Last year, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow insisted that women “step up” in order to get the nominations they deserved; this year, women did exactly that. This year’s groundbreaking number of female Grammy winners nearly doubled last year’s with 31 female artists taking home Grammys. Between the years of 2013 and 2018, only 9.3% of Grammy nominees were female, but this year, that percentage skyrocketed. Lady Gaga started off the 2019 ceremony with a win for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Shallow” from fan favorite film “A Star Is Born.” This was only 1 of 3 Grammys she received.
Additionally, there were female nominees in the 4 most significant categories of the night: Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. Dua Lipa took home the Grammy for Best New Artist, and Kacey Musgraves took home the Grammy for Album of the Year. In her acceptance speech, an overjoyed and teary-eyed Lipa referenced Portnow’s jab at female artists by stating that women “really stepped up.” Both Lipa and Musgraves took home multiple awards; Lipa received 2, and Musgraves received a whopping 4.
Furthermore, Cardi B made history as the first woman to win a Grammy for Best Rap Album, and Ariana Grande received her very first Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album. R&B artist H.E.R. also won two awards, alongside Brandi Carlile, St. Vincent, Beyonce, Lauren Daigle, and Tori Kelly. Other female award winners include Opium Moon, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Katrina Lenk, Claudia Brant, Lucy Kalantari & The Jazz Cats, Meghan Foley and Annie Stoll, April Ledbetter, Sasha Cooke, Jessica E. Jones and Elizabeth Ostrow, Rebecca Harris, Arlen Hlusko and Mandy Wolman, Laurie Anderson & Kornos Quartet, Jeanette Sorrell, and JoAnn Falletta.
Some women were recognized for musical categories apart from singing or rapping. Emily Lazar won the Grammy for best engineered album, and Rashida Jones, who directed a documentary about her father, 27-time Grammy award winner Quincy Jones, received the Grammy for Best Music Film.
Moreover, the award show itself was hosted by Alicia Keys, a renowned singer who is known for her public vow not to wear makeup and to embrace her own raw, natural beauty. With the incredible number of women taking home awards and Keys’ leadership, The 2019 Grammy Award ceremony became a night of women’s empowerment and brought hope and light to the future of the music industry.