The best and worst moments from the 2024 Grammys

The 66th Grammy Awards took place on Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Downtown Los Angeles. There were so many fantastic and questionable moments at the award show, from Dua Lipa opening the show by debuting her new song “Training Season” to Celine Dion’s surprise appearance awarding Album of the Year. Here are some of the highlights and can’t-miss moments from the awards show.

Best Moments

1. Taylor Swift makes history

It comes as no surprise that Taylor Swift won two Grammys: Best Pop Vocal and Album of the Year. Swift’s win for Album of the Year was her fourth time winning the coveted award, making her the only artist to ever win the award four times. Before winning this award she was tied with Frank Sinatra, Paul Simion and Stevie Wonder.

In additional Swiftie news, the singer announced her new album “The Tortured Poet Department” set to come out April 19, while accepting her thirteenth Grammy, which is her lucky number.

2. Special performance from Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell has been an icon in the music industry since her debut in the 1960s for her folk music. Mitchell, 80, made her performance debut at the Grammys on Sunday. Not only does her age make this performance extra special, but also since she suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015. After surgery, Mitchell initially “lost her ability to speak and walk,” according to Premier Health. Mitchell’s ability to regain singing skills is impressive, and her performance did not disappoint, the crowd gave her a standing ovation. The night was extra special for Mitchell since she won Best Folk Album.

3. Memoriam Tribute remembers icons

Every award show typically has an “In Memoriam” tribute to honor those in the industry who have passed the year prior. While the concept is nice, this part of the ceremony tends to be dull, with simply a slideshow and sad music in the background. This year, the network stepped it up by having multiple artists such as Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Jon Batiste and Fantasia Barrino perform. These performers sang covers by Tony Bennett, Sinead O’Connor, Tina Turner and many more. Oprah Winfrey even made an appearance during this segment when announcing the Tina Turner tribute. The segment was overall lively and truly was a celebration of life.

4. Tracy Chapman’s comeback

One of the most stunning performances of the night was by Tracy Chapman of her famed song “Fast Car” with Luke Combs. Chapman has been out of the public eye since her last tour in 2009, and it’s been 15 years since she last released an album. Chapman performed with Luke Combs since Comb’s cover of the hit reached the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. The stage design was minimalist which allowed for their voices to shine and the crowd loved their performance.

5. Women dominated nominations and wins

The 2024 Grammys was female-dominated, from the performances to the nominees to the winners. Record of the Year and Album of the Year had all female nominees, except for one male, Jon Batiste. This is noteworthy since the Recording Academy has predominantly overlooked women in all categories in its history. To have a majority of female nominees for Record and Album of the Year is amazing. Out of a total of 49 categories, 25 of those were won by a female, which was a lot larger than past years.

Worst Moments

1. Dave Chappelle’s win sparks controversy

The comedian Dave Chappelle is always in some controversy; when has he ever done anything that wasn’t controversial? He won for Best Comedy Album for “What’s in a Name?” against other comedians such as Chris Rock and Trevor Noah, the evening’s host. The presenter of this award, Rufus Wainwright, accepted the award on Chappelle’s behalf since he wasn’t in attendance. In the comedy special, Chappel defends another one of his comedy specials, “The Closer” which targeted transgender people. He stated that he is on “team TERF” which is an acronym for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist.” LGBTQ+ advocate, Dr. David J. Johns, has expressed on social media that it is “deeply disappointing that Netflix allowed Dave Chappelle’s lazy and hostile transphobia and homophobia to air on its platform.”

2. Killer Mike won…then got handcuffed

The winner of Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song was Killer Mike, who was awarded these wins during the untelevised portion of the Grammys. The show started at 5 p.m. PT and according to Variety, he was detained at 4:22 p.m. He was escorted by police out of the award ceremony after LAPD confirmed he was being arrested for misdemeanor and battery. The rapper’s lawyer made a statement stating that the rapper was later released and told Variety Mike was planning on celebrating his sweep.

3. Meryl Steep missed a chance to get closer to EGOT status

Meryl Steep is a legend of Hollywood, she has won an impressive amount of Oscars and an Emmy, but this legend hasn’t gotten that title of an EGOT-winner yet. Streep was nominated for Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording, which Michelle Obama won (You can’t be mad at Michelle). Unfortunately, Steep did not get one step closer to winning the EGOT title, but we can hope it’s still a possibility.

4. Jay-Z’s acceptance speech was a hot mess

While Jay-Z was accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, he didn’t give a well-put-together speech. The main points in his speech were criticizing the Academy for traditionally snubbing Black artists and boycotting the Grammys. He definitely made some great points, but he didn’t have to drag Beyoncé, we all remember how many Album of the Year’s she’s lost. Overall, his speech was chaotic and didn’t live up to the prize he was receiving.

5. Award ceremonies are tiring

All award shows tend to be extremely long, this year’s ceremony was three and a half hours long. There isn’t much flexibility for these live shows, since they incorporate performances, acceptance speeches and crowd work. Even though Trevor Noah did a fantastic job hosting, his crowd work can leave viewers with second-hand embarrassment or simply bore them; if the chemistry isn’t there, it doesn’t work. The pre-taped video segments before the performances were also unnecessary; it made the show much longer than it needed to be.