Taylor Swift, Joni Mitchell make Grammys the ladies night
Monday, 5 February 2024
Another year, another Grammy awards ceremony done and dusted.
As always, the awards ceremony was stylish, dramatic, emotional and long.
Here are the most memorable moments of the night, most of which saw female singers - current hitmakers and legends of the industry - solidify their status in music.
Taylor Swift makes history - and announces a new album
You could call it the Taylor Swift awards: the pop star had a huge night, winning two of her six nominations in the Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of The Year categories.
Fans had speculated the singer would be announcing her next re-release as Reputation (Taylor’s Version), however, she offered something even better: a brand new album.
Swift announced her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, while accepting the Best Pop Vocal Album award, and somehow outdid herself by winning Album of The Year and making history as the most awarded person in the category.
Jay-Z calls out Beyoncé’s multiple Grammy snubs
Rapper Jay-Z was brutally honest while accepting the Dr Dre Global Impact Award, reflecting on the award show’s complicated history with awarding Black artists.
“How far we've come from Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff winning their first Grammy in '89 and boycotting because it wasn't televised,” he said.
“And then they went to the hotel and watched the Grammys … It wasn't a great boycott.
“Then '98, I took a page out of their book. I was nominated for Best Rap Album, and DMX had dropped two albums that year. They both were number one … and he wasn't nominated at all.
“So I boycotted, and I watched the Grammys,“ he said to laughter from the audience, before adding, “I'm just saying, we want y'all to get it right.“
He accepted the award with his 12-year-old Blue Ivy, a two-time Grammy winner, at his side, and wife Beyoncé watching from the audience.
“I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than anyone, and never won album of the year,” he said, referencing Beyoncé’s multiple controversial snubs in the category.
“So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that: the most Grammys, never won Album of The Year. That doesn’t work,” he said.
“'Some of you are gonna go home tonight and feel like you've been robbed, some of you may get robbed. Some of you don't belong in the category.”
Joni Mitchell made her Grammys debut at 80-years-old
Musical icon Joni Mitchell became a ten-time Grammy winner on Monday, and delivered her first ever performance for the ceremony, at the ripe age of 80.
Her performance was introduced by her friend and collaborator, Brandi Carlile, who reflected on the singer’s status within the music industry.
“Whether we know it or not, any one of us out here who ever dreamed of becoming a truly self-revealing singer-songwriter did it standing on the shoulders of one, Joni Mitchell,“ Carlile said.
She sung her hit Both Sides Now - the album the song originated from, Clouds, picked up Best Folk Performance back in 1969 - seated on a throne surrounded by chandeliers.
Her appearance and jazzy rendition of the song she wrote at 21-year-old brought Meryl Streep to tears, earned a standing ovation from the arena, and gained a multitude of emotional messages online from fans.
Tracy Chapman revives Fast Car with Luke Combs
59-year-old Tracy Chapman made a surprise appearance early in the ceremony, performing Fast Car alongside country singer Luke Combs.
Combs’ cover of the 1988 hit was a massive chart success, 30 years on from Chapman’s original release.
It was Chapman’s first televised performance since 2020, after she quit touring in 2009.
She grinned while the arena filled with applause at her surprise appearance, and sounded as clear and melodic as the day she wrote the song.
A perfectly tasteful 16-minute In-Memoriam segment
The In-Memoriam segment of an awards show can be a make or break moment: doing it tastefully is always a must, and the Grammys provided tributes that hit the right note.
From Stevie Wonder singing alongside Tony Bennett, to an Oprah-introduced Tina Turner tribute, and Annie Lennox’s passionate rendition of Nothing Compares 2 U for Sinead O’Connor, the performances were memorable and the Grammys nailed their artist picks.
Lennox’s tribute was particularly poignant, with the singer dripping passion into every lyric she sung to channel O’Connor.
She ended the tribute to the political musical icon with a political statement of her own, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
In short, it was ladies night in Los Angeles
Between award sweeps for Swift, Miley Cyrus, and Billie Eilish, and performances by iconic female artists, the 66th Annual Grammy Awards were truly a night for the girls.
Re-emergences from Chapman and Mitchell reminded us female songwriters have always held an important place in music, and their metaphorical baton seems to have flown into the hands of Swift and the next crop of female singers.
However, whether Beyoncé will receive flowers from the Grammys is another question.