The 65th Grammy Awards took place on Feb. 5, hosting music’s most talented voices. Now that the 2023 Awards are officially a wrap, some of the winners are leaving people questioning the Recording Academy once again.
Fan-favorite Beyoncé broke the record for most Grammy wins in history. With 88 nominations and 32 wins under her belt, she is undoubtedly the darling of the Grammys. Receiving nine nominations this year, the singer took home four awards for Best Dance Recording, Best Dance/Electronica Album, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.
Along with Beyoncé’s record-breaking wins, Viola Davis made history herself, joining 17 others who have won EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony), a coveted and rare accomplishment that many only hope to achieve one day. She completed her EGOT requirements by winning her nomination for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording for “Finding Me,” a memoir by Davis herself.
To add to the record-breaking night, Kim Petras, a German singer-songwriter, became the first Transgender woman to win a Grammy award. Petras won alongside Sam Smith for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their song “Unholy.”
For the second year in a row, producer and musician Jack Antonoff won Producer of The Year, Non-Classical. Antonoff has worked with artists like Taylor Swift, Lana Del Ray, The 1975 and Florence and the Machine. He also has his own band, Bleachers, so not only is he well-known in the music scene but he also is very familiar with the craft.
To many people’s surprise, pop queen Taylor Swift took home only one Grammy. With four nominations this year, her win was in Best Music Video for her beloved short film, “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version).”
The biggest shock of the evening followed the presentation of the Song of The Year award. With artists like Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Adele, Harry Styles and other notable musicians nominated, many fans were shocked that the award went to Bonnie Raitt, an American Grass-Roots/Blues artist whose career peaked in the 90s. Many young people have noted that the artist and her song, “Just Like That,” aren’t as well-known as the other nominations.
This surprising win left people doubting the Recording Academy’s decisions. Many have questioned why a lesser-known song beat out hits like “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” or Lizzo’s ever-popular “About Damn Time.” On top of that, fans of Taylor Swift are left upset that the singer-songwriter lost in this category, which was made to recognize outstanding songwriting, six times now.
The Recording Academy faced a similar response last year when Jon Batiste’s studio album “WE ARE” beat out Olivia Rodrigo’s “SOUR” for Album of The Year.
The biggest award of the night, Album of the Year, was long-awaited. With Beyoncé and Adele going head-to-head once again, the academy took another surprising turn, giving the award to none other than America’s sweetheart, Harry Styles, for his third studio album, “Harry’s House.” Album of The Year was the second award he took home for the evening, accompanying his win for Best Pop Vocal Album.
In Styles’ acceptance speech for Album of The Year, through his shock, he said, “I’ve been so, so inspired by every artist in this category with me at a lot of different times in my life. I think on nights like tonight it’s obviously so important to remember that there is no such thing as ‘best in music.’I don’t think any of us sit in the studio making decisions based on what is going to get us one of these.”
During his speech, a select few in the audience could be heard shouting at Styles to, “get off the stage,” and that “Beyoncé should’ve won,” which was eerily reminiscent of the 2009 VMAs when Kanye West stole the microphone from Taylor Swift to say that Beyoncé should’ve won the award.
Despite the shocking wins of the night, the 65th Grammy Awards recognized many of the musically strong and talented artists dominating the music scene today.
Follow Brooklyn on Twitter @bleighton12
