Beyoncé made history by earning her 32nd Grammy Award at the 2023 Grammy Awards, becoming the singer with the most golden gramophones. However, at the 65th Grammy Awards on Sunday, Harry Styles won album of the year, the highest honour. Beyoncé was also honoured with four prizes, including Best Traditional R&B Performance (“Plastic Off The Sofa”), Best Dance/Electronic Recording (“Renaissance”), Best Music Video (“Black Is King”), and Best Music Film (“Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé”).
At this year’s Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Beyoncé earned a record-breaking 32nd Grammy Award, while Harry Styles won album of the year. Beyoncé made history when she won best dance/electronic album for Renaissance, her joyful dance masterpiece.
She surpassed Hungarian-British conductor George Solti, whose record of 31 Grammys had held for more than two decades. “I’m trying not to be too emotional,” the actress stated as she accepted her award.
“I’m simply trying to receive this night. “She went on to thank her family, particularly her late uncle Jonny, who assisted in the creation of her stage ensembles before she became renowned. On Renaissance, Beyoncé has stated that his HIV fight affected her love in dance music and its historical links to the LGBTQ community.
Beyoncé received four awards during the ceremony in total, however she missed several of the early presentations due to traffic in downtown Los Angeles. “I’m amazed traffic could hold you up,” host Trevor Noah remarked. “I assumed you could travel through space and time.”
Despite her triumph, Beyoncé was denied the coveted album of the year prize for the second time. She has now lost the trophy four times, most recently in 2017 when Adele’s 25 defeated her introspective masterpiece Lemonade.
Adele used her acceptance speech at the moment to declare that Beyoncé was the more worthy winner (although she held on to the trophy). This year’s winner was Harry Styles, with Grammy voters recognising the polished, radio-friendly music of his third album, Harry’s House.
The British actor minimised the significance of the award in his address. “It’s clearly so crucial for us to remember on occasions like this that there is no such thing as finest in music,” the singer added. “I don’t believe any of us are sitting in the studio making judgements based on what would get us one of these.”
“This doesn’t happen to people like me very frequently, and this is so, so great,” he said, evidently affected by the honour. Earlier in the evening, the artist won best pop album, which he accepted with a kiss from Jennifer Lopez.
“From start to end, this record has been the greatest experience of my life,” he stated. “It’s been the greatest thrill I could have wished for, from making it with two of my best friends to playing for people.”
British artists have triumphed.
The Grammys, billed as “music’s biggest night,” are the industry’s most coveted honours. Adele, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Shania Twain, and Stevie Wonder attended the gig on Sunday, and Lizzo, Steve Lacy, and Brandi Carlile performed.
Indie band Wet Leg took home two awards, including best alternative album, and Sam Smith took home best pop duo/group performance for Unholy, a duet with Kim Petras. Smith’s Grammy was their first since 2015, when they took home four awards, including best new act.
Indie band Wet Leg took home two awards, including best alternative album, and Sam Smith took home best pop duo/group performance for Unholy, a duet with Kim Petras. Smith’s Grammy was their first since 2015, when they took home four awards, including best new act.
However, the singer allowed Petras to grab the microphone to commemorate yet another historic feat. “Sam gladly asked me to accept this award because I am the first transgender woman to get it,” the German-born singer explained.
She went on to praise the late transgender pop musician Sophie and Madonna for “kicking these doors wide,” before dedicating the prize to her mother. “I grew raised in the middle of nowhere in Germany, and my mother believed me, that I was a female,” she added proudly, while Smith gazed on. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her and her support.”
Madonna presented the couple after they delivered a sensuous, BDSM-inspired performance of their homage to adultery. “If they label you surprising, scandalous, bothersome, problematic, provocative, or dangerous, you’re on to something,” the celebrity remarked.
Tributes and reminiscences
Adele also took home the award for best pop vocal performance for Easy On Me, which she dedicated to her son Angelo. The first song was composed “in the shower while I was deciding to change my son’s life” by divorcing her then-husband, Simon Konecki, the singer informed the crowd.
With her mournful ballad Just Like That, Bonnie Raitt surprised everyone by winning song of the year, upsetting out favourites Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. Voters were definitely struck by Raitt’s sympathetic lyrics, in which a lady mourning her son’s loss seeks solace from the man who got his heart in a transplant.
“I’m very glad you like this one,” the 72-year-old exclaimed as she accepted her award. “I adore a piano ballad winning any type of award because it’s really old school and extremely bold,” she continued.
In a blaze of colour, Bad Bunny kicked off the event in the aisles of Los Angeles’ Crypto.com stadium, recreating a Puerto Rican festival. His mashup of El Apagón and Después De La Playa was accompanied by pyrotechnics, hundreds of dancers, and a swarm of cabezudos, the “bighead” puppets who parade along San Juan’s streets every January.
He later received the award for best Msica Urbana album for Un Verano Sin Ti, which spent 13 weeks at number one in the United States last year. “I made this record with love and passion, and when you do things with love and passion, everything becomes simpler,” the singer explained.
Other performers included Americana sensation Brandi Carlile and Lizzo, who sang a gospel-infused version of her current track, Special. She eventually won record of the year for About Damn Time and used her acceptance speech to thank Prince, who gave her a chance on his song Boytrouble.
“After Prince died, I vowed to devote my life to crafting uplifting music.” She also paid respect to Beyoncé, calling her “the artist of our life”. Stars including Olivia Newton-John, Irene Cara, David Crosby, and Jeff Beck were given heartfelt send-offs in the in memoriam section.
In honour of the “Queen of Country,” Loretta Lynn, Kacey Musgraves sang an emotional rendition of Coal Miner’s Daughter, while Christine McVie was honoured with a performance of her trademark song, Songbird, by Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, and Mick Fleetwood.
And Quavo of Migos performed Without You, a song he penned following the devastating murder of his nephew and bandmate Takeoff last November. In a more joyous moment, more than two dozen rap legends took over the stage to commemorate 50 years of hip-hop.
Grandmaster Flash opened the concert with Flash Was On The Beat, kicking off an almost 12-minute romp through the genre’s best classics.
Run-DMC sang Rock The Bells, Public Enemy performed Yo, Bum Rush The Show, Missy Elliot performed Lose Control, and Busta Rhymes delivered a show-stopping version of Chris Brown’s Look At Me Now.