About halfway through last night’s Grammy awards ceremony, I realized with absolute glee that I had barely heard a man (other than host Trevor Noah) talk the entire evening. Women had won every single category up to that point, and therefore, had been the only people to give televised acceptance speeches. I Slacked my colleagues, asking “How long do we think we can keep this up?” Turns out, the entire night. Shockingly, miraculously, all nine of the competitive awards given during the broadcast were won by women. (Jay-Z did receive the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, but we’ll talk about that later.) No shade to all the deserving male nominees, but it’s actually unheard of to watch an awards show of any kind of and see women get the spotlight they got last night. And, more importantly, it’s about damn time.
The ceremony started off strong, with Dua Lipa debuting a new song and putting the final nail in the “go on girl, give us nothing” coffin with a dance that quite literally defied gravity. From there, Mariah Carey, legend that she is, presented Miley Cyrus with her first ever Grammy for “Flowers.” The ladies kept ladying from there, with Tracy Chapman surprising the audience with an incredibly emotional performance of “Fast Car” with Luke Combs. Even though she shared the stage with a guy, that guy looked at her throughout the song with such a sense of awe and admiration that I might now be a fan. Victoria Monét won best new artist. Joni Mitchell, at 80 years old, performed on the Grammys stage for the first time ever. SZA won Best R&B Song. Taylor Swift won Album of the Year for the fourth time, making her the only artist to win that award that many times. I could keep going, because the list of memorable moments for women at the show is so long.
SZA accepting the award for Best R&B Song.
Miley Cyrus channeling Tina Turner during a performance of “Flowers.”
Luke Combs bowing to Tracy Champan after their performance of “Fast Car.”
To say this is a stark contrast to Grammys past would be an understatement. In 2018, only one woman won a solo award during the show (Alessia Cara for Best New Artist). The former chairman of the Grammys, Neil Portnow, was asked about the lack of female nominees and winners, and he said this in response: “Women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls… need to step up,” to which female artists around the world rolled their eyes so hard they were at risk of dislocation. That was only six years ago. Phoebe Bridgers took an opportunity to address that after her win with Boygenius last night, and she said, “To him I’d like to say: I know you’re not dead yet, but when you are, I hope you rot in piss.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Women didn’t need to step up, the awards show voters needed to catch up to the culture around them. And last night, it felt like they maybe, finally did. In a year where Barbie made $1.44 billion at the box office and the Eras and Renaissance tours literally floated the U.S. economy, it is only right that music’s biggest night reflect the greater zeitgeist. Women wanted culture that served them, and they rewarded that culture with their dollars, streams, outfits, and friendship bracelets.
But there is, as always, still a long way to go. This brings me to the Jay-Z of it all. Accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, Jay-Z took to the stage with his daughter Blue Ivy and essentially scolded the Recording Academy on his wife Beyoncé’s behalf. “I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has the most Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the Year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that: The most Grammys. Never won Album of the Year. That doesn’t work,” he said. He’s right, and he should say it! The Grammys still have a tendency to fumble, in glaring and spectacular fashion. And to not give the top prize to one of the greatest artists of all time is an egregious oversight.
And even while the awards body acknowledges the lack of diversity in certain areas of the business, equity is still not always reflected in their own awards. For example, in 2019, the Recording Academy’s Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion launched the Producer & Engineer Inclusion Initiative. Basically, they were asking the music industry to be better at considering women for production and engineering roles. Since that initiative was launched, zero women have been nominated in the Producer of the Year category. Jack Antonoff has won three times in a row. Do with that information what you will.
But I’m a firm believer in holding two truths in your head at the same time. The Recording Academy has room to do better, especially when it comes to the awards given those those behind the scenes, but I can also applaud what a banger of a night it was for the women of the music industry. So until the Grammys, and the music industry at large, get better at including women everywhere, I’ll comfort myself by watching this Miley Cyrus “Flowers” performance on repeat as many times as I possibly can. And by streaming SZA’s “SOS” nonstop. And by starting the Album of the Year campaign for whatever stroke of genius Beyoncé graces us with next. And generally reliving a night where the ladies got to be the absolute stars of the show, hopefully for the first time of many.
