Pop Culture

66th Grammy Awards : Surprise Announcements, Tearful Acceptances, and a Late Meryl Streep Make for a Fun Night

Valerie Parada, Writer/Photographer • March 6, 2024

This year’s 66th GRAMMYs took place on February 4th, 2023, and was held at The Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. This year’s host was Trevor Noah, making this his 4th time hosting. There were also many performers such as Olivia Rodrigo, SZA, Travis Scott, Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus, and others.

The performances were also the talk of the night, with fans raving on social media. On , the first three performers of this year’s Grammys were released. This included Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Olivia Rodrigo. A few days later, the next couple of performers were announced, which included Travis Scott, Luke Combs, and Burna Boy. Miley Cyrus was announced to perform a few days before the Grammys, giving everyone that extra excitement for this year’s award show.

The performers put on such a great show while performing fan favorites. Olivia Rodrigo performed her hit single “Vampire” off her recent album “GUTS”. She wore a red silk dress as the stage was colored purple with the background dripping off blood. She has recently been known for her gory stage presence. Billie Eilish was another popular performance of the night, she wore a replica of a 1965 “Poodle Parade” Barbie outfit. Many in the audience were brought to tears by Eilish’s harmonies. Miley Cyrus also left quite an impression on the crowd with her performance of “Flowers”. This was her first time performing this song, but she made sure it was memorable. She added a backing track of Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary”.

The night was filled with excitement since some artists either won their first Grammy or broke a record. Five artists won their first Grammy that night, which includes Miley Cyrus, Zach Bryan, Victoria Monét, Lil Dirk, and Brandy Clark. Miley Cyrus has been in the music industry for over ten years, so when she won her first Grammy, fans were super excited. She won ¨Best Pop Solo Performance¨ along with ¨Record of the Year¨ later that night. The audience was not shocked that Victoria Monét won her first Grammy this year, she was tied for second-most nominations of the night. She ended up leaving not just one Grammy, but two. Victoria Monét has been in the music industry for roughly 14 years, writing over 100 songs for Ariana Grande. She recently released her song “On My Mama”, which grew in popularity all over social media, gaining extra support from many others.

This year’s Album of the Year award went to Taylor Swift for her spectacular album, Midnights. The album features 13 songs and showcases the artist’s versatility and creativity. Taylor gave a heartfelt acceptance speech, after being in complete shock once Celine Dion called her name upstage. Taylor announced her new upcoming album on the show when she won “Best Pop Vocal Album” earlier in the day.

Taking home the award for Song of the Year were Billie EIllish and Finneas for their beautiful ballad, “What Was I Made For?” written for the Barbie movie that came out earlier this year. The song, which has touched the hearts of millions, features heartfelt lyrics and a one-of-a-kind melody. Billie earlier took the stage to perform the song, leaving the audience in awe and close to tears.

Billie Eilish and Finneas are some of the best songwriters of this generation, so it wasn’t a shock for many when they won “Best Song Written For Visual Media”. This song was featured on the Barbie soundtrack. Barbie has also been one of the most famous movies recently, with one of the best soundtracks with many different artists. Including Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Sam Smith, Ava Max, and many more. Many songs from this soundtrack have also risen in popularity on social media by becoming trends.

The show also consisted of many well-known Presenters, which included:

Mariah Carey ― Presented Best Pop Solo Performance
Christina Aguilera and Maluma ― Presented Best Música Urbana Album
Kacey Musgraves ― Presented Best Country Album
Lizzo ― Presented Best R&B Song
U2 ― Presented Best Pop Vocal Album
Lionel Richie ― Presented Song of the Year
Samara Joy — Presented Best New Artist
Meryl Streep and Mark Ronson — Presented Record of the Year
Celine Dion — Presented Album of the Year