Harry Styles’s controversial win at the 65th Grammys
February 22, 2023
The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, which was hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, celebrated the greatest musical acts of the year on Feb. 5.
Many historic awards were presented that night, but not without the unavoidable controversy that the ceremony commonly provokes.
Beyoncé historically passed Georg Solti, a Hungarian-British conductor, for the record of most Grammy awards, with 32 wins.
Critics pointed out that although Beyoncé now holds the record for the most Grammy wins in history, her music is commonly recognized in R&B categories, rather than the genreless recognition of the general field awards.
The General Field awards, commonly known as the Big Four, include the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist.
Beyoncé has been nominated in the Big Four categories 18 times, only receiving one of the wins for Song of the Year with her 2008 No. 1 hit, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).”
This discussion brings to light how Beyoncé’s music is highly recognized by the Recording Academy, but in categories that are traditionally offered exclusively to Black artists, which critics say is not as great recognition as some of the larger categories.
Jay-Z, American rapper and husband to Beyoncé, spoke about how the awards have not properly commended Black artists.
“Obviously, it’s music, and it’s all subjective, but you got to be in the ballpark,” Jay-Z said. “That’s all we want. We just want them to get it right because we love it so much.”
Beyoncé was nominated for Album of the Year for her 2022 dance-pop album, “Renaissance,” along with other industry giants, like Adele, ABBA, Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Brandi Carlile, Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo and Harry Styles.
This year, Harry Styles took home the award for his 2022 pop-funk album, “Harry’s House.”
The announcement shocked fans and music lovers, as multiple music publications, like “Billboard” and “Pitchfork,” predicted Beyoncé’s win.
Beyoncé has been nominated in the Album of the Year category four times and has lost to white artists each time — to Taylor Swift in 2010, Beck in 2015, Adele in 2017 and most recently, Harry Styles.
Sophie Hoffman, junior accounting major, explained her shock when Harry Styles received the award.
“I was a little confused when he won,” Hoffman said. “So many people expected Beyoncé to win it because she’s worked so long and has more of a reputation.”
Styles accepted the award, but not without making a statement that caused a social media uproar.
“This doesn’t happen to people like me very often and this is so, so nice,” Styles said, leaving the Internet confused and upset. “Thank you very much.”