Behind the Scenes of Music’s Biggest Night
design: Gianna Castagliuolo
The Music Industry threw a party and you’re invited (to read about it)!
by CHLOE RUDNICK ★ FEBRUARY 14, 2024
When all of your favorite artists are together in one room and pitted against each other for the same awards, you know the gossip’s going to be hot. From record-setting wins to female artist sweeps, here’s everything you need to know about the 66th annual Grammy Awards.
A star-studded lineup
If Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, SZA, Lana Del Ray, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, and Olivia Rodrigo (basically all of our favs) are nominated against each other for multiple awards, who’s going to win? There were 94 categories this year, but traditionally, the “big four” are the most anticipated. Taking home one of the four for their Barbie ballad “What Was I Made For?” Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas took home the Song Of The Year award. Miley Cyrus won her first Grammy with her song “Flowers,” becoming Record Of The Year. Though many people speculated that the award for Best New Artist would be a close call between Noah Kahan and Gracie Abrams, Victoria Monét was the winner. And closing out the night, this year's Album Of The Year was “Midnights,” by none other than Taylor Swift. So yes, you got that right: female artists swept the big four categories. Talk about girl power.
Moving Swiftly on,
For Taylor Swift, records weren’t the only thing she broke. After winning her first award (lucky number 13, BTW), the pop icon expressed her thanks to the fans in an unexpected way that no Swiftie could’ve predicted. Breaking the news of the upcoming drop of her newest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” she announced that she began working on this album two years prior and will be released on April 19th. This is not a drill.
What’s better than getting to watch all your favorite artists perform? Getting to do so from your couch.
The incredible roster of artists who performed included a playful Broadway-style rendition of “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus and a flawless performance of “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs. Shocking the audience, Joni Mitchell took the stage to sing “Both Sides Now,” a song from her Grammy-winning Folk album. The coolest 80-year-old ever (obviously) was joined on stage by Brandi Carlile. Speaking of cool people, Olivia Rodrigo’s blood-soaked ballad “Vampire” left Taylor Swift cheerfully singing along in the audience. Waking everyone up with a mashup of her songs “Snooze” and “Kill Bill,” SZA took the stage. And pictured above, dressed in a vintage 1965 Barbie doll costume called “Poodle Parade,” accompanied by Finneas on the piano, Billie Eilish stunned in a vocally captivating performance of “What Was I Made For?” Starting the night off strong, Dua Lipa opened the show with a mashup of several songs, including her hit “Dance The Night” from the Barbie movie, and the legendary Billy Joel powerfully closed out the telecast with his incredible new track “Turn the Lights Back On,” the first song he’s released in 17 years.
Let’s talk about it…
Celine Dion surprised everyone on stage as she presented Taylor Swift with her Album Of The Year award. The night was full of notable presenters, another one being Lizzo presenting SZA the award for best R&B song, “Snooze.” The two are best friends, (peep the TikTok video of SZA running on stage swallowing Lizzo in a hug.) Phoebe Bridgers was the night’s top winner in the number of awards won. And, alongside his daughter Blue Ivy, Jay Z was honored with the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, which he used as an opportunity to call out the Recording Academy’s snub against his wife, Beyoncé.
Long story short,
The Grammys were a raging success. Yes, maybe Olivia Rodrigo was robbed of any of the six awards she was nominated for and we don’t know if Lana Del Ray will ever win her first Grammy, but what we do know is that it’s now time for the after-party, and a little birdie told us Billie Eilish hosted Music’s Biggest post-Grammy Rager.