The sixty-sixth Grammy Awards Ceremony, hosted at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, was a historic night for female artists—from Taylor Swift to Joni Mitchell to SZA, women swept the house with significant victories.
Historically, the Grammys have been criticized for marginalizing female artists and minorities. The Weeknd, Drake, and Nicki Minaj have boycotted the Recording Academy, the Grammys’ host, for not being nominated for several consecutive years.
This year, however, turned the tide for the show. The percentage of female Grammy winners rose from 26% in 2019 to 35% this year. Also, while no women were nominated for Producer of the Year, 20% of songwriters were women, up from 14% in 2023.
Beyond statistics, the award show had a phenomenal showing of live performances by women.
The show opened with three-time Grammy winner Dua Lipa, who performed her Billboard No. 1 hit “Dance the Night” from the 2023 motion picture Barbie.
After winning Song of the Year with her brother FINNEAS, Billie Eilish performed another hit from Barbie titled “What Was I Made For?”. Eilish and FINNEAS also won Best Song Written for Visual Media.
Miley Cyrus accepted her first Grammy award (Record of the Year) for her chart-topper “Flowers”, which she also performed at the show. Other note-worthy nominees for this category included Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero”, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire”, and SZA’s “Kill Bill”. This concluded the twelfth time in Grammy history that most nominees for Record of the Year were females. The male nominee this year was Jon Batiste, “Worship”.
Taylor Swift broke records yet again after winning Album of the Year for her 2022 album “Midnights” for the fourth time. She is the only artist who has ever won four Grammys on a single album. Her producer, Jack Antonoff, won Producer of the Year for non-classical music. While featured artist Lana Del Rey did not win any awards, she was nominated in five categories.
SZA, performing “Snooze” and “Kill Bill” live, won three awards, including Best Progressive R&B Album and Best R&B Song. She also won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with boygenius’ Phoebe Bridgers, who won four awards.
Another notable live performance was that of 80-year-old Joni Mitchell. Mitchell, presenting for the first time at the Grammys, sang “Both Sides Now”, proving that it’s never too late for firsts.
Tracy Chapman took the stage by storm with country singer Luke Combs. The artists dueted Chapman’s hit song “Fast Car”. Combs later admitted in an interview with Billboard, “Oh man, ‘Fast Car’ has surprised me more than you can imagine. Tracy Chapman wrote this perfect song that I first heard with my dad and it has stayed with me since…The success of my cover is unreal and I think it’s so cool that Tracy is getting recognized and has reached new milestones. I love that she is out there feeling all the love and that she gave me a shout-out!”
Finally, the Best New Artist Award went to rising music star Victoria Monét. She gave a stellar speech comparing herself to a plant growing out of the soil of the music industry.
While women had a series of extraordinary accomplishments this year, there were still categories that lacked female representation, such as Producer of the Year where no women were nominated. Additionally, of more than fifty percent of the audience members being female, only about thirty percent of awards were attributed to women.
Critics of the Grammy Awards predict that pushback and disapproval publicized on social media will aid in creating more representation for both females and other minorities. Perhaps the sixty-fifth Grammys will bring on more diversity.
