Taylor Swift announced an album, Killer Mike got arrested, Paramore broke a huge record, and some very unexpected wins were celebrated... It was a big night for the music industry!
Boygenius / Taylor Swift / Paramore (Supplied)
The 66th annual Grammy Awards just came to an end, and throughout the four-hour ceremony, there were some bombs dropped – from Taylor Swift announcing her new album, to Killer Mike being arrested, to Paramore breaking one hell of a record – not to mention a whole suite of unexpected, controversial and well-earned wins.
This year’s coveted Record Of The Year award went to Miley Cyrus, whose smash hit Flowers won out over cuts from the likes of Boygenius (Not Strong Enough), Billie Eilish (What Was I Made For?), Olivia Rodrigo (vampire) and Taylor Swift (Anti-Hero). Swift won the even bigger Album Of The Year title, though, taking it out with her 2022 effort Midnights and beating out heavyweights like Lana Del Ray, SZA and Jon Batiste. It marked her forth consecutive year winning in the category – breaking a new record in the process – and her acceptance speech for it came with the shock announcement of her new album The Tortured Poets Department.
Elsewhere in the general field, Victoria Monét was crowned the Best New Artist, Jack Antonoff scored his second consecutive win for Producer Of The Year, and Theron Thomas won Songwriter Of The Year. Flowers also won Cyrus the award for Best Pop Solo Performance, and Midnights won Swift the adjacent Best Pop Vocal Album title. Also notable in the pop realm was Kylie Minogue’s second-ever Grammy win, with Padam Padam earning her the gong for Best Pop Dance Recording. The award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance went to SZA for Ghost In The Machine, which features Phoebe Bridgers.
Heading into dancier territory, Fred again.. won two huge awards, taking out Best Dance/Electronic Album for Actual Life 3 and Best Dance/Electronic Recording for Rumble (alongside Skrillex and Flowdan). Meanwhile, Boygenius cleaned up in the rock department, winning Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for Not Strong Enough, as well as Best Alternative Music Album for The Record. Also winning big were Paramore, who became the first female-fronted band to win Best Rock Album with This Is Why. That album’s title track also won Paramore the award for Best Alternative Music Performance.
SZA scored her second win for Best Progressive R&B album, which she won at the hand of her long-awaited second album SOS. Killer Mike also won all three of the awards he was nominated for – Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Album (the former two for Scientists & Engineers, and the latter for MICHAEL) – but his night was soured when he got escorted out of the venue in handcuffs.
Another milestone win went to The Beatles, who won Best Music Video for the Em Cooper-directed clip soundtracked by their 1966 track I’m Only Sleeping.
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Head here to see the full list of winners at the 2024 Grammy Awards.