both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Awards. It’s the ninth album to complete country music’s “triple crown” by winning at all three of these shows. Here’s a list with full details.
“Ghost in the Machine” by SZA featuring Phoebe Bridgers won best pop duo/group performance. This marked the third time in four years that an all-female collab won in that category. Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me” won three years ago. Doja Cat featuring SZA’s “Kiss Me More” won two years ago.
Chris Stapleton took best country solo performance for a record-extending fourth time. Carrie Underwood and Willie Nelson have each won twice in the category. Stapleton won this year for “White Horse.” The song, which Stapleton co-wrote with Dan Wilson, was also voted best country song. A different song with the exact same title (by Taylor Swift and Liz Rose) won in the category 14 years ago.
Joni Mitchell’s Joni Mitchell at Newport (Live) won best folk album, 54 years after she won her first Grammy – best folk performance for Clouds. This Mitchell’s 10th Grammy won in competition.
Metallica won best metal performance for a record-extending seventh time. They won this year for “72 Seasons.”
Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito, which made history as the first all-Spanish language album by a woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200, won best música urbana album. The Colombian singer is the first woman to win in that category. Karol G’s album won album of the year at the 2023 Latin Grammys, which was held on Nov. 16 in Seville, Spain.
Samara Joy, last year’s surprise winner for best new artist, won best jazz performance for “Tight.”
Ludwig Göransson won best score soundtrack for visual mediafor Oppenheimer. The Swedish composer first won in the category five years ago for the first Black Panther.
John Williams won best instrumental composition for “Helena’s Theme” from his score for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It makes him just the seventh person in Grammy history to win 26 or more Grammys. Beyoncé leads with 32 awards, followed by classical conductor Sir Georg Solti (31), Quincy Jones (28), Alison Krauss (27), Chick Corea (27) and classical conductor Pierre Boulez (also 26).
Williams, who turns 92 on Thursday (Feb. 8), is the fifth-oldest Grammy winner in history. He trails only blues artist Pinetop Perkins, who was 97 when he won in 2011; Tony Bennett, who was 95 when he won in 2022; comedian George Burns, who was 95 when he won in 1991; and former President Jimmy Carter, who was 94 when he won in 2019.
The Beatles’ “I’m Only Sleeping” won best music video, though the Fab Four (or what’s left of it) didn’t personally win. The award went to the video’s director, Em Cooper, and its four producers. The Beatles were credited as winners in the category 27 years ago for “Free as a Bird.”
Michelle Obama became the first first lady or former first lady to win twice for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording. She won this year for The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times, having won four years ago for Becoming. Moreover, by winning a second Grammy, Obama pulls even with her husband, who won twice while he was a U.S. Senator. The Obamas are the first First Couple in Grammy history to each become multiple Grammy winners.
Elaine Martone won producer of the year, classical, for the second time. She previously won in 2007. In her acceptance speech, Martone thanked her husband, Robert Woods, who has won seven times in the category. They are the only husband-and-wife team to have each won in this category. Martone is one of three women who have won in that category, along with Joanna Nickrenz (a two-time winner) and Judith Sherman (a seven-time winner). No woman has ever won for producer of the year, non-classical.
Julian Marley & Antaeus’ Colors of Royal won best reggae album. Julian is the fourth member of the Marley family to win in this category, following Ziggy, Damian and Stephen. The patriarch of the family, Bob Marley, died in 1981, three years before the category was introduced.
Dave Chappelle won best comedy album for the fifth time in the past seven years. He won this time for What’s in a Name? He’s one of just four artists to win as many as five times in the category. Bill Cosby leads with seven. George Carlin and Richard Pryor also won five.
The Count Basie Orchestra Directed by Scotty Barnhart won best large jazz ensemble album for Basie Swings the Blues. Basie was a double winner at the very first Grammy Awards in May 1959. The jazz legend died in 1984, so he won’t personally be credited with this year’s win.
Some Like It Hot won best musical theater album, beating, among others, Kimberly Akimbo. This helps makes up for the fact that, at the Tony Awards last June, Kimberly Akimbo beat Some Like It Hot in three key categories – best musical, best book of a musical and best original score written for the theatre.
Three current trustees of the Recording Academy won Grammys. Michael Romanowski won best immersive audio album for a deluxe edition of Alicia Keys’ 2004 album The Diary of Alicia Keys. J. Ivy won best spoken word poetry album for The Light Inside. P.J. Morton won best traditional R&B performance for “Good Morning” (featuring Susan Carol). All three had won previously in those categories. Some have questioned whether their high-profile involvement in the Academy gives them an unfair advantage in the voting.
