Beyoncé set a record for the most career Grammys won by any artist, but she was barred from attending the ceremony when it returned to a Los Angeles arena.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Beyoncé made Grammy history on Sunday night, setting a record for the most career wins by any artist at the 65th annual ceremony, after collecting a slew of accolades for “Renaissance,” her smash album that explored decades of dance music.
However, she was once again barred from the big categories, winning all four of her awards for the evening in down-ballot genre categories.
Album of the year went to Harry Styles for “Harry’s House,” record of the year went to Lizzo for her throwback dance hit “About Damn Time,” and song of the year went to Bonnie Raitt for “Just Like That.” It was Beyoncé’s fourth career album of the year defeat.
Nonetheless, Beyoncé’s achievement was felt throughout the evening. Accepting her 32nd career award, Beyoncé praised God and her family, and recognized her “Uncle Jonny,” a gay relative she has previously described as her “godmother” and the person who introduced her to L.G.B.T.Q. culture.
Styles appeared speechless as he won his Grammy, beginning his remarks with a surprised obscenity.
“I’d want to thank the queer community for your support, and for inventing the genre,” she said as she accepted the award for best dance/electronic music album for “Renaissance,” generally seen as a love letter to homosexual culture. (However, Beyoncé recently experienced outrage for doing a private concert in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where homosexuality is prohibited.)
Beyoncé has now eclipsed Georg Solti, the Hungarian-born classical conductor who died in 1997 and had previously held the record for the most career wins by any artist.
Even Beyoncé’s rivals supported her. Accepting record of the year, Lizzo said of being inspired by seeing Beyoncé perform live (while skipping school).
“You are certainly the artist of our life!” she exclaimed. (When Adele defeated Beyoncé for album of the year in 2017, she said nearly the same thing.)
Beyoncé was also honored with awards for best dance/electronic recording (“Break My Soul”), traditional R&B performance (“Plastic Off the Sofa”), and best R&B song (“Cuff It”). She had received the most nominations of the evening, with nine.
Gender equality was a recurring theme throughout the evening. Not long before Beyoncé’s win, nonbinary singer Sam Smith and trans woman Kim Petras won the prize for pop/duo group performance for “Unholy,” and Petras received applause when she declared she was “the first transgender lady to win this award.”
“I’m hoping for a future when gender, identity, and all these categories don’t matter as much,” Petras told reporters backstage. “A place where people may just be themselves without being judged or stigmatized.”
