Grammy Awards 2024: Winners and highlights from music’s biggest day

Hosted by Trevor Noah for the fourth consecutive year, the 66th Grammy Awards took place in Los Angeles on Monday, and there were plenty of memorable moments - including an arrest.

Killer Mike, an American rapper and activist, was spotted being taken away in handcuffs moments after winning three Grammys at the pre-show show with The Hollywood Reporter journalist Chris Gardner posted a series of tweets to X claiming the arrest was related to a misdemeanour charge that is not in relations to anything that may have happened at the awards show.

However, LAPD spokesman Officer Mike Lopez spoke to AP later telling the news outlet the star’s detention stemmed from an altercation inside the arena around 4pm.

Once the awards began, the shock moments continued with multiple celebrities walking away with their very first Grammy award - including Miley Cyrus.

The pop star’s career goes back decades, from her early days on Disney’s hit show Hannah Montana to her own captivating pop career, she’s been nominated for a Grammy a total of eight times but it was only this year the 31-year-old finally took home an award; Best Pop Solo Performance for her top-charting song, Flowers.

Karol G also won her first ever Grammy for best musica urbana album. “This is my first time at the Grammys and this is my first time holding my own Grammy,” the star said. She has previously won five Latin Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist.

Elsewhere, the female artist-dominated award show caused a flurry online with Taylor Swift’s website going down throughout the day and eagle eyed fans spotted an Easter egg in the form of a choker shaped like a watch resulting in heavy speculation she was announcing the release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version).

All was revealed at the award show with the star announcing in her acceptance speech after winning Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights that she is in fact releasing an album, a brand new one called The Tortured Poets Department on April 19.

Other bombshell moments saw Jay Z slam the Recording Academy for the voting system while he was honoured with the Dr Dre Global Impact Award. Referring to his wife, Beyonce who has won 32 Grammys - the most in the award show’s history, he said he couldn’t understand how she has never won Album of the Year.

“Obviously, it’s subjective because, you know, it’s music and it’s opinion based. But you know, some things, you know, I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year,” he added, “So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work.”

Following the American rapper and record producer’s thought-provoking speech, 80-year-old music legend Joni Mitchell made her Grammys stage debut with an intimate jazzy, meditative performance of her classic Both Sides Now.

As she sat in a velvet armchair surrounded by candles, she was joined by Brandi Carlile and a chamber orchestra, earning a standing ovation after her performance which came 10 years after an aneurysm that threatened her life and left many thinking she would never sing again.

The final three awards of the night saw Victoria Monet make an emotional speech after winning Best New Artist - her third Grammy win of the night and first three of her career.

Cyrus also had a huge surprise, winning her second ever Grammy; Record of the Year for Flowers. During her acceptance speech, she made several swerves, thanking her team and members of her family but noticeably not her father, Billy Ray Cyrus whom she is reportedly estranged from.

She ended her speech by saying, “I don’t think I’ve forgotten anyone, but I might have forgotten underwear.”

Album of the Year was presented by the Grammy’s top secret surprise guest presenter Celine Dion. The star received a standing ovation when she came on stage after being diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, which caused her to stop performing in late 2022.

Announcing the winner of the final award of the night, Dion revealed Swift had made award show history winning Album of the Year for the fourth time. Until this year’s awards, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Swift had all won the award three times.

“I would love to tell you this is the best moment of my life, but I feel this happy when I finish a song, or when I crack the code to a bridge that I love, or when I’m shortlisting a music video, or when I’m working with my dancers,” she said adding, “For me, the award is the work.”

Full list of Grammy Award nominations:

Record of the Year

Worship — Jon Batiste

Not Strong Enough — Boygenius

WINNER: Flowers — Miley Cyrus

What Was I Made For? (from the motion picture Barbie) — Billie Eilish

On My Mama — Victoria Monet

Vampire — Olivia Rodrigo

Anti-Hero — Taylor Swift

Kill Bill — SZA

Album of the Year

World Music Radio — Jon Batiste

The Record — Boygenius

Endless Summer Vacation — Miley Cyrus

Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd — Lana Del Rey

The Age of Pleasure — Janelle Monae

Guts — Olivia Rodrigo

WINNER: Midnights — Taylor Swift

SOS — SZA

Song of the Year

A&W — Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey, and Sam Dew, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)

“Anti-Hero” — Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

Butterfly — Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson, songwriters (Jon Batiste)

Dance The Night\ (from Barbie The Album) — Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson, and Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Dua Lipa)

Flowers — Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein, and Michael Pollack, songwriters (Miley Cyrus)

Kill Bill — Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, and Solána Rowe, songwriters (SZA)

Vampire — Daniel Nigro and Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)

WINNER: What Was I Made For? (from the motion picture Barbie) — Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

Best New Artist

Gracie Abrams

Fred Again..

Ice Spice

Jelly Roll

Coco Jones

Noah Kahan

WINNER: Victoria Monet

The War and Treaty

Best R&B Song

Coco Jones – ICU

Halle – Angel

Robert Glasper ft. SiR & Alex Isley – Back to Love

WINNER: SZA – Snooze

Victoria Monet – On My Mama

Best Country Album

Rolling Up the Welcome Mat — Kelsea Ballerini

Brothers Osborne — Brothers Osborne

Zach Bryan — Zach Bryan

Rustin’ in the Rain — Tyler Childers

WINNER: Bell Bottom Country — Lainey Wilson

Best Musica Urbana Album

Saturno, Rauw Alejandro

WINNER: Manana Sera Bonito, Karol G

Data, Tainy

Best Pop Solo Performance

WINNER: Flowers, Miley Cyrus

Paint the Town Red, Doja Cat

What Was I Made For? from Barbie, Billie Eilish

Vampire, Olivia Rodrigo

Anti-Hero, Taylor Swift

Best Pop Vocal Album

Chemistry — Kelly Clarkson

Endless Summer Vacation — Miley Cyrus

Guts — Olivia Rodrigo

(Subtract) — Ed Sheeran

WINNER: Midnights — Taylor Swift

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical

WINNER: Jack Antonoff

Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II

Hit-Boy

Metro Boomin

Daniel Nigro

Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical

Edgar Barrera

Jessie Jo Dillon

Shane McAnally

WINNER: Theron Thomas

Justin Tranter

Best Pop Dance Recording

Baby Don’t Hurt Me — David Guetta, Anne-Marie, and Coi Leray

Miracle — Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding

WINNER: Padam Padam — Kylie Minogue

One in a Million — Bebe Rexha and David Guetta

Rush — Troye Sivan

Best Dance/Electronic Music Album

Playing Robots Into Heaven — James Blake

For That Beautiful Feeling — The Chemical Brothers

WINNER: Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022) — Fred again..

Kx5 — Kx5

Quest for Fire — Skrillex

Best Rock Album

But Here We Are — Foo Fighters

Starcatcher — Greta Van Fleet

72 Seasons — Metallica

WINNER: This Is Why — Paramore

In Times New Roman... — Queens of the Stone Age

Best Alternative Music Album

The Car — Arctic Monkeys

WINNER: The Record — Boygenius

Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd — Lana Del Rey

Cracker Island — Gorillaz

I Inside the Old Year Dying — PJ Harvey

Best R&B Album

Girls Night Out — Babyface

What I Didn’t Tell You (Deluxe) — Coco Jones

Special Occasion — Emily King

WINNER: Jaguar II — Victoria Monet

Clear 2: Soft Life EP — Summer Walker

Best Melodic Rap Performance

Sittin’ on Top of the World — Burna Boy featuring 21 Savage

Attention — Doja Cat

Spin Bout U — Drake and 21 Savage

WINNER: All My Life — Lil Durk featuring J. Cole

Low — SZA

Best Rap Song

Attention — Roget Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini, and Ari Starace, songwriters (Doja Cat)

Barbie World (from Barbie The Album) — Isis Naija Gaston, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr., and Onika Maraj, songwriters (Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice featuring Aqua)

Just Wanna Rock — Mohamad Camara, Symere Woods, and Javier Mercado, songwriters (Lil Uzi Vert)

Rich Flex — Brytavious Chambers, Isaac “Zac” De Boni, Aubrey Graham, J. Gwin, Anderson Hernandez, Michael “Finatik” Mule, and Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, songwriters (Drake and 21 Savage)

WINNER: Scientists & Engineers — Andre Benjamin, Paul Beauregard, James Blake, Michael Render, Tim Moore, and Dion Wilson, songwriters (Killer Mike featuring Andre 3000, Future, and Eryn Allen Kane)

Best Alternative Jazz Album

Love in Exile — Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily

Quality Over Opinion — Louis Cole

SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree — Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter, and SuperBlue

Live at the Piano — Cory Henry

WINNER: The Omnichord Real Book — Meshell Ndegeocello

Best Americana Album

Brandy Clark — Brandy Clark

The Chicago Sessions — Rodney Crowell

You’re the One — Rhiannon Giddens

WINNER: Weathervanes — Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

The Returner — Allison Russell

Best Musica Mexicana Album (Including Tejano)

Bordado a Mano — Ana Barbara

La Sanchez — Lila Downs

Motherflower — Flor de Toloache

Amor Como en las Peliculas de Antes — Lupita Infante

WINNER: Genesis — Peso Pluma

Best African Music Performance

Amapiano — Asake and Olamide

City Boys — Burna Boy

Unavailable — Davido featuring Musa Keys

Rush — Ayra Starr

WINNER: Water — Tyla

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (includes film and television)

Barbie — Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, composers

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — Ludwig Goransson, composer

The Fabelmans — John Williams, composer

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny — John Williams, composer

WINNER: Oppenheimer — Ludwig Goransson, composer