Watching the Recording Academy’s 66th Grammy Awards on CBS on Sunday night gave only a small — if entertaining — view of the winners. As the academy’s website itself says, “As momentous as the 2024 Grammys telecast is, it only covers a fraction of the actual Grammy nominations.”
Of some 100 awards, the evening show identified two dozen — such General Field categories as Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. The rest were named earlier in the day during the 2024 Grammys Premiere Ceremony, streamed live from Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater on the academy’s YouTube channel and website. See some of those awards below.
The spotlight, as always, was on the stars and their costumes during Sunday evening’s show, hosted by Trevor Noah for the fourth year in a row. Joining him onstage were SZA, holding the most nominations and performing live alongside Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Olivia Rodrigo, while Oprah Winfrey, Christina Aguilera, Meryl Streep, and others helped hand out awards.
Taylor Swift, the year’s “biggest name,” did not perform but did receive her 13th Grammy, for Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights — and she announced that her next album, The Tortured Poets Department, will be released on April 19.
Then at the conclusion of the show — which ran 3½ hours — came the top award, Album of the Year, announced in an unexpected appearance by the ailing Celine Dion. It went to Swift for Midnights, making her the first person to receive this top award four times, surpassing Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, and Frank Sinatra, who each have three wins.
The evening was dominated by women artists in addition to Swift: Among others, Eilish won Song of the Year, Miley Cyrus won Record of the Year, and Victoria Monét was named Best New Artist.
Here are some of the awards not mentioned during the show:
— Best Orchestral Performance went to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, for Adès: Dante.
— The Metropolitan Opera’s production of Terence Blanchard’s Champion won Best Opera Recording, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting, with Ryan Speedo Green, Latonia Moore, and Eric Owens among the cast.
— Best Classical Instrumental Solo was awarded to The American Project, featuring Yuja Wang and the Louisville Orchestra, Teddy Abrams conducting.
— Jessie Montgomery’s Montgomery:Rounds, performed by Awadagin Pratt, A Far Cry, and Roomful of Teeth, was named Best Contemporary Classical Composition.
— Best Choral Performance went to conductor Nils Schweckendiek, Uusinta Ensemble, and the Helsinki Chamber Choir for Saariaho: Reconnaissance.
— Best Classical Solo Vocal Album went to Julia Bullock and conductor and pianist Christian Reif for Walking in the Dark.
— The winners of Best Contemporary Instrumental Album and Best Global Music Performance were Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer, and Rakesh Chaurasia for As We Speak and “Pashto.”
— Marc Shaiman’s Some Like It Hot won Best Musical Theater Album.
— Ludwig Göransson’s music for Oppenheimer won Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.
— Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance went to Roomful of Teeth’s Rough Magic.
— For Best Classical Compendium, it was Passion for Bach and Coltrane by Alex Brown, Harlem Quartet, Imani Winds, Edward Perez, Neal Smith, and A.B. Spellman.
— Theron Thomas won Songwriter of the Year over Edgar Barrera, Jessie Jo Dillon, Shane McAnally, and Justin Tranter.
