After rising to a new pinnacle of fame in 2023, it was only to be expected that Taylor Swift would be a domineering force at the Grammys, although awarding Album of the Year — the biggest award of the night — to the fairly forgettable Midnights still seems wild. With this, Swift has broken the record for the most Album of the Year wins, previously having been tied with Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra and Paul Simon after taking home the gramophones for Fearless, 1989 and folklore. Amid her debilitating struggle with stiff-person syndrome, Céline Dion presented the record-breaking trophy.
Earlier in the evening, the pop star accepted her 13th Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album, Swift announced a new album, The Tortured Poets Department, set to be released on April 19. She then shared its Tumblr-ass album artwork on Instagram. This is starting to feel a little like Drake’s desperate attempts to remain relevant, releasing albums nobody asked for left and right, but I’ll give Swift the benefit of the doubt. (Also, if the title is a shady reference to the “Tortured Man Club" group text her ex Joe Alwyn was reportedly in with Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott, that’s pretty funny.)
Remember back in 2018 when, after men dominated the major categories, the former head of the Grammys declared that women needed to “step up”? In 2024, that certainly happened: every one of the nine awards categories presented during the telecast were won by women. Swift, Miley Cyrus, Victoria Monét, Billie Eilish, SZA, Lainey Wilson and Karol G were the artists who got to give acceptance speeches during the taping. We need to talk mid-ness once again, though, because Cyrus’s “Flowers” winning Record of the Year is the perfect representation of the Academy awarding the most boring, by-the-numbers stuff imaginable.
Meanwhile, the boys of boygenius broke records as the first all-women group to ever win Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song (for “Not Strong Enough”) in addition to Best Alternative Music Album, while Best Rock Album and Best Alternative Music Performance went to Paramore. (Alvvays were robbed!) Women were also well represented across the performances during the telecast, with the likes of Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Eilish, Cyrus and SZA taking the stage. Elsewhere, Dry Cleaning’s pube artwork won too. Representation matters.
Grammys history does tend to repeat itself, and it’s often these moments that are among the more embarrassing ones. As aforementioned, Swift won Album of the Year again (for a much lesser album), and her right-hand Jack Antonoff won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, for the third year in a row. Other producers simply do not exist.
More cringe yet is the Academy once again giving Best Comedy Album to self-proclaimed TERF Dave Chappelle! You can’t make this shit up! Racist history also repeated itself, with Killer Mike sweeping the rap categories and then the cops showing up to arrest him on an unrelated misdemeanour charge. And yes, Trevor Noah had hosted the show again, and I’m not enough of a Grammys historian to know whether this was the first time he introduced Ed Sheeran as “one of the greatest live performers of all time.”
See the list of winners in all the major-ish categories below, and find the full thing here.
Album of the Year
boygenius - the record
Janelle Monáe - The Age of Pleasure
Jon Batiste - World Music Radio
Lana Del Rey - Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd
Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation
Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS
SZA - SOS
Taylor Swift - Midnights
Record of the Year
Billie Eilish - "What Was I Made For?"
boygenius - "Not Strong Enough"
Jon Batiste - "Worship"
Miley Cyrus - "Flowers"
Olivia Rodrigo - "vampire"
SZA - "Kill Bill"
Taylor Swift - "Anti-Hero"
Victoria Monét - "On My Mama"
Best New Artist
Coco Jones
Gracie Abrams
Fred Again..
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Noah Kahan
Victoria Monét
The War and Treaty
Song of the Year
Billie Eilish - "What Was I Made For?"
Dua Lipa - "Dance the Night"
Jon Batiste - "Butterfly"
Lana Del Rey - "A&W"
Miley Cyrus - "Flowers"
Olivia Rodrigo - "vampire"
SZA - "Kill Bill"
Taylor Swift - "Anti-Hero"
Best Song Written for Visual Media
Billie Eilish - "What Was I Made For?"
Dua Lipa - "Dance the Night"
Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice Featuring Aqua - "Barbie World"
Rihanna - "Lift Me Up"
Ryan Gosling - "I'm Just Ken"
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Includes Film and Television)
John Williams - The Fabelmans
John Williams - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Ludwig Göransson - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Ludwig Göransson - Oppenheimer
Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt - Barbie
Best African Music Performance
Asake & Olamide - "Amapiano"
Ayra Starr - "Rush"
Burna Boy - "City Boys"
Davido Featuring Musa Keys - "Unavailable"
Tyla - "Water"
Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano)
Ana Bárbara - Bordado a Mano
Flor de Toloache - Motherflower
Lila Downs - La Sánchez
Lupita Infante - Amor Como en las Películas de Antes
Peso Pluma - Génesis
Best Latin Pop Album
AleMor - Beautiful Humans, Vol. 1
Gaby Moreno - X Mi (Vol. 1)
Maluma - Don Juan
Pablo Alborán - La Cuarta Hoja
Paula Arenas - A Ciegas
Pedro Capó - La Neta
Best Country Album
Brothers Osborne - Brothers Osborne
Kelsea Ballerini - Rolling Up the Welcome Mat
Lainey Wilson - Bell Bottom Country
Tyler Childers - Rustin' in the Rain
Zach Bryan - Zach Bryan
Best Country Solo Performance
Brandy Clark - "Buried"
Chris Stapleton - "White Horse"
Dolly Parton - "The Last Thing on My Mind"
Luke Combs - "Fast Car"
Tyler Childers - "In Your Love"
Best Alternative Jazz Album
Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily - Love in Exile
Cory Henry - Live at the Piano
Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter, SuperBlue - SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree
Louis Cole - Quality Over Opinion
Meshell Ndegeocello - The Omnichord Real Book
Best Melodic Rap Performance
Burna Boy Featuring 21 Savage - "Sittin' on Top of the World"
Doja Cat - "Attention"
Drake & 21 Savage - "Spin Bout U"
Lil Durk Featuring J. Cole - "All My Life"
SZA - "Low"
Best R&B Album
Babyface - Girls Night Out
Coco Jones - What I Didn't Tell You
Emily King - Special Occasion
Summer Walker - Clear 2: Soft Life EP
Victoria Monét - Jaguar II
Best R&B Performance
Chris Brown - "Summer Too Hot"
Coco Jones - "ICU"
Robert Glasper Featuring Sir & Alex Isley - "Back to Love"
SZA - "Kill Bill"
Victoria Monét - "How Does It Make You Feel"
Best Alternative Music Album
Arctic Monkeys - The Car
boygenius - the record
Gorillaz - Cracker Island
Lana Del Rey - Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd
PJ Harvey - I Inside the Old Year Dying
Best Alternative Music Performance
Alvvays - "Belinda Says"
Arctic Monkeys - "Body Paint"
boygenius - "Cool About It"
Lana Del Rey - "A&W"
Paramore - "This Is Why"
Best Rock Album
Foo Fighters - But Here We Are
Greta Van Fleet - Starcatcher
Metallica - 72 Seasons
Paramore - This Is Why
Queens of the Stone Age - In Times New Roman…
Best Pop Dance Recording
Bebe Rexha & David Guetta - "One in a Million"
Calvin Harris Featuring Ellie Goulding - "Miracle"
David Guetta, Anne-Marie & Coi Leray - "Baby Don't Hurt Me"
Kylie Minogue - "Padam Padam"
Troye Sivan - "Rush"
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Labrinth Featuring Billie Eilish - "Never Felt So Alone"
Lana Del Rey Featuring Jon Batiste - "Candy Necklace"
Miley Cyrus Featuring Brandi Carlile - "Thousand Miles"
SZA Featuring Phoebe Bridgers - "Ghost in the Machine"
Taylor Swift Featuring Ice Spice - "Karma"
Best Pop Solo Performance
Billie Eilish - "What Was I Made For?"
Doja Cat - "Paint the Town Red"
Miley Cyrus - "Flowers"
Olivia Rodrigo - "vampire"
Taylor Swift - "Anti-Hero"
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Daniel Nigro
Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II
Hit-Boy
Jack Antonoff
Metro Boomin
Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical
Edgar Barrera
Jessie Jo Dillon
Justin Tranter
Shane McAnally
Theron Thomas
Best Pop Vocal Album
Kelly Clarkson - Chemistry
Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation
Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS
Ed Sheeran - - (Subtract)
Taylor Swift - Midnights
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"
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)
Kx5 - Kx5
Skrillex - Quest for Fire
Best Rock Performance
Arctic Monkeys - "Sculptures of Anything Goes"
Black Pumas - "More Than a Love Song"
boygenius - "Not Strong Enough"
Foo Fighters - "Rescued"
Metallica - "Lux Æterna"
Best Metal Performance
Disturbed - "Bad Man"
Ghost - "Phantom of the Opera"
Metallica - "72 Seasons"
Slipknot - "Hive Mind"
Spiritbox - "Jaded"
Best Rock Song
boygenius - "Not Strong Enough"
Foo Fighters - "Rescued"
Olivia Rodrigo - "ballad of a homeschooled girl"
Queens of the Stone Age - "Emotion Sickness"
The Rolling Stones - "Angry"
Best Traditional R&B Performance
Babyface ft. Coco Jones - "Simple"
Kenyon Dixon - "Lucky"
Victoria Monét ft. Earth, Wind & Fire and Hazel Monét - "Hollywood"
PJ Morton ft. Susan Carol - "Good Morning"
SZA - "Love Language"
Best R&B Song
Coco Jones - "ICU"
Halle - "Angel"
Robert Glasper ft. SiR & Alex Isley - "Back to Love"
SZA - "Snooze"
Victoria Monét - "On My Mama"
Best Progressive R&B Album
6lack - Since I Have a Lover
Diddy - The Love Album: Off the Grid
Terrace Martin and James Fauntleroy - Nova
Janelle Monáe - The Age of Pleasure
SZA - SOS
Best Rap Performance
Baby Keem ft. Kendrick Lamar - "The Hillbillies"
Black Thought - "Love Letter"
Coi Leray - "Players"
Drake & 21 Savage - "Rich Flex"
Killer Mike feat. André 3000, Future and Eryn Allen Kane - "Scientists & Engineers"
Best Rap Song
Doja Cat - "Attention"
Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice ft. Aqua - "Barbie World"
Lil Uzi Vert - "Just Wanna Rock"
Drake & 21 Savage - "Rich Flex"
Killer Mike feat. André 3000, Future and Eryn Allen Kane - "Scientists & Engineers"
Best Rap Album
Drake & 21 Savage - Her Loss
Killer Mike - MICHAEL
Metro Boomin - Heroes & Villains
Nas - King's Disease III
Travis Scott - UTOPIA