It cements her position as the one of the greatest songwriters of her era – although she was gracious enough to use her speech to praise fellow nominee Lana Del Rey, calling her “a legend in her prime” who has set the agenda for an entire generation of female artists.

 

Despite Taylor taking the main title, it was a fairly even-handed night by Grammy standards.

Favoured nominees like Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, SZA and Boygenius all went home with multiple prizes, while the best new artist went to R&B star Victoria Monét – the first time a female R&B act has scooped that award since Alicia Keys in 2002.

Along the way, there were plenty of surprise appearances (Celine Dion!) and show-stopping performances (Burna Boy, Dua Lipa).

Here are the highlights, lowlights and takeaways from “music’s biggest night”.

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TAKEAWAY: Taylor Swift wasn’t just recognised for her music

By any metric, it’s an incredible feat: Taylor Swift has won album of the year three times more than The Beatles, two more than Adele and one more than Stevie Wonder.

In fact, she’s won the prize more than anyone. Ever.

Her latest honour is for 2022’s Midnights – a hazy, dream-scrubbed collection of songs about late-night obsessions.

At the time of release, it was not her best-received album. And for that reason, many people thought R&B star SZA or indie band Boygenius were more likely to win.

But the Grammys aren’t simply about musical merit, and Swift is currently in the middle of an imperial phase. Her Eras tour has broken box office records, boosted local economies, prompted a government inquiry into Ticketmaster and even caused seismic activity.

The singer has also been named Time Magazine’s person of the year, while her romance with Travis Kelce brought new eyes to American football.

It’s hard to argue against her cultural dominance – but it all stems from the music.

That’s a factor the Recording Academy’s 11,000 voters will have been keenly aware of. They take songwriting incredibly seriously, which means they take Swift – who exists at the crossroads of commercial success and sonic innovation – seriously as well.

So her fourth Grammy win was all but inevitable, even if your preferred Taylor Swift album is Folklore (correct answer), 1989 (also acceptable) or Lover (we need to have words).

HIGHLIGHT: A standing ovation for Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell’s music is like a language of its own. It’s raw, magical, almost painfully beautiful.

But over the past 10 years, the singer was almost robbed of language after a life-threatening brain aneurysm.

Following intensive rehabilitation, she returned to the stage in 2022 at the Newport Folk Festival – and a recording of that concert earned the singer the Grammy for best folk album on Sunday night.

Mitchell followed that up with a performance of Both Sides Now, supported by musicians Brandi Carlile and Jacob Collier.

At first, her voice seemed to catch – but as the song continued, she settled into a rich, dusky vocal tone.

“They say, Joni, you’ve changed,” she sang, adapting the lyrics to the occasion. “Well something’s lost, but something’s gained / In living every day.”

Rich with experience, and laden with significance, the performance was exceptionally moving. It rightly brought the crowd to their feet.

LOWLIGHT: Travis Scott vs some chairs

For one of rap’s most physically intense performers, Travis Scott’s set was mystifyingly boring.

The star performed a medley of My Eyes, I Know? and Fein (key lyric: “Fein, fein, fein, fein, fein, fein”) shrouded in shadow, while a dancer wandered around looking for something to do.

There was a brief frisson when Playboi Carti joined him on stage in a burst of pyrotechnics, but it all fizzled out with Scott flinging around plastic chairs like an escapee from a 1980s wrestling match.

HIGHLIGHT: Jay-Z goes off script