The 2024 Grammys will be one to remember with its fair share of history making moments and incredible artists. Three new categories were created this year, entitled Best Alternative Jazz Album, Best African Music Performance, and Best Pop Dance Recording. Hosted by Trevor Noah, the Grammys had performers like Olivia Rodrigo with her bloody recital of “Vampire,” Mylie Cyrus singing “Flowers,” and Dua Lipa performing her unreleased song.
Women made up the majority of nominations this year, with SZA having a total of nine nominations, a record for the night. Winning one third of them, she ended the night taking home Best Pop Duo/GroupPperformance for “Ghost in the Machine,” Best R&B Song for “Snooze”, and Best R&B Album for SOS.
Barbie was also highly present on the ballots with 11 total nominations in different categories. Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” took home song of the year making up 1 out of the 3 wins for this movie. The heartfelt tune, playing during the final scene of Barbie, was written by Eilish and her brother 24 hours after seeing the movie. The movie, a true testimony to the struggle of “girlhood,” also took home awards earlier in the night.
This year, the Grammys were a night of firsts. Karol G was the first woman to win best Musica Urbana Album. Miiley Cyrus took home not only her first but her second Grammy ever, and performed “Flowers” which won Best Pop Solo and Record of the Year. Going on stage to accept the award she announced, “This award is amazing but I really hope it doesn’t change anything because my life was beautiful yesterday.”
The Grammys were also a night of lasts with Canadian singer, Celine Dion, announcing the final award of the night. She had been out of the spotlight for a while, since two years ago she had publicized her struggle with stiff-person syndrome before canceling her upcoming world tour. With 5 Grammys herself, Dion announced that Album of the Year went to Taylor Swift for her album Midnights. This moment made history with Swift becoming the first artist to win Album of the Year 4 times.
Earlier in the evening, Taylor Swift accepted the award for Best Pop Vocal for Midnights as well. This prompted her to announce a brand new album, surprising her fanbase who were convinced she was going to announce Reputation Taylor’s Version. Instead, she announced a completely new album titled The Tortured Poets Department, which is longer than all her other albums, and has many fans shocked after expectations of a re-recorded album being released.
This year’s heavily female centered Grammy ballot made an important distinction from years in the past, with many awards ceremonies having been criticized for lack of female representation. In fact, the only male performer nominated for any of the top categories was John Baptist, a former band member on the Late Show with Steven Colbert. The almost entirely female ballot of the 2024 Grammys set an important precedent for upcoming shows of continuing to acknowledge the success of female artists. Overall, the Grammys was very eventful and set the tone for what should be a very interesting year for the music industry.
