The best moments from the 2024 Grammy Awards

The 66th Grammy Awards put women front and centre, with women winning in almost every major category. Phoebe Bridgers, Sza, Boygenius, Miley Cyrus, and Taylor Swift were the big winners of the night, with Swift making history as the first artist to win album of the year four times. 

Canadian music legend Joni Mitchell performed at the Grammys for the first time, singing her hit Both Sides Now — and leaving the entire room teary eyed. Tracy Chapman made a surprise appearance, performing Fast Car alongside Luke Combs. Celine Dion, who has stepped back from her career for health reasons, presented the album of the year award.

The Grammys were hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, whose monologue was respectful yet funny. He took jabs at TikTok, the NFL and Epstein's list — which invoked a collective gasp from attendees. 

Music journalists Reanna Cruz and Maria Sherman give us a morning-after report on the big winners, the surprises, the snubs and performance highlights from the 66th Grammy Awards.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast on your favourite podcast player.

LISTEN | Today's episode on YouTube:

Taylor Swift makes Grammys history

Taylor made history as the first person to win album of the year four times. Although her album Midnights was up against some stiff competition, the cultural and musical impact of her music this last year was undeniable. 

Before her win last night, she was one of only four people — and the only woman — to have won this category three times. She was in the company of Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon. 

While Sherman thinks it's great that a woman was awarded album of the year, she says, "I would have loved to have seen one of the two incredibly talented Black women win album of the year yesterday, which would have been the first time in 25 years since The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which would have been a groundbreaking moment."

Joni Mitchell brings the room to tears

Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and Canadian legend Joni Mitchell performed for the first time on the Grammys stage at 80 years old. Seated alongside Brandy Carlisle, Jacob Collier and Canadian musician Alison Russell — who won earlier in the night for best American roots performance. Mitchell performed her smash hit Both Sides Now. 

"Whether it was in the Grammys press room or in my apartment, a hush fell over the room as soon as she started. There were a lot of misty eyes, both here and in the arena. You saw it on Beyoncé's face. Everybody was so transfixed. It was so beautiful," says Cruz.

Tracy Chapman duets with Luke Combs

Tracy Chapman made a surprise appearance on the Grammy's stage to perform her iconic song Fast Car with country singer Luke Combs, whose cover of Fast Car last year hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart — the first pop cover to top the country charts in 15 years. Chapman won best female pop vocal performance for Fast Car in 1989, at the 32nd Grammy Awards. 

"I thought that was the way to do it. If you're listening to terrestrial country radio, you hear Luke Combs' cover of that song once every 30 minutes. It's kind of inescapable. But to perform it with Tracy was absolutely the right call. To show Tracy first was absolutely the right call," says Sherman. 

"And it's a reminder of the power of that song — the success it's had. [Chapman] won a Grammy for it in 1989. And here we are again. This cover version got nominated for record of the year. I thought it was a great moment and it certainly set the stage. In the press room we were all like, 'I think this might be a good show this year.'"\

Boygenius wins big

Boygenius — the indie supergroup made up of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus — took home three Grammy Awards during the non-televised Premiere Ceremony. The trio's debut studio album, The Record, won best alternative music album and their single Not Strong Enough, won best rock song and best rock performance. 

Victoria Monét finally gets her flowers

Victoria Monét won the Grammy for best new artist, beating out big names such as Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams, Ice Spice and Jelly Roll. Her fifth studio album, Jaguar, was released to much critical acclaim. 

Jay-Z calls out the music industry

Jay-Z stepped on stage to receive the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award with his daughter Blue Ivy. In his acceptance speech, he called out the Recording Academy — and some may say, his fellow artists — with lines such as, "Some of you going to go home tonight and feel like you've been robbed" and "Some of you don't belong in a category." 

He also took aim at Recording Academy voters, reminding them that although his wife Beyoncé has 29 Grammys, she has yet to win album of the year.

"I think the speech was maybe one of the realest moments of the night," says Cruz. "I appreciate Jay-Z for saying the thing out loud that a lot of viewers might have had on their minds in one way or another."

Sherman notes, "He's always spoken truth to power — that's sort of his charm and his skill. It was really refreshing to see. And he gave historical examples of rap artists breaking the mould and changing how the Recording Academy recognises hip hop artists, but then still putting it in the pre-televised event and then later in the speech gesturing to Beyoncé as the artist who has won more Grammys than anybody else but never album of the year. Clearly, something's not right."

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Stuart Berman