We all know it’s possible, even possible, but that doesn’t make it any less ridiculous. On Sunday night, Grammy Award there is a lot of room for error. There’s only one category where they’re certain they shouldn’t be distracting most viewers: At the end of the night, the show needs to give out a prestigious award to the audience. Beyoncé because Renaissance. Instead, a pair of dead eyes harry style—whose performance of “As It Was” the night before left me feeling extremely sluggish—ends accepting the trophy for Album of the Year and speaks about how no one has started making “good” music. best” how.
At this point, the Grammys not properly honoring Beyoncé is a myth. Sure enough, Sunday ceremony congrats to her for breaking the all-time record for Grammy wins, but notably only one of those 32 wins was in one of the four main categories (that was in 2010, when “Single Ladies” won Song of the Year award). This is her fourth time competing Album of the yearafter losing previously to 2008 I am Sasha Fierce2013 Beyoncé, and 2016 Lemonade. In 2017, Adele even used her acceptance speech to explain why Beyoncé should win the award for Lemonade instead of.
“I cannot accept this award,” Adele said on stage at the time. “The artist of my life is Beyoncé, and this album for me, Lemonade album, it’s epic. Beyoncé, it’s epic. It was very well thought out and very beautiful and soulful. And we all get to see a different side of you that you don’t always show us.”
Lizzo seemed to recall Adele’s speech when she receive her award for Record of the Year (a category for which Beyoncé was also nominated) during Sunday’s ceremony. She recalled skipping school to see Beyoncé perform and told the singer during her acceptance speech, “You changed my life. … You sang that gospel ensemble—and the way you made me feel, I was like, I want to make people feel this way about my music. You are clearly the artist of our lives.
The Recording Academy’s failure to recognize Black talent is a discussed continuously for many years; major artists including Drake and The Weeknd have continued boycott Grammy Awards for their contempt. Sunday’s ceremony seemed determined to present a more holistic face, including a perfectly produced segment in honor of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. However, when it came time to present… well, it was Harry Styles, not Beyoncé.
Styles, for her part, seemed stunned to learn that she had won Album of the Year. “I have been very, very inspired by every artist in this category with me at so many different times in my life,” he said upon accepting the award. “I think, on nights like this one, it’s obviously important for us to remember that there’s no such thing as the best in music.”
After his big victory, Harry’s House the singer was asked backstage whether he, like the rest of the world, expected Beyoncé to win Album of the Year. His response was nothing short of diplomatic: “You never know with these things. I don’t think you can look at any candidate and not feel like they deserve it. When I see this category, it’s all the people who inspire me.”
A polite sentiment, but it probably won’t do much for his case with Beyhive.
