To call the 2024 Grammys exciting might be the understatement of the year (and the year has just started!). This year’s Grammys took place on February 4 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Of course, L.A. is home to many famous musicians, so it’s no surprise that many of them showed up, and some even performed. Some of the most acclaimed performances of the night included SZA performing a mashup of her hits “Snooze” and “Kill Bill” with a set inspired by the original Kill Bill movie and Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs joining forces to perform a duet version of “Fast Car”, which was a hit for both of them 35 years apart. 2 music legends also made appearances at the Grammys: Billy Joel and Joni Mitchell. Joel’s performance came as quite a surprise to some, since he hadn’t released a new song since 1993 and had publicly denounced the Grammys that same year. However, the release of his new song “Turn the Lights Back On” proved to be a perfect moment for him to return and perform the song. Joni Mitchell had her first Grammy performance ever, despite winning her first award in 1969. She sang a touching version of her classic song “Both Sides Now” along with members of the Joni Jam who have been performing with her during her recent comeback after a brain aneurysm.

However, even more surprises were in store. During a commercial break early in the award show, Kacey Musgraves aired a nature-filled video that announced her new album Deeper Well, which comes out on March 15. However, her commercial only included a link to her website and did not actually announce the album, causing this news to be mostly missed outside members of her fanbase. But less than 20 minutes later, a second album announcement came that everyone noticed. In her acceptance speech after winning Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights, Taylor Swift announced her new album The Tortured Poets Department, which comes out on April 19, mirroring the Midnights announcement she similarly made mid-speech at the 2022 VMAS. The Instagram post detailing the album quickly became the most liked album announcement on the platform, showing that it’s already one of the most anticipated albums of the year.

But of course, we can’t talk about the Grammys without discussing this year’s awards. Early in the night, Jay-Z gave his acceptance speech for the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award and called out his wife Beyoncé, saying “She has more Grammys than anyone and never won Album of the Year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work.” Some people interpreted this callout as a drag to other artists like Taylor Swift who have won Album of the Year multiple times, but most people appreciated Jay-Z standing up for his wife and her music. Later in the night, the four main awards came, known as the Big Four. This year, there was not much surprise as to who the winners were. R&B singer Victoria Monét won Best New Artist after 15 years of trying to break through in the music industry. Billie Eilish took home Song of the Year for her song “What Was I Made For?” from the Barbie movie. Record of the Year went to “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, who had never won a Grammy before the night, something she excitedly brought up in her performance of the song that night. The biggest award of the night was Album of the Year, which somewhat unsurprisingly went to Taylor Swift’s Midnights, easily the most successful album of the year. During her acceptance speech, she managed to thank everyone who worked on the album with her, including Lana Del Rey, who was also nominated for Album of the Year, giving her credit for inspiring a generation of artists with her work. This win made Swift the first person to ever win Album of the Year 4 times, 15 years after she first won the award with Fearless in 2009.