The 2024 Grammys: the biggest talking points

5 February, 2024

Jay-Z and Blue Ivy

The Grammys aren’t known as “music’s biggest night” for nothing. The 2024 ceremony was stuffed to the brim with some of the biggest names in the biz – whether they are current superstars or the legends that have inspired them – and celebrated another 12 months of golden releases. Here are all the biggest talking points from the night.

The Year Of The Boys (Reprise)

Think Boygenius announcing they’re going on hiatus is going to stop them from dominating music? Think again. The boys were one of the big winners at the Grammys tonight, taking home three awards and giving as many sweet speeches in the process. “We were all delusional enough as kids to think this might happen to us one day,” Lucy Dacus said in their first speech, going on to share examples of each member’s fantasies.

“Phoebe would sing at Guitar Centre, hoping that she would get discovered, Julien was always in bands as a kid and wanted to play sold-out stadiums, and I would practice writing an acceptance speech and thank all the people that had been nice to me, like my bus driver and the guy that held the door at church.” Dream on no more, lads – Boygenius are Grammys champions.

The Year Of The Women

In the past, the Grammys have had some issues when it comes to celebrating female talent, and haven’t always had the right attitude to fixing that. Lest we forget former CEO Neil Portnow putting the responsibility on the women themselves and telling them to “step up” as if that was the only reason more female artists weren’t being recognised.

Those issues, though, were thankfully absent from this year’s ceremony, during which wins by male artists felt so rare that scrolling through the #Grammys on Twitter brings up several tweets asking if any men won at all. They did, but women definitely ran the 2024 Grammys, whether that was in winning the awards or in putting on stunning performances.

Notably, Tyla took home her first Grammy for ‘Water’, Phoebe Bridgers was the biggest winner of the night with four trophies, and Boygenius became the first all-female band to win Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance. Joni Mitchell collected Best Folk Album before giving a rare live performance, Kylie Minogue became a Grammy winner again 20 years after her last victory, Dua Lipa, SZA, Miley Cyrus and more all took over the stage, and Taylor Swift picked up her 13th and 14th Grammys in her career.

Taylor Swift makes history… and teases new plans

Talking of Taylor, the pop superstar made history yet again tonight with her Album Of The Year victory. She took home the trophy for ‘Midnights’, surpassing Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra to become the artist with the most AOTY wins in Grammys history. Earlier in the night, she also dropped a bombshell on her fans, announcing a new album is on its way. Rather than the ‘Reputation (Taylor’s Version)’ many had been predicting would be next up in her releases, she confirmed the arrival of something brand new, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.

The return of many icons

The 2024 Grammys definitely wasn’t lacking in legends. The In Memoriam segment was led by Stevie Wonder and Annie Lennox. Tracy Chapman made her first public appearance in years to perform with Luke Combs. Billy Joel returned to the Grammys stage for the first time in two decades to perform his new single (with Laufey on cello!). Joni Mitchell gave her first Grammys performance at the grand old age of 80 years old and proved she could still turn a room into a weeping mess with ease.

Most surprising of all, though, was the appearance of Celine Dion, who has been battling stiff-person syndrome in recent years, forcing her to cancel and postpone planned tours. She turned up to hand out the Album Of The Year award and was given a deserved standing ovation by the crowd. Unfortunately, some fans were less than impressed with winner Taylor Swift’s perceived lack of respect towards Dion when collecting that trophy – although the star was seen cheering and singing for the legend before her name was announced.

Miley Cyrus: forever iconic

While most of the night’s stars stayed far away from attitude and outlandish comments, you can always rely on Miley Cyrus to spice things up. While performing her hit single ‘Flowers’, she good-naturedly chastised the crowd for not reacting as she wanted, asking them: “Why are you acting like you don’t know this song?!” She has a point – ‘Flowers’ was ubiquitous upon its release, and you’d expect the singalong to it to be loud.

Later, while collecting the award for Record Of The Year, she excitedly rattled through a list of people she wanted to thank. “I don’t think I forgot anyone,” she smiled. “But I might have forgotten underwear!”

Jay-Z makes some points

“When I get nervous, I tell the truth,” Jay-Z told the crowd as he collected the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. The star certainly didn’t hold back with what he really thought about some of the Recording Academy’s decisions over the years, particularly when it came to Beyoncé. “She has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of The Year; so even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work,” he said. “Think about that: the most Grammys, never won Album of The Year, that doesn’t work.” Perhaps next time Bey adds to her 32-trophy haul, it’ll be with the category that has somehow eluded her for so long.

Killer Mike in cuffs

Not every moment at the Grammys tonight was something to celebrate, though. After completing a dream sweep of three awards during the premiere ceremony, Killer Mike was reportedly arrested at the Crypto.com Arena. Details about exactly what happened and why the rapper was led away in handcuffs have yet to be clarified, but the incident put a dampener on an otherwise happy night for the star, for whom Grammys recognition has felt a long time coming.

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