And the big winners are in!
R&B and pop singer Victoria Monét won best new artist; Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” won record of the year; Billie Eilish and Finneas won song of the year with “What Was I Made For?”; and Taylor Swift – who earlier in the evening announced her next album to a surprised fandom – won album of the year for “Midnights” at the 66th annual Grammy Awards ceremony at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on a rainy and windy evening on Sunday, Feb. 4.
Music icon Celine Dion made a surprise appearance at the awards show to present the album of the year award.
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“Thank you, all; I love you right back,” she said as the crowd cheered. “When I say I’m happy to be here, I really mean it from my heart.”
The Grammy award went to Taylor Swift for “Midnights.” She made history by being the first artist to win in that category four times. She was previously tied for most album of the year wins with Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder.
“I’d love to tell you that this is the best moment of my life, but I feel this happy when I finish a song,” she said with a laugh as she went on to list the myriad other music tasks that bring her joy. “All I want to do is keep doing this, so thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to do what I love so much. Mind blown.”
Other nominees included: “World Music Radio” by Jon Batiste; “The Record” by boygenius, “Endless Summer Vacation” by Miley Cyrus, “SOS” by SZA, “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” by Lana Del Rey, “The Age of Pleasure” by Janelle Monáe, “Guts” by Olivia Rodrigo.
Lionel Richie presented the song of the year award, which went to Billie Eilish and Finneas for “What Was I Made For?” from the “Barbie” movie soundtrack. Nominees included Lana Del Rey’s “A&W,” Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” “Butterfly” by Jon Batiste, “Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa, “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, “Kill Bill” by SZA and “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo.
“Yikes, woah, my goodness. Damn, that’s stupid, guys,” Eilish said in her speech. “I just want to say, everybody in this category, that was a crazy list of incredible people, incredible artists, incredible music. I feel crazy right now. Thank you to Greta Gerwig for making the best movie of the year.”
Samara Joy, who won best new artist last year, gave the trophy to Victoria Monét, who hit it big with her debut album, “Jaguar II,” and the singles “Smoke,” “Party Girls” and “On My Mama.” Other nominees included: Gracie Abrams, Fred Again.., Ice Spice, Jelly Roll, Coco Jones, Noah Kahan and The War and Treaty.
“Oh my God, thank you guys so much,” Monét said upon receiving her trophy. “Thank you to the champagne servers of tonight. That’s my first thank you.”
DJ and producer Mark Ronson and his mother-in-law, actress Meryl Streep, presented record of the year. It went to “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, marking her second win of the evening. Other nominees included Jon Batiste’s “Worship,” Not Strong Enough” by boygenius, “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish, “On My Mama” by Victoria Monét, “Kill Bill” By SZA, “Vampire” by Oliva Rodrigo and “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift.
“This award is amazing, but I really hope it doesn’t change anything because my life was beautiful yesterday,” Cyrus said. “Not everyone in the world will get a Grammy, but everyone in this world is spectacular, so please don’t think this is important.”
She quickly turned to her cohorts on stage and quipped, “Even though it is very important, right guys?”
