This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Jeanny Sánchez Gómez. Find them on Instagram at @jeanny_sanchez. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
2024 was an undeniably good year for music with the charts being dominated by the biggest names in music to the newest voices in the industry. Encompassing everything from diss tracks to queer anthems there was something for everything. Backdropped by the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, the 67th Grammy Awards, once again provided a flurry of controversial Grammy snubs and surprising moments.
Kicking off the night with the biggest names in music walking the red carpet showing off their looks for the night, left viewers and content creators talking about some of the best outfits of the night. But the red carpet is also where we had the first memorable moment of the night after rapper Kanye West and his wife Bianca Censori, wearing a see-through dress, were escorted off the premises having no seating waiting for them inside the ceremony.
Biggest Snubs
While it was a very successful night for plenty of well-loved artists and having categories stacked with outrageous talent, there still managed to be some surprising snubs throughout the night.
After a four-year hiatus, Ariana Grande made waves in 2024. Along with starring in Wicked, one of the most anticipated movies of the year, Grande also released Eternal Sunshine. An emotionally charged, post-divorce album that showcased the singer’s newfound enunciation and restraint left fans buzzing about the direction the album took. While I can also admit that the album didn’t meet the same standards that her previous albums have; only receiving three nominations, Grande was pushed to the side at this year’s ceremony.
On the flip side, there were previous award sweepers who were left empty-handed. Billie Eilish, nominated for 7 awards, including Album of the Year, went home with zero wins. While “Birds of a Feather” was nominated for Song of the Year, her first single off the album “Lunch”, re-introduced fans and the world to just who Billie Eilish is after explicitly singing about lesbian sexual experiences and other themes of queerness. Between the vulnerability and story-telling in the HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, zero rewards was straight-up disrespect.
Similarly, the biggest pop star in the world, who has swept at almost every award show for the past few years and was nominated for 8 awards, Taylor Swift also went home with zero awards under her belt. Making Grammy history in 2024 after winning her fourth Album of the Year win, Swift showed up mostly to support her fellow artists and present an award (which we will talk about more later). As a certified Swiftie, The Tortured Poets Department is possibly my least favorite album of hers. It was way too long, taking just over two whole hours, and having about five songs that I enjoy, I am still somewhat surprised she did not get any wins.
The last and possibly the biggest snub of the night for me was Post Malone. Changing lanes in the genre for his latest album F-1 Trillion and nominated for 7 awards, the rapper and now country singer received zero wins. Not only was his album nominated, but he was also up for awards for projects he worked on with both Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, the latter being Levii’s Jeans and definitely should’ve won, no offense to Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga, who still killed their duo performance.
Biggest Surprises
Amongst the slew of surprising losses, the night was still filled with so many good surprises throughout the ceremony that made watching this year’s Grammys a fun night.
The most expected part of the night was the slew of performances dedicated to the city of angels. Another expected factor was Trevor Noah making jokes and jabs as he hosted and trying to get both attendees and viewers to donate what they could to help the LA Wildfires, but for some reason, what I did not expect was the Grammys turning into a whole telethon. Raising over $9 million in aid on Sunday night, sitting through Noah’s message urging donations was well worth it.
The biggest surprise of the night was Beyonce winning album of the year. Despite her record-breaking 99 nominations, Queen Bee has been snubbed year after year after for Album of the Year. With multiple callouts over the years about how the academy has denied Beyonce some well-deserved awards to the point that earlier that night Miley Cyrus joked about giving her an award either way. After her biggest snub for the coveted Album of the Year award being given to Harry Style’s Harry’s House in 2023, Cowboy Carter finally winning her the award was the best and most overdue thing that could have happened.
At the same time the Los Angeles Fire department presenting the award to Beyonce was another good surprise that occurred.
The next big surprise came after the Recording Academy’s CEO, Harvey Mason Jr. gave a speech about the new rules and guidelines that were created in the hopes of making the awards more fair and transparent. Highlighting The Weeknd’s boycott of the academy in 2020 after calling them “corrupt” after receiving no nominations after dominating the charts with After Hours, the appearance of The Weeknd taking the stage was nothing but a shock and excitement to see especially after the singer dropped his latest album just 3 days before.
Making history as the the third woman to ever win Best Rap Album, Doechii’s win should come as no surprise (but still does to some). Her acceptance speech was an amazing moment that truly marked how historic her win is in a male-dominated category. Shortly following her win, Doechii took stage the stage to perform “Denial Is A River”, in a set that left no room for doubt about the talent the rapper holds.
One of the most fun surprises came during the academy’s tribute to the late legend, Quincy Jones. Amidst a show of love and respect from some of the biggest names, the most fun and shocking moment came during Janelle Monáe tribute where she did a perfectly executed moonwalk.
What did you think were the biggest Grammy snubs? Leave a comment below and let us know!
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