The 66th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony took place this weekend, and it turned out to be yet another triumphant evening for guitar-based acts – both in terms of those who ended up taking home the prizes and those who entertained attendees with show-stopping performances.
As expected, the evening was dominated by chart-topping pop superstars – including Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish and SZA – but the headlines this week will also be shared by the likes of boygenius, Paramore, Metallica, Joni Mitchell and Larkin Poe, who all won big during the ceremony.
Though boygenius lost out on Album and Record of the Year to Swift and Cyrus, respectively, the alt rock supergroup (comprising Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus) ended up taking home the awards for Best Rock Performance (Not Strong Enough), Best Rock Song (Not Strong Enough) and Best Alternative Music Album (The Record).
boygenius, who recently released their joint Gretsch signature guitar, successfully fended off competition from the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Foo Fighters, Metallica, The Rolling Stones, Queens of the Stone Age and Black Pumas on their way to their trio of trophies.
“We were all delusional enough as kids to think this might happen to us,” Dacus said while accepting Best Rock Performance for Not Strong Enough (via BBC).
“Phoebe [Bridgers] would sing at the Guitar Center, hoping that she would get discovered. Julien [Baker] wanted to play sold out stadiums.
“And I would practice writing an acceptance speech, and thank all the people who'd been nice to me - like my bus driver and the guy that held the door at church. So I feel kind of like a kid, because that was the last time that something like this felt possible.”
Their fellow alt rock peers Paramore also ended up having a successful night, pipping Foo Fighters, Greta Van Fleet, Metallica and Queens of the Stone Age to win the prestigious Best Rock Album award with This Is Why.
The Hayley Williams-fronted outfit also took home the award for Best Alternative Music Performance with This Is Why, edging out Alvvays, Arctic Monkeys, Lana Del Ray and Boygenius in the process.
Elsewhere, Metallica went home with Best Metal Performance thanks to 72 Seasons, and Juanes – the newly anointed Fender signature artist – won Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album with Vida Cotidiana.
In the country, folk, blues and americana departments, Joni Mitchell, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Larkin Poe and Molly Tuttle all ended up taking trophies home. Mitchell’s award proved to be especially significant, with the folk icon scooping Best Folk Album for her comeback Joni Mitchell at Newport (Live) effort.
Isbell, meanwhile, took home both Best Americana Album and Best American Roots Song with Weathervanes and Cast Iron Skillet, respectively, while Larkin Poe’s Bloody Harmony was awarded with Best Contemporary Blues Album ahead of Christone Kingfish Ingram, and Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton.
Tuttle, meanwhile, scored her second consecutive Best Bluegrass Album with City of Gold.
And, as everyone expected, a Barbie track – not the one that featured both Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen – was also recognized with a trophy: Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For? won Best Song Written for Visual Media and Song of the Year.
As mentioned above, the evening’s itinerary was also filled with a handful of notable performances, not least from super-producer Andrew Watt, who wielded a Prince guitar to perform alongside Lenny Kravitz, Chad Smith and George Clinton – a group he dubbed “The new Van Halen”.
For a full list of winners, head over to the Grammys website.
