Sam Smith and Kim Petras won an award for the song “Unholy,” which they later performed after a tonally bizarre introduction by Madonna. There was a lengthy tribute medley to the artists who had passed away last year. The tone of the evening quickly downshifted into standard Recording Academy mode: the Grammy favorite Brandi Carlile gave her requisite performance, as did Stevie Wonder. Bad Bunny-who won in the Música Urbana Album category but was otherwise snubbed, despite his global dominance-kicked off the show with an electrifying tribute to historical Latin genres, offering up a maximalist version of his merengue-minded single, “Después de la Playa.” It was such a dynamic performance that Taylor Swift was moved to get out of her chair and dance, feeding the evening’s GIF- and meme-generating forces. This was the question that loomed over the mostly milquetoast fare of the rest of the broadcast. This was the overt story line of the evening, but the louder subtext was the question of whether the Recording Academy was finally prepared to give Beyoncé the major awards. It was almost a foregone conclusion that Beyoncé, with her nine nominations, would break Solti’s record. She forced a grin, looking uncomfortable, while her husband, Jay-Z, chewed his food. Ladies and gentlemen, Beyoncé Knowles,” he said. “You know, when you equal a record, there’s no way you don’t get to hold your Grammy in your hand and celebrate that. When Beyoncé finally arrived at the arena, he found her at her table and personally handed her the trophy she hadn’t earlier been able to accept. “I was so inspired by the lyrics of ‘Break My Soul’ that I actually quit my job,” he joked. During his opening monologue, Noah quickly reminded the crowd of what the ceremony’s narrative would be: giving Beyoncé, who was nominated for nine awards but needed only four wins to break the record, her due. Even if the Recording Academy voters have not always properly honored Beyoncé’s work, the show and its host, Trevor Noah, worked overtime this year to remind the audience of the Grammys’ respect for her towering greatness, and the historic nature of the evening. This year, in the wake of “Renaissance,” Beyoncé’s long-awaited follow-up to “Lemonade,” the Grammys broadcast seemed intent on correcting the course, or at least distracting the viewer from it.
The ‘ Lemonade’ album was so monumental.” “I can’t possibly accept this award,” she told the crowd. When Adele won Album of the Year over Beyoncé, in 2017, there was such a sense of cosmic injustice that Adele herself could not bear the result. But it was a complicated achievement when considered against the backdrop of Beyoncé’s Grammys history, in which she has also been one of the Recording Academy’s most overlooked artists, racking up smaller genre-based wins yet mostly losing out in the awards’ headlining categories.
Song for “Cuff It,” a highlight from her 2022 album, “ Renaissance,” she tied with the conductor Georg Solti for the highest number of Grammy wins. For one, she was late to the ceremony-reportedly owing to traffic-and unable to collect a historic trophy.
Two categories into last night’s Grammy Awards broadcast, Beyoncé found herself once again achieving an awkward status within the universe of the Recording Academy.
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