By Nell Geraets
Believe it or not, the Grammys are just around the corner, which means the hottest artists from around the globe are gearing up once again to fight for a coveted golden gramophone.
Despite concerns the event wouldn’t be able to go ahead due to the Los Angeles wildfires, the 67th annual Grammy Awards will take place as planned on Monday (AEDT), with women dominating the line-up in the four top categories for a second year running.
Could Beyoncé, who has claimed a record-breaking 99 nominations and 32 wins throughout her career, finally win best album, a category that has thus far eluded her? Or could Taylor Swift break even more records of her own? And which emerging pop princess will come out on top: Sabrina Carpenter or Chappell Roan?
Here are the key details, including where you can watch it, who will be performing, and which categories to keep an eye on.
When will it take place?
Due to the sheer number of categories covered, the Grammy Awards show is split into two separate broadcasts. The Premiere Ceremony – often referred to as the “pre-Grammys” – will take place at LA’s Peacock Theatre at 7.30am. This is where the majority of the trophies are awarded. The main ceremony – what we generally think of as the Grammys, and where the night’s most-coveted gramophones are handed out – then kicks off at the Los Angeles Crypto.com Arena at midday, with celebrities strutting the red carpet from 10am.
Beyoncé is the most-nominated artist at the 67th Grammys, with 11 nods in total.Credit: AP
Where can I watch it?
The ceremony airs live on Stan, kicking off at midday. Red carpet coverage is available via the Academy’s social media accounts, and the pre-Grammys will be live-streamed on the Recording Academy’s website.
You can also keep up with the action by following our live blog, which will include rolling coverage from the red carpet, from 9.30am Monday.
Were the Grammys nearly cancelled this year?
The Grammys come at a difficult time for the host city, which has been devastated by wildfires since early January, resulting in at least 28 deaths and reducing entire neighbourhoods to ash.
Despite questions over whether it should or would go ahead, executives from the Recording Academy said on January 13 that the ceremony would run as planned, but with a slightly “different tone”.
“There’ll be discussion and segments around the fire and fundraising components. [But] we’ll still have performances, we’ll still have awards and honour music,” Recording Academy chief executive Harvey Mason Jr told Variety.
The Academy has raised over $US3.2 million ($5.1million) for the Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort To Support Music Professionals. MusiCares, its charitable wing, also directed its annual Person of the Year benefit concert towards fire relief.
Some of the pre- and post-Grammys festivities have, however, been cancelled as a result of the fires, including those hosted by Spotify, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment.
Who is hosting, and who will perform?
Comedian and actor Trevor Noah will host the Grammys for the fifth year in a row.
The former Daily Show host – who was also a nominee last year for best comedy album (he lost to Dave Chappelle) – impressed with his opening monologue by carefully poking fun at Universal’s decision to pull its artists’ music off TikTok, and Taylor Swift’s newfound interest in the NFL. Here’s hoping he lands it again.
Charli XCX, who received eight Grammy nominations this year, will also perform on stage.Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Some of the biggest names of music in 2024 will perform during the telecast, including Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX – pop’s current triple threat. Benson Boone, Billie Eilish, Doechii, Raye, Shakira and Teddy Swims will also hit the stage.
Which Australians could scoop awards?
After receiving his first-ever Grammy nods last year, pop sensation Troye Sivan has once again been acknowledged by the Academy. His viral hit Got Me Started is up for best dance pop recording, a category that was introduced in 2024 and which fellow Aussie Kylie Minogue won for Padam Padam.
Sivan’s competition is stiff, however, including Madison Beer (Make You Mine), Eilish (L’Amour De Ma Vie), Ariana Grande (yes, and?), and Sivan’s former Sweat tour partner Charli XCX (Von Dutch).
Troye Sivan is gunning for his first Grammy this year.Credit: Getty Images
Elsewhere, Tame Impala’s track with Justice, Neverender, is in the running for best dance/electronic recording, while Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have been nominated in two categories: best alternative music performance for Song Of The Lake and best alternative music album for Wild God. If any of these Australian artists are victorious in their categories it will mark their first Grammy wins.
What are the most interesting categories?
After the year we just had in music, the 67th Grammys is bound to be spicy. After all, 2024 brought us “Brat Summer”, a rap feud involving Kendrick Lamar, and a new generation of female pop stars (thank you, Carpenter and Roan).
But despite these artists’ well-earned hype, the question everyone will be asking come Grammy day is whether Beyoncé will finally bring home album of the year.
Despite her record-setting 32 Grammy wins, Bey has never won what is arguably the most coveted award of the night.
Taking to the stage after Beyoncé’s loss to Taylor Swift’s Midnights last year (her fourth unsuccessful nomination in the category), her husband Jay-Z addressed the situation.“She has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work.”
Could Cowboy Carter finally turn things around, or will she be pipped once again by Swift, or one of the newer artists such as Roan or Carpenter?
Chappell Roan has been nominated in all four top categories at the 67th Grammys.Credit: AP
Speaking of Swift, if she does snatch best album, it will mark her fifth win in that category (her four wins is already a record). She would also become just the third act in Grammy history to win best album back to back, following Frank Sinatra (1966-67) and Stevie Wonder (1974-75).
For the past seven years, a female solo artist has won the best new artist category. If Carpenter, Doechii, Raye or Roan win this year, it would mark the longest female artist winning streak in the history of the category (the previous streak ran from 1997 to 2003). They will need to beat Benson Boone, Shaboozey, Teddy Swims and musical trio Khruangbin.
Finally, the Beatles could win record of the year for the first time thanks to Now and Then, a lushly orchestrated track built upon the slender foundations of a John Lennon voice-and-piano demo recorded in 1977. The band failed to win with major hits like I Want to Hold Your Hand, Yesterday, Hey Jude and Let it Be. Victory in this category would also complete Paul McCartney’s collection of the four main awards (record of the year, album of the year, song of the year and best new artist).
Read our critics on some of the year’s biggest artists
Beyoncé
“Cowboy Carter is ambitious in its free-form genre-bending, it’s fun and emotionally rich, a superstar taking back country’s reins on her own terms, on behalf of her black forebears who were ostracised and a generation still struggling to break through – essentially, anyone anywhere excluded by small-minded gatekeepers. This is ‘outlaw country’ in the truest sense.” – Read Robert Moran’s full review here.
Charli XCX
“Like any late-night masterpiece, Brat is genuinely affecting. Charli unravels her feelings about fame, anxiety, insecurity, motherhood and her relationships in a candid and touching way.” – Read Jules LeFevre’s full review here.
Kendrick Lamar
“GNX departs from the dark inner turmoil of Lamar’s last album, 2022’s Mr Morale & the Big Steppers. Spiritually, it’s Ye and Jay-Z’s Watch the Throne, an unashamed party record, released at the moment challengers to your crown have been left in a haze of tyre smoke. Here, it’s Lamar’s Buick GNX burning rubber.” – Read Nick Buckley’s full review here.
Chappell Roan
“With The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Roan is ready to be Kesha for the queer kids. Fuelled by her theatre kid exuberance, yet able to juggle both outlandish hilarity and heart-tugging bitterness, the album … flows on Roan’s fearless force of personality.” – Read Robert Moran’s full feature here.
Sabrina Carpenter
“Short n’ Sweet does what it says on the tin, delivering a half-hour sugar rush that is very much of this moment. Whether it will stand the test of time is another question – artefacts of the zeitgeist run the risk of ageing poorly – but for now, is it that sweet? I guess so.” – Read Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen’s full review here.
Taylor Swift
“There’s a self-discovery within this record that feels incredibly satisfying to bear witness to, and it doesn’t hurt that the songs, clever and eclectic, get more addictive with each listen.” – Read Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen’s full review here.
Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.