The eight great moments of the 2024 Grammys: the magic of Joni Mitchell, the coldness of U2 and the nose of Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift made history at the Grammys: she is the only artist to win the big prize, Album of the Year, four times. In the 66th edition of the most important music awards, she won it for her work of 2022, Midnights. Thus he surpassed Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder, who total three. The singer took advantage of the ceremony to say that she will release a new album in April, because the music department marketing of the biggest current pop star does not rest. For one thing and another, Swift was once again the star of some very feminine awards that gave the other two important awards to Miley Cyrus (Recording of the Year for flowers) and Billie Eilish (Song of the Year by What Was I Made For?). The defeated was SZA, who started with the maximum nominations (nine) and only took three, none of them important. Three also reached the female rock trio Boygenius. It was a long ceremony (three and a half hours) presented by the comedian Trevor Noah, which had moments of brilliant jokes, and which was held in the early hours of Sunday the 4th to Monday the 5th Spanish time, at the Crypto.com Arena in The Angels. These were the highlights.

Tracy Champan's penetrating voice

Dressed all in black, with a small acoustic guitar, with gray hair. Discreet, sinuous. Tracy Chapman was one of the surprises of the night, because she was not announced. She guest-starred with Luke Combs, who has turned her version of Fast Car, Tracy Chapman's song from 1988, a hit today. As soon as Chapman started singing, with that unmistakable penetrating voice, Taylor Swift got up from her seat and began vocalizing the lyrics. She was like that the entire song, the queen of pop. Chapman and Combs played Fast Car, that turned out beautiful. Chapman has been out of the limelight for decades and can only be seen on stage on rare occasions. At the Grammys she had a blast.

Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus remember the disco music fever

Seventies disco music has been making a comeback for years. At the Grammys Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus remembered him. The first opened the night with six minutes of mirror ball music where it merged Training Season, Houdini and some brushstroke of Dance the Night. Imperial, Lipa came out in a black leather corset, used various sets and sang and danced wonderfully. If anyone finds any flaw in Lipa, let them say so: it will be news. Miley Cyrus opted for flowers with that harsh voice so personal. She was very comfortable with the American, liking and improvising and changing some of the lyrics. In the end, she threw the microphone with her foot to the ground. (crack) and he said goodbye in a punk style.

Taylor Swift's opportunism

The swifties They had been analyzing the signals that the star was sending them from her social media accounts all day. The most accepted theory was that Taylor Swift would announce when she collected one of her six awards (that's how clear she was that she was going to win) the release date of the re-recording of Reputation, her 2017 album. But no, the news was more important: Swift reported, while receiving the Grammy for best Pop Album, of the release of a new work, titled The Tortured Poets Department (The department of tortured poets), which will be published on April 19. He also said that you could already see the cover on his social accounts. Some may think that using a Grammy ceremony to promote your new album is not very elegant. And they will be right.

An angel named Joni Mitchell

Meryl Streep was crying, Olivia Rodrigo too… When she finished, the entire venue stood up and gave the biggest ovation of the gala. On a memorable night for women in music, everyone knew that if they were there (Taylor Swift, Rodrigo, Miley Cyrus, SZA…) it was because of the first one who took a chance: Joni Mitchell. Wearing a cap, white braids falling over her shoulders, a cane in her hand and sitting in a stately chair, Joni Mitchell began to sing and everyone believed that she had taken the stage by an angel. It was the first time that the Canadian, a singer whose influence many compare to that of Bob Dylan, performed at the Grammys, an institution that has awarded her ten awards. In 2015 she suffered a brain aneurysm from which she has slowly recovered and for a couple of seasons she has been giving rare and exquisite performances. It was historic to have her on stage at 80 years old, still performing with a vibrant voice. Both Side Now. “I've looked at life from both sides, the winner and the loser,” Mitchel sang as a summary of a full life. At the end of his performance and while he received the ovation of the night, he smiled si
ncerely. After his presence everything didn't matter anymore.

Intimate Billie Eilish and dressed as 'Barbie'

The complete opposite of the departure of Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus was the presence of Billie Eilish. She performed seated, with her brother Finneas at the piano and with some violinists surrounding them. She staged What Was I Made For?, the theme from the soundtrack of Barbie which took the award for Song of the Year. And as always, Eilish always seems to interpret as if she were facing the song of her life. With her eyes closed, almost whispering, the singer filled the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles with emotion.

The blood of Olivia Rodrigo

What song Vampire, How many things happen in three and a half minutes, from the absorbed beginning to its accelerated final part. Olivia Rodrigo performed her hit dressed in long red satin. She filled the stage with blood, including parts of her body. She didn't need to move from her seat: her wonderful voice and such a good song don't need anything else.

The coldness of U2

The U2 thing was strange, because the Irish group wanted to perform from the venue where they are trying to straighten out their career (shaken in recent times especially by critics) thanks to a concert residency, the Sphere in Las Vegas. She interpreted Atomic City, his new song, released in September. It was like seeing a video clip. Everything cold and artificial.

The reappearance of Céline Dion

The most important award, the last of the night, for Album of the Year, was presented by Céline Dion. It was an unexpected presence because the Canadian singer retired from public life after reporting a nervous system illness. “When I say I'm happy to be here I say it from the heart,” said the singer. “I love you, how handsome you are,” she added. She spoke little, but her appearance moved at the end of the gala.