On February 4th, the 66th Grammys Awards were held to honor legends, acknowledge achievements, and celebrate their craft. Artists, new and old united to bond over one shared passion; music.
There were multiple big moments during this year’s show. The most notable entails Taylor Swift’s record breaking win of Album of the Year. Prior, Swift had been the only female solo artist to win the award three times, tying her to Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, and Frank Sinatra. However, everything changed when her latest album Midnights took the crown. She is now the only artist to have won Album of the Year four times.
It was obvious that Swift was going to conquer this year’s show. Swifities even thought she would announce the re-recording of her sixth album, Reputation. While accepting Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights, Swift revealed her brand-new album, The Tortured Poets Department. This surprised fans far and wide, including Sophomore Madi DeGeorge. “I got excited because a new album is crazy, considering that she’s been on tour and constantly putting out re-recordings of older work,” said DeGeorge. While some thought Swift’s victory wasn’t appropriate, DeGeorge expresses, “Midnights came out 16 months ago. She has been working on The Tortured Poets Department for two years. How did she do it all at the same time? She is so deserving of each award.”
DeGeorge adds, “It was special for me to see boygenius win awards for Not Strong Enough. That song has affected so many people, including me. They were very worthy of it.”
Of course the Grammys had many outstanding performances. Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs united to sing ‘Fast Car’, a song adored by all, not just the country genre. Miley Cyrus shook the stage with her massive hit, ‘Flowers’ which won Best Pop Solo Performance. Sophomore Ian Shiao enthusiastically tuned into the Grammys and SZA’s set caught his attention the most. “The choreography, staging, and costumes were excellent. She always puts on a good show,” states Shiao.
“I really liked seeing Victoria Monét win Best New Artist. It was very well deserved. The contenders for it were a very good lineup too,” notes Shiao.
Women truly represented music this past year. Every single competitive award was taken by a talented, remarkable female artist. The biggest tallies of the night consisted of; three for SZA, Victoria Monét, “Barbie”, and boygenius. Phoebe Bridgers, member of supergroup boygenius took home four golden trophies, the greatest amount of Grammys of the night. Shiao admits, “Personally, I think the record by boygenius should have won Album of the Year instead of Taylor Swift’s Midnights.”
Powerhouse rapper Killer Mike won three Grammys and dominated each rap category; Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance. Following his victories, he got arrested due to a security misunderstanding. The situation has not been fully revealed.
Shiao concludes, “I think The Grammys are important because it covers a multitude of genres, and that’s what brings people together. People want to see their favorite artists win an award and thrive, so there will always be that sort of retention towards the Grammys.”
