The 66th Grammy Awards ceremony took place on Sunday, February 4, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Marking a departure from previous years, this year’s event witnessed the Recording Academy embracing a more diverse range of genres. Among the notable highlights were The Beatles clinching the Best Music Video award, Taylor Swift’s historic achievement as the first artiste to win Album of the Year four times, and India shining on the global stage with tabla maestro Zakir Hussain’s impressive three Grammy wins and Indian band Shakti — Shankar Mahadevan and Hussain’s fusion band — bagging the Grammy for Best Global Music Album for This Moment.
Music’s biggest night lived up to its reputation, delivering powerful performances that captivated viewers and held them spellbound throughout the evening. Tracy Chapman’s soulful rendition of Fast Car alongside Luke Combs stood out as a poignant moment. The ‘In Memoriam’ segment paid heartfelt tributes to industry veterans, including Stevie Wonder’s homage to Tony Bennett and Annie Lennox’s performance with Sinead O’Connor in the background. From Miley Cyrus to Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, and Dua Lipa, each artiste brought their distinctive energy to the stage. And with Billy Joel’s triumphant return and performance of Turn the Lights Back On, his first new song since 2007, added to the ceremony’s well-rounded and exceptional offerings.
Here are some of the standout victories from the international music industry’s grandest night…
At 80, Joni Mitchell made her Grammy performance debut and won the 2024 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. She was joined by Jacob Collier on the piano and singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile for a rendition of Both Sides Now, one of her best-known songs.
Jacob Collier, known for his multifaceted talent in composition and vocals, clinched the Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals for In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning featuring Säje. With an impressive tally of 12 Grammy nominations under his belt, Collier has emerged victorious in six instances to date.
Taylor Swift won the Album of the Year for Midnights. At 34, she finds herself grappling with the same tabloid scrutiny she faced as a 19-year-old, but now, she stands as the sole artist to have claimed 4 Grammys in this category, setting a new record. Celine Dion had the audience on their feet when she made a surprise appearance to present the award. In other news, Swift left fans gasping with the announcement of her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, slated for release on April 19.
Miley Cyrus has joined the Grammy winners’ circle! Not only did she wow the audience with a live performance of her global No.1 single, but she also snagged the first two Grammys of her career. She walked away with Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for Flowers.
Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain secured three victories, winning the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album award for As We Speak and the Best Global Music Performance award for Pashto, both featuring Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and Rakesh Chaurasia. His third and the most talked about win was bagged by his band Shakti, for their album This Moment, which was titled the Best Global Music Album. This album marks the group’s first new release in over 45 years. Founded by celebrated guitarist John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain in 1973, the Indo-jazz group even features singer Shankar Mahadevan and Indian percussionist V. Selvaganesh.
(L-R) Shankar Mahadevan, Ganesh Rajagopalan, Zakir Hussain and V. Selvaganesh after receiving the award
The Song of the Year title went to What Was I Made For? from Barbie by Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O’Connell. Not stopping there, the song also clinched the award for Best Song Written for Visual Media, and Billie Eilish performed it live on stage. The Barbie soundtrack further secured the accolade for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.
Victoria Monét had a standout night at the Grammys, winning the coveted title of Best New Artist. Adding to her impressive haul, she also secured golden gramophones for Best R&B Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, for her work on Jaguar II.
The queer supergroup, boygenius, featuring singer-songwriters Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, had a triumphant night, securing three awards. Their wins included trophies for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance for their single Not Strong Enough, along with Best Alternative Album for their debut studio album, The Record. Bridgers won the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance as the featured artiste on SZA’s song Ghost in the Machine.
SZA led the pack with nine nominations and took home three awards: Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Progressive R&B Album and Best R&B Song. Her sophomore album SOS also received nods for top honours like Album of the Year and Record of the Year.
Paramore scored two Grammy Awards for their album This Is Why winning Best Rock Album and the title track snagging Best Alternative Music Performance. They are now the first female-fronted band to win the award, though it has previously been won by solo female artistes Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow in the ’90s.
Singer-songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Laufey celebrated her first Grammy win for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, thanks to the critically acclaimed record Bewitched.
Chris Stapleton, known for his soulful voice and blending elements of country, rock, and blues, won Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for White Horse.
Taylor Swift’s long-time friend and producer, Jack Antonoff, known for his work with the industry’s most celebrated pop stars, won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical for the third year in a row, the first person to do so since Babyface won three years in a row in the mid-90s.
Larkin Poe – the duo of Georgia-bred, Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell – have earned their first career Grammy Award for Blood Harmony, winning Best Contemporary Blues Album.
The Beatles took home the Grammy for Best Music Video for I’m Only Sleeping, a song which was first released in 1966, marking their first win since 1997. Directed by Em Cooper, the animated music video was crafted with 1,300 hand-painted frames and featured in the Revolver Special Edition. Cooper discussed the meticulous process of painting each of the film cells individually in an interview with Animation World.
With The Beatles’ latest single, Now and Then, and The Rolling Stones’ newest album, Hackney Diamonds, qualifying for next year’s Grammys, the anticipation for the 67th edition is palpable, with fans eagerly anticipating the presence of these rockstars at the prestigious event.
