Beyoncé became the most decorated artist in the show’s history with her fourth win on Sunday night, breaking the 26-year-old record previously held by the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti.
The superstar singer was nominated for 32 awards, including best R&B song for “Cuff It,” dance-electric music recording for “Break My Soul,” traditional R&B performance for “Plastic Off the Sofa,” and dance-electric music for her seventh studio album “Renaissance,” which is also nominated for album of the year.
Beyoncé missed the milestone of her tying Solti’s record, which stood since 1997. Host Trevor Noah said she was on her way to the ceremony but blamed Los Angeles traffic for not being in person to accept it. The song was written by several writers including Beyonce, The-Dream, Nile Rodgers and Raphael Saadiq.
Once Beyonce finally arrived, Noah presented her with the best R&B song award at her table, which included her husband Jay-Z and The-Dream. In that category, she extended her record as the artist with most wins in the category with five wins.
Bad Bunny opened the Grammy Awards with a festive, high-energy performance that brought many of the audience including Taylor Swift who rose to her feet and danced near her table.
Noah introduced Bunny calling him a “global force” who is the most streamed and listened to artist in the world.
By the time the show started, Beyoncé had already won two Grammys. Beyoncé entered Sunday’s ceremony as the leading nominee including album, song and record of the year. If she wins in any of those major categories, it’ll be her first since she received the song of the year honor for “Single Ladies” in 2010.
Styles won the main telecast’s first award for best pop vocal album for “Harry’s House.” The singer said recording the song was one of the “greatest experiences of my life. It’s been my greatest joy.”
Sam Smith and Kim Petras won best pop duo-group performance for their song “Unholy.” Petras said Smith wanted Petras to make the acceptance speech because “I’m the first transgender woman to win this award.”
“I want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight,” said Petras, who made a reference to friend and Grammy-nominated musician Sophie, who died after an accidental fall in Athens, Greece in 2021. “You told me this would happen. I always believed in me. Thank you so much for your inspiration, Sophie. I adore you, and your inspiration will forever be in my music.”
“Thank you God for protecting me” — Beyoncé #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/DEuCjfWTd5
— BEY-Z?⬢⬡ · fan account (@beyzhive) February 6, 2023