Oh boy, the 2024 Grammys have certainly been a doozy. Jay-Z used his win to call out the award night’s history of snubbing Beyoncé. We’ve also seen Billie Eilish call out *that* Oscars snub, Annie Lennox used her moment to call for a ceasefire in Palestine, and Taylor Swift announced a new album (!!!). With Killer Mike arrested before the ceremony even kicked off, it’s been an eventful night indeed.
Jay-Z brought 12-year-old Blue Ivy up to stage with him when he was accepting his win for the 2nd annual Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, and surprised the audience with a speech calling out the fact that Beyoncé has never won Best Album.
After thanking various artists and programs who have supported Black musicians, he recalled previous years when he and other stars had tried to boycott the Grammys over the lack of Black people who were nominated for awards.
And then, he noted that his wife — who has won a record-breaking 32 Grammys — has never been nominated for Best Album.
“We love y’all. We want you to get it right, or at least get close to right,” he said.
“But 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. 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.”
“You know, some of you are gonna go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in a category,” he continued as the crowd gasped.
He then urged artists who had been robbed to “keep showing up” until “they give you those accolades you feel you deserve.”
The speech was spicy indeed, with the audience unsure whether to clap, go silent or boo. It was awkward — for them, anyway. I personally had a great time watching that.
Jay-Z’s speech comes as Billie Eilish also made a cheeky snubbing reference, but about the Oscars’ failure to nominate Greta Gerwig for Best Director for Barbie.
The singer won Song of the Year for “What Was I Made For?”, which appeared on the Barbie movie soundtrack.
“Thank you to Greta Gerwig for making the best movie of the year,” she said while accepting the award. Tea.
Earlier during the awards night, Scottish singer-songwriter Annie Lennox paid tribute to Sinead O’Connor during the In Memoriam segment, and called for a ceasefire.
At the end of her performance of “Nothing Compares 2 U”, she raised her fist proclaimed: “artists for ceasefire, peace in the world!”
I want to say I’m surprised that this has been the only reference to the atrocities happening in Gaza right now, but who am I kidding?
You can read our rolling coverage of the Grammys nominations and wins here.
