This year, the 67th Grammys went beyond the cultural and became political.
Feb 4, 2025 07:02 IST First published on: Feb 4, 2025 at 07:02 IST
With Texas-born Queen Bey receiving Album of the Year and the Best Country Album for Cowboy Carter, the disruptor found her crowning moment. Beyonce is now the first Black woman to win Best Country Album at the Grammys. The award came for the album where she reclaimed her roots in country music — a politically conservative and largely White territory that’s been unkind to her. The Grammy nod was a hat tip to not just her body of work but also to an artiste asserting herself and breaking the glass ceiling. This year, the 67th Grammys went beyond the cultural and became political.
Florida rapper Doechii told Black women to not “allow anybody to project any stereotypes on you… that you’re too dark, or that you’re not smart enough…”. Lady Gaga took a jab at Trump’s executive order to recognise only two sexes. “Trans people are not invisible… the queer community deserves to be lifted up,” she said in her acceptance speech for the Grammy for Best Pop Duo with Bruno Mars. Latin popstar Shakira dedicated her Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album to her “immigrant brothers and sisters”.
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Chappell Roan, who took home the golden gramophone for her lesbian-pop renaissance album The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess, called out the record labels and mentioned a time during the pandemic when she couldn’t afford health insurance. “It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system…”. However, while Indian-origin Chandrika Tandon, 71, won a Grammy in the category of the Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album, it was disappointing to see tabla giant Ustad Zakir Hussain, a four-time Grammy winner, not included in the “In Memoriam” section of the ceremony.
