The 65th Grammy Awards ceremony was one of the wildest Grammys when it came to winners. Among expected triumphs and some true shockers, many records were broken on February 5, with artists imprinting their name on Grammy history. Here are four major milestones that were achieved on Grammy night.
Most wins ever
The Grammys made it their mission for everyone to know of perhaps the biggest record broken this century: Beyoncé earning the most wins for any artist ever in Grammy history. Prior to the ceremony, the singer had 28 wins and was tied with Quincy Jones for the second most ever. First place belonged to conductor Georg Solti, who had racked up 31 wins by the late 1990s when he died. However, Beyoncé racked up nine nominations this year, so many people expected her to break the record. As such, it wasn’t really a shocker when she won twice during the Premiere Ceremony, then tied the record with her win for Best R&B Song (“Cuff It”), and later broke it by winning the award for Best Dance/Electronic Album (“Renaissance”).
First openly trans pop winners
In her speech for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Kim Petras mentioned that she was the first trans woman to win the award. However, she could’ve taken it a step farther, as she is the first trans woman ever to win any pop award at the Grammys. Furthermore, Sam Smith identifies as non-binary, thereby making them the first non-binary person to win a pop Grammy as well. Smith technically already held this record with their previous win for Best Pop Vocal Album for “In the Lonely Hour” a few years ago, but they were not out at the time. So, “Unholy” represents the first time ever that openly trans people have won in the heavily competitive pop field, and hopefully it won’t be the last.
Song of the Year records
Bonnie Raitt’s surprising Song of the Year win gave her a few important achievements. First, “Just Like That” became the first song with a single songwriter to win since 2008, when Amy Winehouse won for “Rehab.” Raitt joins Alicia Keys (“Fallin’,” 2002), Jesse Harris (“Don’t Know Why,” 2003), John Mayer (“Daughters,” 2005) and Winehouse as the only people to win the award on their own this century. Additionally, Raitt is now the oldest woman to win the award, at 73 years old, which is just four years shy of the overall record holder: Irving Gordon, who won at 77 for penning the classic “Unforgettable” (although Gordon penned the famous standard decades prior to winning for it). “Just Like That” is also the first Americana song to take home the award, a major feat for the genre.
Black, Female, Record of the Year
Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” was crowned the Record of the Year, besting efforts from Adele, Harry Styles, and Beyoncé. With “About Damn Time,” Lizzo became the first artist to win only Record of the Year in that given year since Green Day in 2006. In doing so, Lizzo also became the first Black woman to win the award since 1994, when Whitney Houston won for “I Will Always Love You.” Lizzo joins Houston, Natalie Cole, Tina Turner, and Roberta Flack as the only Black female soloists to take home the award. Certainly about damn time for that!
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