VOA News
Beyonce’s four wins were one of many highlights of Sunday’s Grammys, making her the artist with the most Grammys ever.
Beyonce, the Queen Bee, can now proudly wear the crown of most decorated artist in Grammy history, breaking the 26-year record held by the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti.
However, she was not in the room when she broke Solti’s record. Host Trevor Noah said she was stuck in traffic, clearly news to some of her Beehive fans, and showing that the Queen suffers some of the same problems as mere mortals.
Beyonce was up for album of the year but was beat out by Harry Styles for that honor.
Sunday’s show was a lively mix of music, musicians, fans and US First Lady Jill Biden.
In fact, a 70-plus-year old fan read the card announcing Styles’ best album victory.
Earlier in the show, there was video of the senior citizen fan attending a Styles concert with her granddaughter.
Beyonce bypassed Solti’s record with her win for best dance/electronic music album for “Renaissance.” After thanking her family in her acceptance speech, she also thanked “the queer community for your love and for inventing the genre.”
Biden introduced a new category — Best Song for Social Change category. She also announced the Grammy for best song.
The first winner of the social change category was Iranian singer and songwriter Shervin Hajipour for the song Baraye which Biden described as a “powerful and poetic call for freedom and women’s rights.” It contains the phrase “women, life, freedom” that has become synonymous with the Iranian protests.
Biden also presented Bonnie Raitt with the best song Grammy for “Just Like That.”
Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” won for best pop duo-group performance. Petras told the audience that she is “the first transgender woman to win the award.”
Another highlight of Sunday’s show was a wonderful array of hip hop artists celebrating the 50th anniversary of the genre. What could be better than The Roots playing for Missy Elliot, Salt ‘N Pepa, Queen Latifah, Run DMC, Busta Rhymes, Grandmaster Flash, and Public Enemy.
Actor Viola Davis won a Grammy in a part of the show that was not televised. Her Grammy for the narration of her memoir initiated her into that rarified EGOT group — artists who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. – gb
