On Sunday, Feb. 2, the 67th annual Grammys took place in Los Angeles. This event has been highly anticipated as 2024 has been regarded as a huge year for the music industry. We saw huge albums by huge artists like “Cowboy Carter” by Beyoncé, “Hit me Hard and Soft” by Billie Eilish, “The Tortured Poets Department” by Taylor Swift and so many more.
While the night is usually a celebration of the music industry, this year’s ceremony was much more than that. Celebrities used the night to take advantage of their platforms to raise awareness for hot topic issues.
The night began with the host, comedian Trevor Noah, opening the show for the fifth year in a row. Noah’s speech began with a dedication to the people who lost everything in the wildfires that have been taking over LA.
This was a theme throughout the night with Noah continuing to ask companies in attendance as well as everyone at home to donate whatever they could to an organization in support of wildfire relief. This caused much controversy as people took to social media to argue that it felt “dystopian” for Noah to stand in a room of the most influential billionaires and ask people at home to donate.
Continuing to cause controversy Noah aimed jokes at the newly inaugurated President Trump. Noah joked that it might be his last time to host anything in America due to his immigrant status.
He continued to joke, saying “We’re going to be honoring the best in music as voted on by the 13,000 members of the Recording Academy and 20 million illegal immigrants. And tonight, no matter what happens, history will be made.”
Many viewers and celebrities were annoyed with his jokes about immigrants. One artist, Doechii, was even seen rolling her eyes in the background after Noah made this joke.
After Noah’s opening speech, the first performance of the night began with Billie Eilish performing her song “BIRDS OF A FEATHER”.
Her performance was followed by Sabrina Carpenter’s, performing a mash-up of two of the most popular songs from her album “Short N’ Sweet”, “Espresso” and “Please Please Please”.
Best Rap Album
“The Death of Slim Shady(Coup de Grâce)” by Eminem
“Might Delete Later” by J. Cole
“We Don’t Trust You” by Future, Metro Boomin
“Alligator Bites Never Heal” by Doechii
“The Auditorium Vol. 1” by Common, Pete Rock
The award was given to Doechii for her album “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” earning her first Grammy and making history as the third woman to win in this category since its creation in 1989.
Best Pop Vocal Album The Nominees were
“Short N’ Sweet” by Sabrina Carpenter
“Eternal Sunshine” by Arianna Grande
“The Tortured Poets Department” by Taylor Swift
“The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” by Chappell Roan
“Hit Me Hard and Soft” by Billie Eilish
The winner was Sabrina Carpenter for “Short N’ Sweet.” This makes it Carpenter’s first Grammy win despite being in the industry for 10 years.
Following Carpenter’s win, pop star Olivia Rodrigo introduced the third performer of the night, Chappell Roan. Roan is known for her jaw-dropping makeup and outfits heavily inspired by the drag community.
During her performance, Roan performed one of the biggest songs from her album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” “Pink Pony Club,” while she sat onstage on a giant pink pony.
Best Country Album
“Higher” by Chris Stapelton
“Deeper Well” by Kacey Musgraves
“Cowboy Carter” by Beyoncé
“F-1 Trillion” by Post Malone
“Whirlwind” by Lainey Wilson
The winner, as a shock to many, was Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter,” earning Beyoncé her 33rd Grammy.
While some fans have been so excited for Beyoncé’s win, there has been a lot of backlash aimed at her. A lot of people are claiming that “Cowboy Carter” isn’t “really a country album”.
After Beyoncé received her Grammy, the showcase of nominees for Best New Artist began.
The first two nominees, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, had performed earlier in the night, so they moved on to the other nominees. The showcase began with a short performance by indie music band Khruangbin. It then transitioned into a performance of “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone, beginning in the audience and ending with him backflipping on stage. Then Doechii took over, performing her song “DENIAL IS A RIVER”. The audience was then guided to center stage to watch as Teddy Swims performed his hit song “Lose Control”. Then Shaboozey picked up the beat while performing his country song “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”. The showcase ended with a short performance of “Oscar Winning Tears” by Raye.
After the showcase, the Grammy for Best New Artist was presented, per tradition, the award was presented by last year’s winner, Victoria Monét. The winner was Chappell Roan, earning her her first Grammy out of her six nominations from the night.
During her speech following her first win, in typical Roan fashion, she used the platform to call out record labels for not providing healthcare.
“I told myself that if I ever won a Grammy and got to stand up here before the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and health care, especially developing artists,” Roan said.
She left the room in tears, and Trevor Noah speechless, finishing her speech by saying, “Labels, we got you, but do you got us?”
The atmosphere quickly changed, transitioning into a highly anticipated performance by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, singing a cover of “California Dreaming” by The Mamas & the Papas.
Following this performance, the CEO of the academy, Harvey Mason Jr., took the stage to give a speech regarding one of the biggest issues attributed to the academy. Are they fair?
For years the fairness of the Grammys has been discussed as a repetitive theme of POC (people of color) and female artists being underrepresented in the awards.
In an Instagram poll conducted by the Owl Post, 100% of students who responded stated that the Grammys are not fair.
The Weeknd agrees with this idea; or at least he used to. According to Harper’s BAZAAR, in 2021, The Weeknd announced that he would be boycotting the Grammys after he “accused the Recording Academy of not being diverse enough, and claimed “secret committees” blocked his highly successful “After Hours” album from receiving any nominations that year even though he was one of the year’s most celebrated projects.
However, The Academy has worked the past few years to diversify the organization and create a more fair environment. Seeing this work being done The Weeknd agreed to end his boycott and took to the stage for his first Grammy appearance in four years.
After this surprise performance, during a commercial break, Lady Gaga debuted her new song and music video “Abracadabra” from her album coming out March 7.
Best Latin Pop album
“Funk Generation” by Anitta
“GarcÍa” by Kany Garcia
“Orquídeas” by Kali Uchis
“El Viaje” by Luis Fonsi
“Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” by Shakira
The award was given to Shakira, making this her fourth award. During her acceptance speech, she spoke to women and immigrants saying “I want to dedicate this award to all my immigrant brothers and sisters in this country. You are loved, you are worth it, and I will always fight with you.”
The Academy then took the time to make a tribute to producer and composer Quincy Jones. Jones passed away on Nov. 3, 2024, at the age of 91. The tribute was led by Will Smith and the contributors included Cynthia Erivo, Herbie Hancock, Lainey Wilson, Jacob Collier, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Bono and Janelle Monet.
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
“Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars
“the boy is mine” by Ariana Grande, Brandy and Monica
“us.” by Gracie Abrams and Taylor Swift
“Guess” by Charli XCX and Billie Eilish
“LEVII’S JEANS” by Beyoncé and Post Malone
The award was given to Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, making their fourteenth and sixteenth Grammy respectively. During their acceptance speech, Gaga stated that “Trans people deserve love” as she sent her love to the trans and queer communities. However, a huge controversy was caused when viewers caught that a broadcast in Texas cut this part of her speech.
Then they took the time to honor all of the people within the music industry who have passed away beginning with Liam Payne.
Record of the Year
“Fortnight” by Taylor Swift
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER”by Billie Eilish
“Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar
“360” Charli XCX
“Now and Then” by The Beatles
“Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan
“Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” by Beyoncé.
The award went to Kendrick Lamar earning him his 22nd Grammy.
After this, Shakira took the stage for her first Grammy performance since 2007, introduced by Gloria Estefan.
The Dr. Dre Global Impact Award is something the Academy gives out to an artist whose “influence transcends music”. This year it was awarded to Alicia Keys for her advocacy for women in music.
Staying true to the theme of the award, Keys mentioned DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), stating that the policy wasn’t a threat.
“And the more voices, the more powerful the sound. When destructive forces try to burn us down, we rise from the ashes like a phoenix, and as you see tonight, music is the unstoppable language that connects us all,” Keys said.
Song of the Year
“Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar
“Fortnight” by Taylor Swift
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish
“Please Please Please” by Sabrina Carpenter
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey
“Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan
“Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” by Beyoncé.
The winner was “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar.
Leading up to the most anticipated award of the night, Charli XCX took to the stage for the final performance of the night. She performed a mashup of “Von dutch” and “Guess,” beginning the performance backstage in the arena. XCX was accompanied by models Alex Consani, Julia Fox and Gabriette.
During the performance, XCX and all of the other performers were showered in pairs of underwear. The performance was completed with a note sharing that all of the unworn pairs of underwear would be donated. According to BAZAAR, “over 10,000 panties were sent to the I Support The Girls foundation.”
Then it was time for the most anticipated moment of the night.
Album of the year
“Brat” by Charli XCX
“Cowboy Carter” by Beyoncé
“Djesse. Vol. 4” by Jacob Collier
“Hit me Hard and Soft” by Billie Eilish
“New Blue Sun” by André 3000
“The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” by Chappell Roan
“Short N’ Sweet” by Sabrina Carpenter
“The Tortured Poets Department” by Taylor Swift
The Los Angeles Fire Department was invited to present this award. After years of famously competing for this award and continuously losing, the award went to Beyoncé. She then accepted the award, and the night was officially over.
Though many watched for the music and competition, it was refreshing to see so many huge artists using their platforms for activism. But the question remains: will we continue to see celebrities use their influence to fight for their beliefs?
