Beyonce on Sunday won the Grammy for the year’s best country album for her culture-shaking “Cowboy Carter,” a record that served as an indictment of the Nashville-centered industry long accused of sidelining Black artists.
It was the second prize of the night for the most decorated artist in Grammys history, with four more opportunities to go at the marquee music awards gala in Los Angeles, including the top album and record prizes that have eluded her.
Rapper Kendrick Lamar and pop singer Charli XCX each won three prizes during a pre-show where dozens of golden gramophones were handed out.
“I really was not expecting this,” said Beyonce onstage, her voice audibly shaking. “Sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists.”
“I just want to encourage people to do what they’re passionate about and to stay persistent,” she told the crowd packed with A-listers, with husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy applauding from the audience.
“I still am in shock. Thank you so much for this honor.”
The coveted prize for Best New Artist went to Chappell Roan, capping a meteoric year for the Midwestern artist who went from struggling singer to music’s It girl seemingly overnight.
But that wasn’t her experience — in her acceptance speech, she recounted how she was dropped from her label during the pandemic and struggled to find work.
“I told myself that if I ever won a Grammy and got to stand up here before the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and health care, especially to developing artists,” she said.
“It was devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and dehumanized,” she said.
“Labels, we got you, but do you got us?”
Last year’s winner Victoria Monet presented that trophy after a rollicking medley from some of Roan’s fellow nominees including Doechii, Benson Boone, Teddy Swims, Shaboozey and Raye.
Sabrina Carpenter won the prize for best pop vocal album, her second award of the night that followed a slapstick, Old Hollywood-inspired performance of her nominated hits “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.”
Doechii meanwhile gave a moving speech to accept the prize for best rap album, holding back tears as Cardi B — who has also won the prize — handed it to her.
“So many Black women out there that are watching me right now — I want to tell you, you can do it,” she said.
“Don’t allow anybody to project any stereotypes on you that tell you that you can’t be here, that you’re too dark or that you’re not smart enough, or that you’re too dramatic or you’re too loud. You are exactly who you need to be.”
Hip-hop poet laureate Lamar scored three Grammys as did club diva Charli XCX — and they are both among the contenders for the night’s top prizes.
Sunday’s gala was also an homage to the city of Los Angeles, a global capital of entertainment that has recently been ravaged by devastating and deadly wildfires.
The night, like much of the pre-Grammy event as well as a major benefit concert, also served as a fundraiser for the music industry members impacted by the blaze, with a QR code for donations displayed throughout the gala broadcast on CBS.
A supergroup including Sheryl Crow and John Legend delivered a performance of Randy Newman’s track “I Love LA” to open the show.
Before accepting her prize, Roan had the crowd on its feet with a rousing, rodeo-circus performance of her smash hit and love letter to Los Angeles, “Pink Pony Club.”
And top Grammy nominee Billie Eilish sang her hit “Birds of a Feather” in an LA Dodgers baseball cap on a stage with imagery capturing the mountains and valleys of the city on a clear, sunny day.
“I love you LA,” she said after her performance.
