Beyonce has made history, winning the coveted album of the year prize at this year’s Grammy Awards.
Despite being the most nominated artist in Grammy history, this was her fifth shot at the prize, and her first win in the category.
Only three women of colour have ever won album of the year, the last being Lauryn Hill 26 years ago.
It was tough competition this year, with female stars including Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift in the mix. Andre 3000 and Jacob Collier were also in the running.
Members of the Los Angeles Fire Department presented the award and were given a standing ovation as they took to the stage.
Earlier in the night, a stunned Beyonce told the audience she was “still in shock” after winning best country album for Cowboy Carter – the first black female artist to take the prize.
After being handed the award by Taylor Swift, the Texas-born star said: “Wow, I really was not expecting this. I want to thank God that I’m able to do what I love after so many years.”
She went on: “Genre is a code word to keep us in place as artists, and I just want to encourage us to do what we’re passionate about.”
Beyonce has previously been vocal about the lack of wins in the big Grammy categories for artists of colour, who she said were relegated to the genre categories.
And last year her husband, rap star Jay-Z, addressed the oversight, telling the audience: “I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work.”
Beyonce had already made history earlier in the night, winning best country duo/group performance for II Most Wanted featuring Miley Cyrus. But she was pipped at the post by Kacey Musgraves, who took best Country song for The Architect.
Ahead of the ceremony she announced on social media that she would be taking Cowboy Carter on tour.
Kendrick Lamar dominated the night, taking both song of the year and record of the year. Pic: Reuters
Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar dominated the night, taking both song of the year and record of the year for his much talked about diss track, Not Like Us.
He dedicated his record of the year win “to the city,” and later said he was “starstruck” to be handed his best song award by Diana Ross.
The California-born star had already won three awards earlier in the night.
The first award of the main ceremony, best rap album, went to Doechii for Alligator Bites Never Heal, who became tearful on stage as she became only the third woman ever to take the prize. She later gave a jaw-dropping, high-energy performance.
Her award was presented by Cardi B, one of those past winners, who told the audience: “Rap helped me find my voice, rap helped me find my story, but most of all rap changed my life.”
Sabrina Carpenter said she was ‘going to cry’ after winning her first Grammy. Pic: Reuters
The evening had a very different tone to previous shows following the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. Black was a common theme on the red carpet and the evening kicked off by highlighting the city’s resilience.
Host Trevor Noah’s opening speech spoke of the “entire communities burned to the ground”, going on, “it’s often said in the darkest time the best of humanity shines through…tonight we’re not only celebrating our favourite music but celebrating the city that brought us our favourite music”.
Raising money for those affected by the disaster, Noah said advertising space had also been given to local LA businesses affected by fire.
The first performance of the night celebrated first responders. I Love LA by Dawes, whose members were directly affected by the Eaton fire, were backed by John Legend, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow, Brittany Howard and St Vincent.
Early performances featured Billie Eilish on an LA hillside set, and Sabrina Carpenter giving it some old-school Hollywood glamour, with a bit of tap dance thrown in for good measure.
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Content Source: news.sky.com