Taylor Swift becomes first artist to win Grammy for Album of the Year four times
Taylor Swift has become the first person in Grammy Awards history to win Album of the Year four times.
The American artist received the coveted prize from Celine Dion, who made a surprise appearance at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles where the ceremony was being held.
The US megastar secured the top gong of the night with her 10th studio album Midnights, having previously won for Fearless in 2009, again six years later for 1989, and most recently for Folklore in 2020.
As she collected the award from Celine Dion, she said: “Oh god, no. I don’t know man.”
She praised her friend and long-term collaborator Jack Antonoff as a “once in a generation” producer and her fellow nominee Lana Del Rey as a “legacy artist” and a “legend in her prime right now.”
“I would love to tell you that this is the best moment in my life, but I feel this happy when I finish a song or when I crack the code to a bridge that I love or when I’m shotlisting a music video, or when I’m rehearsing with my dancers or my band or getting ready to go to Tokyo to play a show,” she said.
“For me, the award is the work. All I want to do is keep being able to do this. I love it so much. It makes me so happy.
“It makes me unbelievably blown away that it makes some people happy who voted for this award too. All I want to do is keep doing this. So thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to do what I love so much... mind blown”.
Earlier, Swift had delighted fans with the announcement of a brand new album, as she accepted her 13th Grammy, for Best Pop Vocal Performance.
Her historic win followed a night where female artists were celebrated across the board, including in the biggest categories such as Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. Seven out of eight nominees for Album of the Year were female acts.
Billie Eilish praised Barbie director Greta Gerwig for creating the “best movie of the year” after she won Song of the Year for the third time at the Grammy Awards.
The 22-year-old singer picked up the coveted prize for her ballad “What Was I Made For?”, which featured in the blockbuster about the world-famous doll.
Best New Artist went to R&B artist Victoria Monét, who gave an emotional speech in which she spoke about first moving to Los Angeles to pursue a music career 15 years ago.
“I just want to say to everybody who has a dream, I want you to look at this as an example,” she said.
“This award was a 15-year pursuit, I moved to LA in 2009 and I like to liken myself to a plant who was been planted, you can look at the music industry as soil, dirty or a source of nutrients.
“My roots have been growing underneath for so long, I feel like today I am sprouting,” she said.
Meanwhile, Miley Cyrus went home with both Record of the Year and Song of the Year for her hit single “Flowers”.