On February 4th 2024, the 66th annual Grammy Awards show aired on television. Although the Grammy’s never fail to impress, this year in particular had quite a few special performances with a little something for everyone.
Indie artist Phoebe Bridgers was the leading Grammy winner, taking home four Grammys. Three were with her band, boygenius, which has become incredibly popular to teens due to its alternative style and one with Sza for Best Group/Duo Performance for her feature in “Ghost in the Machine.” As well as boygenius; Sza, Killer Mike, and Victoria Monet also walked away with three Grammys each.
But the awards were not what made this night so memorable; the performances were exceptional with a wide range of artists. Some have been in the music industry for longer than many of the viewers have been alive.
The show started off with an incredible performance by Dua Lipa in which she debuted two singles from her upcoming album, Radical Optimism. The flashing lights and impressive choreography started the night off with an exciting bang that left everyone wanting more.
To add onto this excitement was host Trevor Noah. The former Daily Show host and renowned comedian was just as giddy to be there as any fan would be. He walked around the room with a smile as he gushed about Meryl Streep, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and everyone else in the room. “Look at this room, everybody give yourselves a round of applause.” Noah’s ability to cheer everyone on made him the perfect Grammys host for the last four years.
As the charismatic Trevor Noah pointed out, music was dominated by women this year. From Sza getting the most nominations to Taylor Swift being the first artist ever to win Best Album four times, it is safe to say that, recently, the music industry is uplifting female artists more than ever. Trevor Noah even made a quip about the three women band with the name ‘boygenius’ emphasizing women empowerment.
On this note, the awards start off strong with Mariah Carey presenting Miley Cyrus with the Best Pop Solo Performance award and continuing with honoring 80’s music legend Tracy Chapman.
Country singer Luke Combs was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance for his cover of Fast Car by Chapman, his idol. The show cuts to an insert of Combs explaining his love and appreciation for this song and the impact it had on him. Music is a way to connect with one another and sharing a common love for a song can bring people together. “You get to see people have the experience you had with it. It can be felt and related to by all kinds of people all around the world,” Combs said. And with that, Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs performed Fast Car together. This performance was a beautiful blend of nostalgia for fans of the song, like Combs, and a memorable part of the show for people that may not have known the song.
Following this, Karol G won the Grammy for Best Música Urbana album, Mañana Será Bonito; it made history as the first Spanish album made by a female artist to be on Billboard 200.
Three musical acts were presented after this, all by Song of the Year nominees. Sza starts by performing a mash up of a couple of her hit songs including ‘Kill Bill,’ and ‘Snooze.’ But before singing, we get some insight into her mind and understand some of the struggles she goes through, things that we can relate to. Sza talks about her anxiety and fear and the role they play in her identity. “My biggest thought in my head every night is am I gonna do good at this show?” Hearing someone as relevant and important as Sza discuss stress that many of her fans have as well, is an otherworldly experience and makes the audience feel so much more connected with her on stage as they can relate to her on a personal level.
Billie Eilish, accompanied by her brother Phineas, sang ‘What was I made for,’ a beautiful song that ended up winning song of the year. Lastly, Miley Cyrus performs her upbeat song, ‘Flowers,’ and lightens the mood as we make our way to the next award announcement of the night.
Lizzo came out to announce the award for Best R&B Song, and Sza giddily came up to receive her award. Her speech was sweet and illustrated her nervousness that was previously mentioned.
Watching artists humbly accept their awards makes watching at home even more entertaining as you can see your idols in a vulnerable state.
Next, we heard from Olivia Rodrigo as she performed her Grammy nominated song, ‘Vampire,’ in a truly breathtaking performance. Knowing Rodrigo was going to be there was a big reason there was a flood of younger people that tuned into this year’s Grammys. From speaking to ten year old Anna Borkin, I learned that Olivia Rodrigo was her favorite performance and she only decided to watch the Grammys because Taylor Swift was going to be there. And after Taylor Swift’s album Midnights won album of the year, Stevie Wonder was brought on stage.
Switching again from the younger generation of music to the older, music legend Stevie Wonder performs a tribute for the artists that we lost this year including Tony Bennet. A video of Bennet singing ‘For Once In My Life’ was played along with Wonder’s singing and piano playing. Annie Lenox, Jon Batiste, and Fantasia Barrino also paid tribute to the late Tina Turner, Sinead O’Connor and Clarence Avant. Recognizing artists that were extremely important to the music industry even after they have passed, is extremely important and gives this awards show a sense of community as everyone is in this together.
After that beautiful tribute, Jay Z went up to accept his Dr. Dre Global Impact award, joining Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz who were past recipients. Bringing his daughter on stage with him, Jay Z reflects on what he has done for the music industry and the role he and his wife, Beyonce, had played.
After Lionel Richie presents Billie Eilish with the award for song of the year, music Legend Joni Mitchell is brought on stage. At 80 years old, and recovering from a brain aneurysm and a skin disease, Mitchell performs her song ‘Both sides now,’ showing us how it is never too late to perform.
Travis Scott makes a speech about his new album, Utopia and his mindset while creating it. The Grammys gives us a chance to see into our favorite artists’ minds and understand them as not just a musician, but as a person. In the words of Trevor Noah, these people have written “the soundtrack of our lives” and deserve this celebration.
To continue on with this celebration, we hear from the recording academy’s CEO, Harvey Mason Jr. as he touches on the togetherness of this event. As he spoke, four musicians with Israeli and Palestinian descent played together, symbolizing how music can connect people even in dire circumstances.
Bringing back the theme of old artists doing something new, Billy Joel brings the night to a close by performing his new song, ‘Turn the Lights Back On.’ Although he has been performing at Madison Square Garden since 2014, Joel has not come out with a new song in the last 30 years. This song describes his feelings of maybe being too old to keep performing. These Grammys crushed that fear and showed us how important past musicians are to the current academy. Awards were passed down from Celine Dione to Taylor Swift, Lionel Richie to Billie Eilish and many more. New musicians are making history, alongside their predecessors.
The Grammys was truly a night to remember as it encapsulates the idea of how timeless music is and how important it is to praise these outstanding people.
On February 4th 2024, the 66th annual Grammy Awards show aired on television. Although the Grammy’s never fail to impress, this year in particular had quite a few special performances with a little something for everyone.