The Grammys are a highly anticipated event that typically happens every February. The Grammys celebrate the spectacular work of artists, producers, and dancers in the music industry. Awards are given to those who showcase excellent work in their category.

Here is your recap for what happened at the Grammys 2024!

The most anticipated award of the night is the Album of the Year. This award is given to the album that showcases hard work and talent. This year, the award was given to Taylor Swift for her recording breaking pop album titled “Midnights”. 

This was Swift’s fourth time winning the Album of the Year, as her albums Fearless, 1989, and Folklore have won in previous years. This year she made history by becoming the first artist to win four Album of the Year awards. 

Another popular award is Song of the Year which was awarded to Billie Eilish, for “What Was I Made For”, from the movie of the year “Barbie”. Everyone thought this was well deserved because of the vocals and instrumentals that made it the powerful song that it is. This song sends a message about the reasons why you are here and what you are meant to do on this earth. Billie Eilish beat Taylor Swift, Lana Del Ray, and Olivia Rodrigo in order to win Song of the Year. Later in the night Eilish performed the song joined on stage with her co-writer and brother Finneas. 

“I liked Billie Ellish winning for What Was I Made For just because that’s a great song. She deserved it, that song was much better than any other song nominated,” Freshman Nora Fitzpatrick stated. 

One of the most exciting moments was when SZA won Best R&B Song. When SZA won the award she ran on stage to celebrate with her good friend Lizzo, who was presenting. SZA continued to give a heartfelt emotional speech that included her acknowledging how far she’s come as an artist. “I was really excited my girl SZA won R&B song of the year because she deserved it,” Freshman Nora Fitzpatrick said when discussing her opinion on the award. 

Most people confuse the Song of the Year and the Record of the Year awards. The Song of the Year is decided by looking at the composition and performance of the song while Record of the Year showcases the production and the engineering that goes into making the song. This year Record of the Year went to Miley Cyrus for her hit song “Flowers”.

Although the awards are fun to watch, that’s not all that happens at the show, selected artists also have the chance to perform their song on the famous Grammy stage. This year we got spectacular performances by SZA, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Rodrigo, Travis Scott, and many more.

To open the awards show, Dua Lipa sang a rendition of her hit song “Dance the Night Away” from the Barbie soundtrack and her new hit single “Houdini”. 

Along with Miley Cyrus who won multiple grammys Boygenius had quite a night, winning both Best Rock Song, Best Rock Performance, and Best Alternative Album. Phoebe Bridgers, a member of Boygenius, also won Best Pop Duo Performance with SZA for their duet “Ghost in the Machine”.

“I was very happy with Boygenius [winning]. I think all three of those wins were highly deserved so I’m glad for the boys,” English teacher Erin Brunk stated.

Legendary producer Jack Antanoff won Producer of the Year for the third time this year. He has worked with Taylor Swift, Lorde, The Chicks, St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey, Kevin Abstract, Sia, etc. and produced two of this year’s biggest albums Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey and Midnights by Taylor Swift.

The Grammy for the Music Educator Award went to Annie Ray, an orchestra teacher from Annandale High School right here in Fairfax County.

The next performance was a duet between Luke Combs and Tracy Chapman. They sang “Fast Car” which was originally written by Tracy Chapman in 1988, and recently covered by Luke Combs. 

And as a surprise, Billy Joel made a rare appearance and did a performance singing his newest song in 30 years, “Turn the Lights Back On”. 

Another special performance was given by Joni Mitchell. This was the 80-year-old’s first time performing at the Grammys, and it did shed a few tears in the audience.

Librarian Wendy Rice says, “Yeah it’s pretty amazing,  all of the things that people can overcome, it’s amazing that he [Billy Joel] is still singing at his age and their voices are different from when they were younger and still sound so smooth. Joni has had so much stuff happen in her life, including medical issues and  the fact that her voice still sounds like that is crazy.”

Some controversy arose at the Grammys after Jay-Z accepted his award, the Dr. Dre Impact award. In his speech he mentioned how his wife, Beyonce, has never won album of the year, despite having the most Grammys in history. He was quoted saying in his speech “We want you to get it right, we love you, but we want you to get it right- at least get it close to right.”

Killer Mike, who swept every category he was nominated in including winning Best Rap Song of the Year, Best Rap Album of the Year, and Best Rap Performance, also had some issues arise when he was seen leaving the Grammys in handcuffs. Reports have said that he was arrested due to a physical altercation.

Every Year the Academy also honors late performers that have put so much work and effort into the industry. This year, Tina Turner, Sinead O’Connor, and Tony Bennet were honored during performances sung by Steve Wonder, Fantasia Barrino, and Annie Lenox. These were very heartwarming performances that made everyone in the room remember the talented artists.