The 2024 Grammy Awards Ceremony took place Sunday, February 4 in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, it was the sixty-fifth year that the Recording Academy has put on the show, and for once, it did not disappoint. The Grammys are known for being the most prestigious awards in the music industry and many artists could only dream of hearing their names in the nominations list. However, in recent years, the Grammys have begun losing their popularity and credibility, as they’ve been notorious for “snubbing” great artists like Lana Del Rey and Beyoncé. Although this year the Recording Academy didn’t shy away from snubbing great artists, the general public seemed to have responded better and there are numbers to prove it. In the past few years, viewership numbers for the Grammys have begun to dwindle. In 2021, 8.8 million people watched the program live and the number only rose by 100,000 the year after. Last year, the Grammys reached 12.4 million viewers. However, this year, viewership rose by 34% with 17 million viewers. But why the growth in popularity? Let’s debrief.
First off, there were many amazing performances at this year’s presentation. Dua Lipa opened up the show with an amazing performance of her new single “Houdini.” Many nominees performed like Miley Cyrus, SZA, and Olivia Rodrigo! Music legends and icons also performed, giving everyone more reasons to tune in! After 17 years, Billy Joel debuted a brand new song. The legendary band U2 performed from inside the new Vegas sphere. Music trailblazer Joni Mitchell performed for the very first time, singing her hit song “Both Sides Now” alongside Brandi Carlyle. Overall, the performances were all very well put together and gave many past ceremonies a run for their money!
However, the main focus of the Grammys is, of course, the awards! Each year there’s discourse and conversations about who should’ve and shouldn’t have won and this year is no different. When the nominations were released back in November, I predicted the winners of the general categories and it was exciting to see how close or far I was from predicting the winners! Predictions Article Here!
Starting with the “Best New Artist” category, I was completely off in my predictions. I had said that I wanted Gracie Abrams to win and I believed she should. But, I predicted that rapper Ice Spice would win. However, I was wrong on all accounts, as Victoria Monet took home the coveted award! Though she did not make my original list, I don’t doubt her for a second and think that she deserves the accolades given to her. This year’s “Best New Artist” category was very competitive so it must’ve been challenging for the Recording Academy to choose a winner.
Next up is “Record Of The Year.” This is a single song award, given to everyone that went into making the song including the performer, producers, and recording of the track. Once again, I was wrong in my predictions. I wanted Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” to win, but believed that Boygenius’s “Strong Enough” should take it. I then predicted that Billie Eillish’s song “What Was I Made For?” would take the prize. However, none of those songs took home the award. Cyrus earned her second Grammy with “Flowers” for “Record Of The Year”. Earlier in the evening, “Flowers” also won an award for “Best Pop Solo Performance.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I am no Cyrus hater. I quite enjoyed her latest album and I am a huge fan of the record before. However, I do not believe that “Flowers” was the song of her career, and could name several other songs of hers that deserve more acclaim. Nevertheless, it was a great moment to see such a talented artist finally receive the flowers they deserve (no pun intended).
The “Song Of The Year” category is a songwriters award, given to the songwriters of a track. I had said that I wanted and thought Swift would finally take this honor. However, for the seventh time, she did not win this award. Yet, I was still right about something, as I said I thought that Eillish’s “What Was I Made For?” should win this award and it did! In the pre-show, it also won “Best Song Written For Visual Media.” All of its awards are very well deserved as it instantly became one of the most vulnerable and important songs of the year. It connects with every listener and the Barbie film wouldn’t have been the same without it.
The most coveted award in music is the Grammys “Album Of The Year Award.” This year, the category was stacked with great contenders. Typically, there are obvious standouts, but this year was one of the toughest races in my opinion. Huge names such as Rodrigo, Swift, and Del Rey were up for the award. In November, I said that Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd should win and I still stand by that. Not only is it a fantastic album, but Del Rey is easily one of the most influential artists of this generation. I also said that I believed SZA would win for her amazing record SOS. However, the album that I said I wanted to win actually won. Swift’s Midnights took home this award.
Swift’s win is not only monumental in her career but is also Grammy history. She is officially the artist with the most AOTY trophies with four wins. Each time Swift has won it, she’s broken some type of record. In 2010, Swift was the youngest winner at that time with her sophomore album Fearless. In 2016, she was the first woman to win this award twice for 1989. In 2021, Swift tied Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, and Paul Simon with three wins each. And now in 2024, Swift has the most out of anybody. It was truly an amazing night for her. However, all of this was overshadowed by something else. But in this day and age, what could overshadow Swift? Oh, only Swift can do that of course!
The morning of Grammy Day, Swift changed her profile pictures on social media to black and white. Many fans, including myself, speculated that she would announce reputation (Taylor’s Version) at the show. She showed up wearing a beautiful white dress with black jewelry, staying on theme. Swifties were eagerly awaiting a win so that she could announce it. However, Swift had to outdo herself. Swift’s first award of the night was “Best Pop Vocal Album” for Midnights. In her acceptance speech, Swift basically broke the internet and wreaked havoc in the pop culture community. Instead of announcing a new re-recorded album, Swift had a different trick up her sleeve.
“I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the last two years, which is that my brand new album comes out April 19th”, Swift enthusiastically announced.
Swift later revealed that the title of the new album is The Tortured Poets Department and posted the album cover and tracklist to her social media accounts. Many were in shock by this, not expecting a completely new piece of work from her.
All in all, the Grammys were spectacular this year. No, I’m not just being biased due to my Swiftie instincts. I really think that they hit the nail on the head this year. The host was good. The performances were showstopping. And many of the winners made sense! Of course, I still think some people were robbed. But, not everyone can be a winner!
