In the midst of award show season, the 66th annual Grammy Awards took place just two days ago, on February 4, hosted by Trevor Noah for the fourth consecutive year. And yes, it stunned the world once again.
Starting with the obvious biggest news of the night –Taylor Swift’s announcement of a new album. “The Tortured Poets Society,” releasing April 19, will be the pop star’s fifteenth studio-recorded album, including her re-recorded records. While receiving her award for Best Pop Vocal Album, “Midnights,” Swift revealed that she’d been waiting two years to talk about this album.
Later in the night, Swift made history by being the first person to win Album of the Year four times, after receiving the award for “Midnights.”
Getting into the rest of the awards, Miley Cyrus won Best Pop Solo Performance and Record of the Year with “Flowers,” which she performed during the show. Song of the Year went to Billie Eilish with “What Was I Made For?” which she also sang earlier in the night accompanied by her brother Finneas.
The last “big four” award, Best New Artist, went to Victoria Monét, meaning all of the most anticipated awards of the night went to women. Other awards went to Karol G, Lainey Wilson, SZA, Jay Z, and boygenius.
Another big part of any award show is the performances. Dua Lipa kicked off the night with a debut performance of her new song, “Training Season” as well as “Houdini” and a line from her Barbie hit “Dance the Night”.
The next performance was of “Fast Car,” featuring both Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs. SZA, the most nominated artist of the night, sang her hit song “Kill Bill” and Best R&B Song “Snooze.” Olivia Rodrigo performed her Grammy-nominated song, “Vampire.”
The In Memoriam section of the night, in which tributes are paid to late artists, was performed by Fantasia Barrino, Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, and Jon Batiste.
Other performances of the night were by Joni Mitchell, Travis Scott, Brandy Clark, U2, Burna Boy, and Billy Joel, who performed his first new single in 17 years.
Overall, the 2024 Grammy Awards were action-packed and featured surprises around every corner, marking a music milestone for female artists for the year.
Freshman Emily Myers is a Staff Writer. Her email is emyers3@fandm.edu.