Sunday, Feb. 4 marked every music fan’s most anticipated night of the year: the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.
While Los Angeles suffered an uncharacteristic downpour, artists from every genre of music came to represent the industry. The ceremony was held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, previously known as the Staples Center.
Most awards were presented in the pre-show categories such as Best Rap Album, Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) and Best Rock Song. The pre-show was a sweep for alternative artist Phoebe Bridgers, both as a solo artist and member of indie supergroup boygenius. Bridgers took home four Grammys, including Best Pop Duo for her collaboration with SZA on “Ghost in the Machine” and three Rock/Alternative awards for “The Record” with boygenius. She was the most awarded artist of the night.
Speaking of SZA, the R&B songstress was the most nominated artist at this year’s ceremony with nine nominations. After performances of “Snooze” and “Kill Bill,” she went on to win three trophies, taking home Best Progressive R&B Album along with Best R&B Song and the previously mentioned Best Pop Duo. SZA lost all of her “big four” nominations (Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Record of the Year), raising backlash against the academy from fans on social media.
With a plethora of outfit changes and hair higher than the California heat index, Miley Cyrus was one of the standouts of the night. Winning her first ever Grammy in her 18-year career for Best Pop Solo Performance, Cyrus went on to give a performance of her now Grammy winning single “Flowers” and gave TikTok the now viral sound of triumph: “I just won my first Grammy!”
Cyrus also won in the coveted Record of the Year category, beating out other Grammy winners SZA, boygenius, Victoria Monet and Billie Eilish.
Not all was lost for Eilish, however. Fresh off of a Golden Globes win for the Barbie movie smash “What Was I Made For?,” the 22-year-old won Song of the Year and performed dressed as a vintage Barbie doll with her brother, who goes by the artist name FINNEAS.
Tearful performances proved to be a theme of the night, with a medley of songs performed for the ceremony’s “In Memoriam” section. Grief ripped through the music industry this year with the losses of legends such as Tina Turner, Sinead O’Connor and Tony Bennett. Stevie Wonder performed with archival footage of Bennett singing his song “For Once in My Life,” honoring his late friend. Annie Lennox gave tribute to O’Connor through a cover of “Nothing Compares 2 U” and called for a ceasefire in Palestine.
It wouldn’t be a Grammy’s recap without mentioning the record breaker herself: Taylor Alison Swift.
Fresh off a hiatus of her Eras Tour, Swift won two of her four nominations, winning Best Pop Vocal Album for the second time. Swift attended the ceremony with fellow nominee Lana Del Rey and longtime collaborator and friend Jack Antonoff. Antonoff also won his own Grammy off-screen: Producer of the Year (Non-Classical), which included his work on Swift’s album “Midnights,” The 1975’s “Being Funny in a Foreign Language” and Del Rey’s “Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard.”
Making history as the first artist to ever win Album of the Year four times, Swift took home her second Grammy of the night for her 10th album “Midnights.” During her speech for Best Pop Vocal Album, Swift announced her next studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department.”
To end the night, Billy Joel performed his first new single in 17 years. Joel’s single “Turn the Lights Back On” debuted live at the ceremony, and Joel is charting on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time since 1997.
Other winners include: Victoria Monet (Best New Artist), Coco Jones (Best R&B Performance), Killer Mike (Best Rap Album), Chris Stapleton (Best Country Song) and Lainey Wilson (Best Country Album).
2024’s Grammy Awards brought new albums, history made and the resurgence of musical icons. Let’s see what 2025 brings.