TAYLOR SWIFT HAS made Grammy history by becoming the first person to win album of the year four times.
The 34-year-old US megastar secured the top gong of the night with her tenth studio album, Midnights, after announcing she would be releasing a new album titled The Tortured Poets Department, on 19 April.
The 66th annual ceremony saw female musicians dominate in the major categories at the event, with US singer Billie Eilish taking home song of the year for her Barbie hit What Was I Made For?, and pop star Miley Cyrus landed record of the year for her viral summer sensation Flowers.
Canadian singer Celine Dion, 55, made a surprise appearance at the show to present album of the year to Swift, after annoucind in 2022 that she has the rare neurological condition Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS).
💎 Best believe @taylorswift13 is a four-time Album Of The Year winner: https://t.co/OuKk34l332 #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/xJ0wvknPdl
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) February 5, 2024
A visibly shocked Swift previously won the award for album Fearless in 2009, again six years later for 1989, and most recently for Folklore in 2020.
“I would love to tell you that this is the best moment of my life, but I feel this happy when I finish a song or when I crack the code to a bridge that I love or when I’m shot-listing a music video, or when I’m rehearsing with my dancers or my band or getting ready to go to Tokyo to play a show,” Swift said.
“For me, the award is the work. All I want to do is keep being able to do this. I love it so much. It makes me so happy,” she said.
🌃 Congrats Album Of The Year winner - 'Midnights' @TaylorSwift13 #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/EfWKmWd77X
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) February 5, 2024
The pop megastar was previously the first and only female solo artist to win the award three times, tied with Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder.
Swift also made waves earlier in the ceremony after she announced she would be releasing a new album while picking up the gong for best pop vocal album for Midnights.
Elsewhere during the show, Eilish used her award speech for song of the year to praise Barbie director Greta Gerwig for creating the “best movie of the year”, with her hit song featuring in its end credits.
Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell also took home the best song written for visual media for the same track, with Eilish saying she is “just in awe” and “grateful every second of my life” for the recognition they have received over the years.
Eilish also performed the track during the ceremony dressed as the 1965 Barbie Poodle Parade doll, donning black sunglasses and a pink head scarf, while O’Connell played the piano.
The ceremony saw Miley Cyrus collect the record of the year prize, hailing it as “amazing” before adding: “But I really hope that it doesn’t change anything because my life was beautiful yesterday.
“Not everyone in the world will get a Grammy, but everyone in this world is spectacular.”
It followed Cyrus securing her first-ever Grammy award earlier in the night when she won best pop solo performance for the song, which she performed during the show.
. @MileyCyrus reaction to winning Record of the Year 🎤 #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/Nhf89HbXJw
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) February 5, 2024
US singer SZA picked up three awards after being the most nominated artist of the night with nine nods.
The 34-year-old won best R&B song for Snooze, best progressive R&B album for SOS and the best pop duo prize with Phoebe Bridgers for their track Ghost In The Machine.
Among the other notable performances of the night was Joni Mitchell singing at the award show for the first time at the age of 80.
The Canadian-American singer-songwriter delivered an emotional rendition of Both Sides Now from an armchair alongside Brandi Carlile on the guitar after she won in the best folk category for her 2023 live album, Joni Mitchell At Newport (Live).
US singer Tracy Chapman, 59, also stunned the audience with a rendition of her hit song Fast Car, which she performed with US country singer Luke Combs, whose cover of the track went viral last year.
US singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder led an emotional in-memoriam segment, duetting For Once In My Life alongside a video of the late Tony Bennett, who appeared on-screen.
Other artists remembered included Shane MacGowan, Harry Belafonte, Jimmy Buffett, Burt Bacharach and Andy Rourke, while an emotional Annie Lennox sang Nothing Compares 2 U in memory of Irish singer Sinead O’Connor.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say