Music’s biggest night of the year occurred on February 5th as the 65th Annual Grammy Award ceremony distributed well-deserved awards to nominated artists. As always, the most anticipated categories were Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Rap Album, and Best R&B song. And, I have to say that I wasn’t too disappointed with the outcome of this award show.
As a Swiftie, I was very excited to see that Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well: The Short Film” won the award for Best Music Video, as well as Harry Styles taking home two Grammys for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year.
It would be ignorant to talk about this Grammy ceremony without acknowledging the historical wins that heighten the importance of this particular show.
Viola Davis officially became an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) winner when she was awarded the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album. Not only is this an impressive achievement in its own accord, but Viola Davis has also become the third Black woman in history to be an EGOT winner. Even a glimpse at Viola Davis’ work will help you understand how deserving she is of EGOT status.
History was made once again when Beyonce passed Georg Solti’s record as the most awarded artist in Grammys history when she took home three awards that night for her album “Renaissance”. At the 65th award ceremony, Beyonce won Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best R&B Song, and Best Dance/Electronic Music Album. This totals Beyonce’s Grammy wins to 32. Beyonce’s new title as the most awarded artist reflects her remarkable contribution to modern music.
After going viral on TikTok, Sam Smith and Kim Petras’s song, “Unholy” continued to make an impact when the duo won the award for Best Duo/Group Performance. Despite your feelings about the song itself, you can’t not acknowledge the significance of a transgender artist and a non-binary artist winning this award. Kim Petras is the first transgender woman to win the award in this category, and this is Sam Smith’s first Grammy since coming out as a non-binary individual.
The Grammys is already an exciting night of the year for the music industry, but these three historical moments heightened the celebratory atmosphere. I’m eager to see what artists will release in 2023, and how it plays out in the next award ceremony.