From Taylor Swift's historic win to Billy Joel's performance: Highlights from the 66th Grammy Awards
The 66th annual Grammy Awards saw some iconic moments—from Taylor Swift winning Album of the Year for the fourth time to Miley Cyrus getting her first award from the Recording Academy.
This year's award show was held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 5 (Philippine time) with The Daily Show's Trevor Noah as its host.
From the night, Phoebe Bridgers had the most wins at four, including three with her band boygenius. SZA, Killer Mike, and Victoria Monét followed with three wins each while Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus, and Taylor Swift won two a piece.
Both Taylor and Miley marked milestones during the awards show as the Midnights singer became the first artist to win Album of the Year four times while the Flowers singer won her first Grammy.
The 2024 Grammys also saw performances Billie, Miley, Olivia Rodrigo, Stevie Wonder, Jon Batiste, Dua Lipa, Fantasia, and more.
Here are some of the highlights of the 2024 Grammys ceremony.
Tracy Chapman and Luke Comb Performance
Following her historic win at the Country Music Awards (CMA), Tracy Chapman kicked off the coveted music award ceremony by performing her hit song Fast Car with country music star Luke Combs. This is Chapman's landmark appearance after not performing live for several years.
In case you didn't know, Combs made history in 2020 after he released a Fast Car cover that reached the top of the Country Airplay chart, marking a significant milestone, as it made Chapman the first Black woman to top the chart since its inception in 1990.
Though hailing from different generations and musical genres, the two singers earned a rapturous standing ovation from the audience entire of award-winning artists.
Miley Cyrus won her first Grammy
Can you believe it's Miley Cyrus' first time to win a Grammy? The singer bagged her first ever Recording Academy award as she took home Best Pop Solo Performance and Record of the Year with Flowers.
The singer also vividly expressed her happiness at Mariah Carey's being the award presenter as she offered a story about what the moment meant for her, referring to the latter's song, Butterfly.
"There's a story that I want to tell that sums up this moment and I wasn't going to tell it, but now that Mariah is here … There was a little boy that all he wanted for his birthday was a butterfly. And so his parents gave him a butterfly net and he was so excited. He just went outside out in the sun and started swinging and swinging. But with no luck, he sat down on the ground, he finally let go, and he surrendered, and he was OK that he wasn't going to capture this beautiful butterfly. And right when he did is when the butterfly came and landed right on the tip of his nose. And this song, Flowers, is my butterfly. Thank you," Miley said.
Taylor Swift being Taylor Swift
The pop superstar won her 13th Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights. Alongside receiving the award, Swift announced her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department to be released on April 19.
Swift also made history in the highly-anticipated award ceremony by being the "first person" to win an Album of the Year award for the fourth time. The award was handed out and presented by Queen of Power Ballads, Celine Dion, who was emotional with her opening speech and received a standing ovation upon entrance.
Jay Z called out the Grammys for Beyoncé's repeated Album of the Year snubs
American rapper and record producer Jay Z won the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award in recognition of his musical legacy. During his acceptance speech, the rapper called out the Recording Academy, which honored him with a special award, questioning the process behind the voted categories specifically for failing to recognize his wife Beyoncé with Album of the Year.
"We love y'all… at least get it close to right. And obviously, it's subjective — y'all don't gotta clap at everything — obviously it's subjective because it's music and it's opinion-based. But some things you know… I don't wanna embarrass this young lady, but [Beyoncé] has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the Year so even by your own metrics that doesn't work," the Hard Knock Life rapper said.
Jay Z added, "Think about that, the most Grammys, never won Album of the Year. That doesn't work."
"Some of you are gonna go home tonight and feel like you've been robbed," he said. "Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don't belong in the category. Nah nah, when I get nervous I tell the truth," he concluded.
Stevie Wonder leads 2024 Grammys 'In Memoriam' Segment
American singer-songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder led the ceremony's annual "In Memoriam" segment by paying tribute to his late friend and fellow musical icon, Tony Bennett, who died in July 2023 at age 96.
Tina Turner, Sinéad O'Connor, and Clarence Avant were also honored in an emotional segment by Annie Lennox, Ann Nesby, Fantasia Barrino, and Oprah Winfrey.
Billy Joel performed his first song after the decade
American singer-songwriter and pianist Billy Joel took the Grammy stage for the first time in 22 years to live debut his new single, Turn the Lights Back On. The song also marked the 74-year-old's first new single in 17 years.
