By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer
From album announcements to audience call-outs, the highly anticipated 66th Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah, is sparking attention on social media for controversial awards choices and unique celebrity outfits.
Taylor Swift won her 14th Grammy with the Album of the Year award for her highly acclaimed record, “Midnights.” However, the night took a turn when she gave her acceptance speech. It started as most fans would expect, with notes of gratitude and honor toward her work, until she announced her newest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” which will be released on April 19.
While Swift had been dropping Easter eggs — such as having many of her close friends make their Instagram profile pictures black and white — many people speculated that she was going to announce “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)” instead.
Aside from the plot-twisting acceptance speech, some fans were upset Swift brought Lana Del Rey on stage with her due to the feeling that Del Rey deserved the award more.
Swift and Del Ray were joined on stage by Celine Dion, who made her appearance to announce the winner of Album of the Year despite her diagnosis of the incurable neurological disorder stiff person syndrome. Dion canceled all upcoming tour dates because of the disorder, and she thanked the audience as she received a standing ovation when presenting the award.
Following the trend of unexpected celebrity moments, Miley Cyrus won her first Grammy for her hit song, “Flowers.” While performing the song on stage, she called the audience out for not singing along. Between lyrics, Cyrus said, “Why you acting like you don’t know this song?”
Other key moments included Billie Eilish winning Song of the Year for “What Was I Made For?” and Billy Joel performing his first new song in decades: “Turn the Lights Back On.”
Jay-Z took home the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award with a controversial twist in his acceptance speech, calling out the Recording Academy for never presenting his wife, Beyoncé, with the Album of the Year award despite her 29 Grammy wins.
“I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than anyone and never won Album of the Year, so even by your metrics, that doesn’t work,” Jay-Z said.
Other notable moments of the night included performances by Joni Mitchell and Travis Scott and a duet featuring Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs. Meanwhile, rapper Killer Mike was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department for misdemeanor battery after winning three awards.
