The Recording Academy honors music’s best and brightest in what they call “Music’s Biggest Night” at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.
The 66th Grammy Awards was hosted by fourth-time returning host and voice of Griot of the Black Panther films, Trevor Noah. The Grammys took place in the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center) for the 21st time. Here is a recap of every big moment of the night.
The Premier Ceremony of the 66th Annual Grammy Awards
Believe it or not, the Recording Academy livestreams a ceremony where they announce the other winners on YouTube.
They started handing out awards, and the first category they announced was Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, a category that set the tone for the entire night as it became a Ladies Night type of ceremony. The winner of the category is “Ghost in the Machine” by SZA, featuring Phoebe Bridgers.
Phoebe Bridgers the Big Winner of the Night
On top of winning a Grammy with SZA for “Ghost in the Machine,” she won an additional three awards with Boygenius. Here are the three awards won by Boygenius:
- Best Rock Song for “Not Strong Enough”: Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, songwriters (Boygenius)
- Best Rock Performance for “Not Strong Enough” by Boygenius
- Best Alternative Music Album for “The Record” by Boygenius
All award winners were announced during the Premier Ceremony of the 66th Grammy Awards at YouTube.com. All three members made speeches accepting each award, and each one was cute and endearing. You might say the all-white-suited “boys,” as they call themselves, had the best night.
Biggest Rap Winner of the Night’s Arrest and Divine Intervention?
Killer Mike is one half of the rap duo Run The Jewels, famously known for the song “Legend Has It.” The song is famously used for the teaser trailer of the critically acclaimed film Black Panther. After working with RTJ for 11 years, he ventured solo. He released the album “Michael” back in June of last year. In what can only be the notable clean sweep of the night, here are Killer Mike’s wins:
- Best Rap Performance for “Scientists & Engineers” by Killer Mike, featuring André 3000, Future, and Eryn Allen Kane
- Best Rap Song for Scientists & Engineers” by André Benjamin, Paul Beauregard, James Blake, Michael Render, Tim Moore, and Dion Wilson, songwriters (Killer Mike featuring André 3000, Future, and Eryn Allen Kane)
- Best Rap Album for Michael by Killer Mike
Winning at the age of 48, he is inspiring people by winning in his late 40s. All thanks to an unusual song title with an iconic rapper featured in it. However, things took a turn for the rapper as overzealous cops arrested him that night. The cops arrested him for misdemeanor battery due to a face-off he had outside of the ceremony. Detaining Killer Mike for three hours in an undisclosed location.
Instead of succumbing to anger, though, he took the time to be appreciative of God for all the blessings. He had a conversation with his grandma and mother, who had passed away, and told them he did it. Mike got released from his detainment and went on to party for the rest of the night. The very next morning, he got a call that his child, after being on the list for three years, finally got his kidney. You can say Killer Mike is the embodiment of “God is Good, All the Time.”
The 66th Annual Grammy Awards Main Show begins
Kicking off the ceremony is a medley performance of “Training Season,” “Dance the Night,” and “Houdini” by Dua Lipa. It’s an intricate performance filled with metal jungle gym architecture and a lot of crawling and choreography. We then get welcomed by host Trevor Noah with punchlines.
Surprisingly, the punchlines are dropping big names, and those names coincidentally appear when Trevor mentions them. At the risk of novelizing the entire Grammy main show, here is a recap instead.
Miley’s Mariah Moment, Elation equals MC²
In what can only be described as overdue wins for the Disney Star turned Pop Star Chameleon, Miley Cyrus finally won her first Grammy in a stacked category for “Best Pop Solo Performance.”
Presented by Mariah Carey, Miley made sure everyone knew that she didn’t care for the award; she cared that Mariah gave it to her. Miley gave a speech that is half Mariah fangirling and half a story about a boy catching a butterfly in front of the icon that has an album named Butterfly.
It was a masterful speech that paid tribute to the presenter of the award. Even backstage, she didn’t stop fangirling over MC as she met with her team, saying only “Mariah” a bunch of times.
Later that night, she performed “Flowers” in front of the Crypto.com Arena audience. It was the most relaxed and fun performance of the night. You can see her elation for just being there and the grateful energy she had shouting “I just won my first Grammy” to the cheering and singing crowd. She was in her element, and it showed how much of a veteran she was performing.
Also Read: First Grammy Award for Miley Cyrus with “Flowers”
Miley got her Flowers with Flowers
The last thing to cap off this section is Miley’s big win. It was stacked for one of the Big 4 categories, “Record of the Year,” filled with big names that are all talented. But the Grammy ultimately went to Miley as THEE Meryl Streep shouted MC’s name in what can be described as euphoria.
She stated that she hoped winning the award wouldn’t change anything and that her life was beautiful yesterday without it. Miley has a good mentality, as she gives thanks to the people she loves and her main gays for making her look good. She then thanked her collaborators’ loved ones, capping off the speech with, “I didn’t forget anybody, but I might have forgotten underwear. Bye.” In the end, she told us, “Oh, she’s just being Miley.”
You Snooze, You Lose, But not if you’re SZA or R&B
She already won two awards before the main televised event with “Ghost in the Machine” with Phoebe Bridgers. The other was “Best Progressive R&B Album” for her culture-defining album “SOS.” She also performed her hit songs from the albums “Snooze” and “Kill Bill.” A performance that paid tribute to the Crazy 88 scene from Kill Bill: Volume 1.
Later that ceremony, SZA received her final Grammy of the night for “Best R&B Song” with her fan-favorite song, “Snooze.”
It took a while before she got to the accepting stage, but eventually, she got there after changing and taking a shot. Hugging her longtime friend since 2013, Lizzo, who presented the category.
All things SZA stated during the first half of her speech, and then she started thanking people. She then stated that she’s come so far and she can’t believe it’s finally happening, like it’s fake. She then capped off her speech by fangirling over Taylor Swift while she said she’s not a pretty crier, and she said bye to end her speech.
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Icons in the making are winning
Acknowledging a few icons in the making that won Grammys that night. One of them is Tyla for “Best African Music Performance” for her viral hit song “Water.” It marks her first award win ever, a rare and unheard-of feat for a music artist. She brought her parents on stage while accepting the award and making a speech.
Another icon in the making is Coco Jones for her R&B hit song “ICU” in the category “Best R&B Performance.” She went viral for performing her own rendition of Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” mixed with her song “Crazy for Me.” Both “ICU” and “Crazy for Me” are songs from her extended play titled “What I Didn’t Tell You.” While we didn’t get a speech from her, the reaction was indeed one of glee from her and her date for the night, her mother.
In an Entertainment Tonight interview, Coco Jones was asked who was going to keep the Grammy. Coco’s mother replied “I’m keeping the Grammy,” with Coco agreeing by saying, “There’s your answer.”
Also Read: The Official List of Nominees for the 66th GRAMMY Awards is Out Now
The VMAs said Victoria Monét wasn’t ready, The Grammys said otherwise
Speaking of another icon in the making, in what can be described as the “Viacomedy of Errors,” It seems that two Viacom sister channels can’t agree on things.
One of those things is whether to label Victoria Monét as Ready or Not, cue in the Cravity and Monsta X songs consecutively.
You would think that co-writing Ariana Grande’s char- topping hits “Thank U, Next” and “7 Rings” would mark her big and ready. MTV didn’t seem to think so when Monét’s team approached the VMAs for a performance.
This started a “The New Supreme” destiny arc for the mother of one alongside one of her peers, Coco Jones. Skip ahead to “Music’s Biggest Night,” and Victoria won “Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical” and “Best R&B Album” for “Jaguar II” during the Premier Ceremony of the Grammys but wasn’t able to accept the trophies because she was preparing for the main show.
Winning Best New Artist after a decade and a half of grinding
In comes the main show and she brought her baby daddy and daughter to the Red Carpet. One of the reporters while on the red carpet informed her about Ariana’s message to Victoria Monét’s Grammy Wins. A message that almost made her cry but not quite due to her daughter being a little difficult at that time. But then her big moment came as last year’s “Best New Artist” Grammy winner announced Victoria’s third win of the night.
Victoria started by thanking the Champagne servers of tonight, the Recording Academy, and of course her Mom and God. She then stated how long she had been in the music industry and described herself as a plant. The “On My Mama” singer lastly told a story of how her manager found a folder of her music and took a chance at her before ending her speech. A happy ending despite months of a supposed music-focused channel telling her she’s not a big enough name for them.
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A Win for Poodle Parade, Barbie and Billie Eilish
During the premiere ceremony, it was announced that Billie Eilish’s song “What Was I Made For?” won the Grammy for “Best Song Written for Visual Media.” Surprisingly, she was there to accept the award, one of maybe a few musicians who were there to both attend the premier ceremony and the main show.
During the main show, she performed wearing a green plaid coat, a green dress, and a pink head scarf. She sat on a stool as she sang the newly Grammy-winning song from Barbie. She also donned black sunglasses that she took off midway through the song. The look was actually inspired by the 1965 “Poodle Parade” Barbie.
Later that night, legendary musician Lionel Richie came out to announce the nominees for Song of the Year. The category is stacked with big names including herself, SZA, Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Miley Cyrus, Oscar winner and Album of the Year Grammy winner Jon Batiste, and Lana Del Ray.
In the end, she won her ninth Grammy of her career and is now in rare company with musicians like Adele to win two “Song of the Year” Grammys alongside her brother Finneas. Notably, the siblings’ father worked with Mattel as a carpenter for the company, which makes this a full-circle moment for their family.
Tortured Poets by Evening, Four Time Album of the Year winner by Midnight … s
During the main show, the multiple million-copy debut-week-selling singer/songwriter turned economic booster Taylor Swift won her career 13th Grammy for “Best Pop Vocal Album.” She took the opportunity to announce during her speech that TS11 is dropping on April 19th of this year, and the title of the project is… The Tortured Poets Department.
Also Read: Tortured Poets Department—Taylor Swift Announces New Album
Alas, the big one is here: the announcement of the winner for Album of the Year. The winner of the award is legendary vocalist, performer, and previous Album of the Year Grammy winner Celine Dion, accompanied by her son. As Celine Dion said, “And the Grammy goes to,” a tinge of excitement enveloped her because she gets to give somebody the big one. The legendary singer announced the winner after looking at the envelope, and it’s… “Taylor Swift.”
Broke a Record But Got Backlash
Just like that, she broke the record for most “Album of the Year” Grammy wins with her 14th career Grammy. But in what can be described as a lapse of country girl judgment, Taylor took the Grammy from Celine but got easily distracted by her album collaborators before she could thank or hug her. This ignited a firestorm of “snubbing Celine” posts from the dumpster fire on X (formerly Twitter).
Backlash aside, she started her speech by thanking all her album collaborators, with a special shout-out to Lana del Ray. Taylor acknowledges how much of an inspiration Lana is to a lot of female artists, naming her a “Legacy Artist” and a “Legend.” She finished her speech by saying how much she loves being a musician, producing, songwriting, and creating stages and visuals for those songs. The “Anti-Hero” singer hopes she can do what she does for a very long time.
Lastly, she took a picture with Celine Dion backstage, finally hugging her after all the distractions were gone and not in between them.
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66th Grammy Awards Final Thoughts
The main show announced an all-female winner slate for all the categories announced. A few songs were impacted chart-wise due to their Grammy performances. “Snooze” by SZA rises to No. 5, and “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus returns to the Top Ten at No. 10, over a year after the song debuted on top of the charts.
33 years after its release, the original singer of “Fast Car,” Tracy Chapman, re-enters the Hot 100 at No. 42, topping the Digital Sales Chart with Luke Combs’ cover in the Top Ten at No. 8.
Lastly, “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish rose to No. 20, but the song still has steam left in the charts with her upcoming 96th Academy Awards performance.
Overall, the ceremony’s main show was one of the best nights in music after the backlash over last year’s Album of the Year winner. This year is looking stacked with releases from legendary female artists.
From Ariana to Beyoncé to, of course, Taylor flooding the spring with music releases, next year’s Grammys are going to be busy with discourse.
Image and Video Source: The Academy Awards, 66th Grammy Awards
