SINGAPORE – What will it take for Beyonce to win the Grammy Awards’ top honours?
The American music superstar made history as the artiste with the most Grammy wins when she picked up four prizes – Best Dance/Electronica Album (Renaissance), Best Dance Recording (Break My Soul), Best Traditional R&B Performance (Plastic Off The Sofa) and Best R&B Song (Cuff It) – at the 65th Grammy Awards on Sunday night (Monday morning, Singapore time).
The wins brought her total lifetime tally to 32.
The record was previously held by the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti, former director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who had 31.
It was a bittersweet victory for Queen Bey though, as she was snubbed for the three major awards she was nominated for at the ceremony held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
These were Album Of The Year, which went to Harry’s House by British singer Harry Styles; Record Of The Year, won by American singer Lizzo’s uplifting About D*** Time; and Song Of The Year, a songwriter’s award scooped up by veteran American singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt for Just Like That.
Styles, who made his name with boy band One Direction, made an album that both topped the charts and was critically acclaimed.
“On nights like tonight, it’s obviously so important for us to remember that there is no such thing as best in music,” he acknowledged in his acceptance speech.
But it was still perplexing that Harry’s House, which saw Styles expand his artistic scope as a pop singer and songwriter, “bested” fellow nominees like Beyonce’s Renaissance, American rapper Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers or Puerto Rican rapper-singer Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti.
These were albums that were not just popular, but also culturally significant.
Renaissance was a celebratory and modern interpretation of club music and its black and queer pioneers, a genre that now informs much of the contemporary music landscape.
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers reaffirmed Lamar’s poetic rendition of rap music, while Un Verano Sin Ti, the most-streamed album of 2022, elevated Latin music to global prominence.
The Grammys have long been under fire for underplaying the zeitgeist in favour of rewarding legacy acts. The victories in the major categories by Raitt, an artiste with over five decades of experience, and Lizzo, a TikTok-friendly body positivity icon, seemed like a compromise.
Raitt also won two other awards – Best American Roots Song for Just Like That, and Best Americana Performance for Made Up Mind.
Lamar won three – Best Rap Album for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, and Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for The Heart Part 5.
The third big winner was American country rock singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, who took home Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for Broken Horses and Best Americana Album for In These Silent Days.
The camera often honed in on Grammys darling Taylor Swift, whose latest album Midnights was one of the biggest releases of 2022 but did not qualify for this year’s nominations because it was released after the eligibility period.
She took home only one prize out of four nominations – Best Music Video, Short Form for All Too Well: The Short Film.
Another Grammys favourite, British singer Adele, also won only one award, Best Pop Solo Performance for Easy On Me, out of seven nominations.
Giving Beyonce, who had the highest number of nominations this year with nine nods, the cold shoulder where it mattered most is still jarring as this was the fourth time she lost Album Of The Year despite seminal offerings.
She was also shut out for 2016’s Lemonade, 2013’s self-titled album and 2008’s I Am... Sasha Fierce.
“I am trying not to be too emotional. I am trying just to receive this night,” Beyonce said when she accepted the Best Dance/Electronica Album award, thanking God, her family and the queer community.
Earlier in the night, she was not on stage to receive her Best R&B song trophy – Grammys host Trevor Noah said she was “stuck in traffic”.
Perhaps she could take comfort in the fact that her fellow artistes recognised her impact at least.
Lizzo, for example, said while accepting her Record Of The Year trophy: “You clearly are the artiste of our lives.”
The fact that Beyonce did not perform at the ceremony could have been a portent of her misses. Still, there were enough live performances to keep the pace of the 3½-hour show lively.
Bad Bunny kicked off the Grammys with a sizzling medley of two songs from Un Verano Sin Ti, the first Spanish-language album nominated for Album Of The Year.
In addition, an epic performance celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop music brought together a dazzling array of the genre’s prominent artistes, from pioneers such as Run DMC and Salt-N-Pepa to more current acts such as Lil Baby and GloRilla. With music from hip-hop band The Roots, it was a solid display of the evolution of the genre.
It would not be a Grammy show without a set by the veterans, represented in this instalment by Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, while the country music box was checked by singer Luke Combs in his first Grammy performance.
South African comedian and talk-show host Noah also held on to the Grammys’ “music’s biggest night” tagline by mingling with A-listers near the stage.
Unlike most of its previous ceremonies where celebrities were seated in rows, they were now grouped at small, intimate tables a la the Golden Globes. Adele and Lizzo, for example, were at the same table and appeared jovial with each other.
For some reason, the audience also included Hollywood stars not usually associated with music, such as actors Dwayne Johnson and Ben Affleck, who was seated next to his singer-actress wife Jennifer Lopez.
List of winners in key categories for the 65th Grammy Awards:
Album Of The Year: Harry’s House, Harry Styles
Record Of The Year, Recognising Overall Performance Of A Song: About D*** Time, Lizzo
Song Of The Year, Recognising Songwriting: Just Like That – Bonnie Raitt, songwriter (Bonnie Raitt)
Best New Artiste: Samara Joy
Best Dance/Electronica Music Album: Renaissance, Beyonce
Best Dance Recording: Break My Soul, Beyonce
Best Pop Vocal Album: Harry’s House, Harry Styles
Best Rap Album: Mr Morale & The Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar
Best Rock Album: Patient Number 9, Ozzy Osbourne
Best Pop Solo Performance: Easy On Me, Adele
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: Unholy, Sam Smith and Kim Petras
Best Americana Album: In These Silent Days, Brandi Carlile
Best Country Album: A Beautiful Time, Willie Nelson
Best Music Video: All Too Well (The Short Film), Taylor Swift
Best Global Music Album: Sakura, Masa Takumi
Best Score Soundtrack For Video Games And Other Interactive Media: Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok: Dawn Of Ragnarok, Stephanie Economou