On Sunday, Feb. 4, the 66th Grammy Awards Ceremony took place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles California. The award show honoring musicians was hosted by Trevor Noah for his fourth consecutive year in a row. This year's Grammys brought several stand-out performances, shocking announcements, and a number of talented artists being recognized for their achievements in music this year. Viewership this year was up 34% from 2023 according to Billboard, averaging 16.9 million viewers. This is the largest audience since the award show aired in 2020.
Possibly the biggest news of the night was Taylor Swift announcing her brand new 11th studio album titled “The Tortured Poets Department.” While on stage accepting her award for Best Pop Vocal Album for “Midnights,” she recognized that this award would mark her 13th Grammy award, which is famously known as Swift’s lucky number. Leading up to the Grammys on Sunday, there was internet speculation from the Swifties that Swift may be announcing her re–recorded version of her album “Reputation.” Swift is known for dropping “easter eggs” online in regards to upcoming announcements, but it is safe to say that she shocked the world when announcing brand new music. During Swift’s speech, she thanked her fans and declared that the new album has been two years in the making. Swift shared that “The Tortured Poets Department” will be released on Friday, April 19.
A majority of this year's Grammys was spent showcasing incredible performances from icons like Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel as well as Tracy Chapman accompanied by Luke Combs. Other performances included Miley Cyrus, Olivia Rodrigo, SZA, Billie Eilish & Finneas, Dua Lipa and more.
Female artists dominated this year's Grammys by winning in almost every category. Billie Eilish was awarded Song of the Year for “What Was I Made For?” and Best New Artist went to Victoria Monét. Additionally, Miley Cyrus won Record of the Year for “Flowers” and Taylor Swift took home Album of the Year for “Midnights.”
One of the male winners this year was Jay-Z, who accepted the Dr. Dre Global Impact award. During his acceptance speech where his daughter, Blue Ivy, accompanied him on stage he had some remarks for the Recording Academy. Jay-Z referenced how Beyonce has never won Album of the Year. He added that “[He doesn't] want to embarrass this young lady, but [Beyonce] has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year.” He continued on to say, “even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys, never won album of the year. That doesn’t work.”
There were several first time winners this year as well with Karol G winning for Best Musica Urbana, Lainey Wilson taking home Best Country Album and SZA winning her first solo awards for R&B Song and Progressive R&B Album. This also marked the first Grammy wins for Miley Cyrus. Taylor Swift made history as the only artist to ever win Album of the Year four times.
Other notable first time winners included Boygenius, the Indie/Alternative group consisting of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. The group took home three Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album, as well as Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance.
The Grammy Awards are a night for musicians and music lovers alike to celebrate the talent and projects from the year and the 66th Grammy Awards recognized an abundance of the projects from 2023. To see the full list of winners from this year's Grammys, click here.
By Haileigh West, Associate Editor
Graphic by: Shae-Lynn Henderson, EIC