Taylor Swift, SZA and Boygenius were just a few of the big winners at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, which took place on Feb. 4 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Of course, the big news of the night came from Swift, who announced her new album “The Tortured Poets Department” while on stage. The pop star revealed the album would be arriving on April 19 while accepting her 13th Grammy award, for best pop vocal album with “Midnights.”
The Big Four were awarded to Billie Eilish for song of the year with “What Was I Made For?,” which also won in the best song written for visual media category; Variety cover star Victoria Monét for best new artist; Miley Cyrus for record of the year with “Flowers”; and Swift for album of the year with “Midnights.”
Performances drove the lot of the broadcast, with standouts from Joni Mitchell; Tracy Chapman with Luke Combs; and Billy Joel, who debuted his new single “Turn the Lights Back On.” Additional standouts included Miley Cyrus debuting “Flowers,” as well as Dua Lipa unveiling “Training Season” and Olivia Rodrigo giving an impassioned rendition of “Vampire.”
Throughout the broadcast, female artists reigned supreme in almost every category. It was also a night full of firsts, particularly for women. Karol G won her first Grammy for best música urbana with “Mañana Será Bonito”; Lainey Wilson took home her first trophy for best country album with “Bell Bottom Country”; Cyrus got her first Grammy for “Flowers” in the best pop solo performance category; and SZA won her first solo Grammys, taking home four including best R&B song, best progressive R&B album and more.
The sole male winner, Jay-Z, was given the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, and had some choice words for the Grammys in his acceptance speech in never awarding his wife Beyoncé with album of the year. “I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year,” he said. “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.”
Monét, who was nominated for seven awards, took home three with her debut album “Jaguar II.” Though she lost in the best traditional R&B performance category, where her two-year-old daughter Hazel could have become the youngest-ever Grammy winner, she was the victor in best engineered album (non-classical) and best R&B album, and took home the coveted best new artist award.
Phoebe Bridgers and her group Boygenius won their awards during the pre-telecast. Bridgers received her first Grammy alongside SZA for her feature on “Ghost in the Machine” in the best pop duo/group performance category. Boygenius, which was nominated for seven awards this year, won three of the announced categories, including best alternative music album for “The Record,” as well as best rock song and best rock performance for “Not Strong Enough.”
Notably, Paramore won both of its nominations for best rock album with “This Is Why” and best alternative music performance with the title track. With the best rock album win, Paramore became the first female-fronted band in history to win in the category.
In the rap categories, Killer Mike took the cake, sweeping in all three of his nominated categories. The Atlanta rapper, who made headlines prior to the main broadcast for getting arrested backstage, was the crown victor in best rap song and best rap performance for his track “Scientists & Engineers” featuring André 3000, Future and Eryn Allen Kane, while his album “Michael” bested the competition in best rap album. He was first nominated and won back in 2003 for his feature on OutKast’s “The Whole World” in the best rap performance by a duo or group.
Two of the Grammys‘ new categories were also announced during the precast. Kylie Minogue scored a second career win for “Padam Padam” in the best dance pop recording category, while Tyla took home he Grammy for best African music performance for “Water” — her first-ever and only nomination this year.
Record of the Year
“Worship,” Jon Batiste
“Not Strong Enough,” Boygenius
“Flowers,” Miley Cyrus (WINNER)
“What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie,” Billie Eilish
“On My Mama,” Victoria Monét
“Vampire,” Olivia Rodrigo
“Anti-Hero,” Taylor Swift
“Kill Bill,” SZA
Album of the Year
“World Music Radio,” Jon Batiste
“The Record,” Boygenius
“Endless Summer Vacation,” Miley Cyrus
“Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” Lana Del Rey
“The Age of Pleasure,” Janelle Monáe
“Guts,” Olivia Rodrigo
“Midnights,” Taylor Swift (WINNER)
“SOS,” SZA
Song of the Year
“A&W” — Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey & Sam Dew, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)
“Anti-Hero” — Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
“Butterfly” — Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
“Dance the Night” (From “Barbie the Album”) — Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Dua Lipa)
“Flowers” — Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein & Michael Pollack, songwriters (Miley Cyrus)
“Kill Bill” — Rob Bisel, Carter Lang & Solána Rowe, songwriters (SZA)
“Vampire” — Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Oliva Rodrigo)
“What Was I Made For?” [From the Motion Picture “Barbie”] — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish) (WINNER)
Best New Artist
Gracie Abrams
Fred Again
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Coco Jones
Noah Kahan
Victoria Monét (WINNER)
The War and Treaty
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Jack Antonoff — WINNER
Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II
Hit-Boy
Metro Boomin
Daniel Nigro
Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical
Edgar Barrera
Jessie Jo Dillon
Shane McAnally
Theron Thomas — WINNER
Justin Tranter
Best Pop Solo Performance
“Flowers,” Miley Cyrus (WINNER)
“Paint the Town Red,” Doja Cat
“What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie,” Billie Eilish
“Vampire,” Olivia Rodrigo
“Anti-Hero,” Taylor Swift
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
“Thousand Miles,” Miley Cyrus featuring Brandi Carlile
“Candy Necklace,” Lana Del Rey featuring Jon Batiste
“Never Felt So Alone,” Labrinth featuring Billie Eilish
“Karma,” Taylor Swift featuring Ice Spice
“Ghost in the Machine,” SZA featuring Phoebe Bridgers — WINNER
Best Pop Dance Recording
“Baby Don’t Hurt Me,” David Guetta, Anne-Marie and Coi Leray
“Miracle,” Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding
“Padam Padam,” Kylie Minogue — WINNER
“One in a Million,” Bebe Rexha & David Guetta
“Rush,” Troye Sivan
Best Dance/Electronic Recording
Aphex Twin – Blackbox Life Recorder 21F
James Blake – Loading
Disclosure – Higher Than Ever BEfore
Romy & Fred again.. – Strong
Skrillex, Fred again.. & Flowdan – Rumble — WINNER
Best Dance/Electronic Music Album
James Blake – Playing Robots Into Heaven
The Chemical Brothers – For That Beautiful Feeling
Fred again.. – Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022) — WINNER
Kx5 – Kx5
Skrillex – Quest for Fire
Best Rock Album
“But Here We Are,” Foo Fighters
“Starcatcher,” Greta Van Fleet
“72 Seasons,” Metallica
“This Is Why,” Paramore — WINNER
“In Times New Roman…,” Queens of the Stone Age
Best Alternative Music Performance
“Belinda Says,” Alvvays
“Body Paint,” Arctic Monkeys
“Cool About It,” boygenius
“A&W,” Lana Del Rey
“This Is Why,” Paramore — WINNER
Best Alternative Music Album
“The Car,” Arctic Monkeys
“The Record,” boygenius — WINNER
“Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” Lana Del Rey
“Cracker Island,” Gorillaz
“I Inside the Old Year Dying,” PJ Harvey
Best Rock Performance
Arctic Monkeys – Sculptures of Anything Goes
Black Pumas – More Than a Love Song
Boygenius – Not Strong Enough — WINNER
Foo Fighters – Rescued
Metallica – Lux Æterna
Best Metal Performance
Disturbed – Bad Man
Ghost – Phantom of the Opera
Metallica – 72 Seasons — WINNER
Slipknot – Hive Mind
Spiritbox – Jaded
Best Rock Song
Boygenius – Not Strong Enough — WINNER
Foo Fighters – Rescued
Olivia Rodrigo – Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl
Queens of the Stone Age – Emotion Sickness
The Rolling Stones – Angry
Best R&B Performance
“Summer Too Hot,” Chris Brown
“Back to Love,” Robert Glasper featuring SiR and Alex Isley
“ICU,” Coco Jones — WINNER
“How Does It Make You Feel,” Victoria Monét
“Kill Bill,” SZA