On Sunday, February 5, 2023, American singer Beyonce made history at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles after becoming the winner of the most Grammy Awards. The “Irreplaceable’’ crooner won four awards to take her Grammy total to 32, one ahead of Georg Solti.
Beyonce entered Sunday’s awards with more nominations than every other artist and ended up winning the prize for traditional R&B performance (Plastic Off the Sofa), dance/electronic music album (Renaissance), R&B song (Cuff It), and dance/electronic recording (Break My Soul).
ALSO READ: 2023 GRAMMY AWARDS: BEYONCE OFFICIALLY BREAKS RECORD FOR MOST-AWARDED PERSON EVER WITH 32ND WIN
An emotional Beyonce struggled to hold back tears as she thanked God, her husband and family, her fans, and the queer community for their roles in her career.
Despite the success achieved on Sunday, questions have surrounded the singer’s inability to win the Grammy Awards’ biggest prize, ‘Album of the Year’ since she started getting nominations for the global awards.
Prior to Sunday’s award, pundits predicted that the ‘Halo’ singer would go home with the prize, but she was snubbed by the recording academy as Harry Styles won the night’s biggest prize with his third solo album, ‘Harry’s House.’
The singer has failed to land the music industry’s biggest prize despite being nominated four times: in 2008 (I Am…Sasha Fierce), 2013 (Beyoncé), 2016 (Lemonade), and 2022 (Renaissance).
Particularly in 2017, fans were shocked when the recording academy decided to name Adele the winner of its biggest prize ahead of Beyonce. Adele expressed shock when she was mentioned ahead of Beyonce.
While receiving the award, Adele said:
“I can’t possibly accept this award, and I’m very humble and very grateful, but my artist of my life is Beyoncé…This album for me, the ‘Lemonade’ album, was so monumental…The way you (Beyonce) make me and my friends feel, the way you make my black friends feel is empowering…And they stand up for themselves. And I love you. I always have.’’
Adele went so far as to say backstage that “a little piece of me did die inside” when her name was mentioned ahead of Beyonce for the award.
Beyonce has not won the Grammys’ biggest prize yet, but it cannot overshadow her achievement as the highest winner in the history of the awards.