Beyonce, the music royal whose art has shifted the culture time and again, long ago cemented herself as one of the world’s seminal stars.
On Sunday, she made history again, becoming the winningest artist in Grammys history, surpassing the late classical conductor Georg Solti’s long-standing record of 31 lifetime trophies.
Speaking through tears, the regal artist donning a metallic Gucci corset gown with elbow-length black leather gloves thanked her family, including her three children and husband Jay-Z, who looked on from the crowd.
“I’m trying not to be too emotional. And I’m trying to just receive this night,” she said.
She paid special tribute to the queer community, who she credited with inventing the genre she celebrated in her historically layered record that pays homage to pioneers of funk, soul, rap, house and disco.
But to the shock of everyone and the fury of fans on social media, Beyonce — whose tour announcement is virtually guaranteed to trigger a ticketing crash for the ages — missed out on the Album of the Year award.
This time, it went to British pop phenom Harry Styles, six years after she lost the award to Adele.
She has also never won Record of the Year, despite having the most nods ever for the category, with eight.
So the Beyonce paradox lives on: the same night she further burnished her GOAT — greatest of all time — status, the legendary artist also lengthened her streak as the Recording Academy’s most snubbed nominee.
– Queen Bey –
Born Beyonce Giselle Knowles in Houston, Texas, the now 41-year-old has been in the upper echelons of pop music since her teenage years.
She initially rose to fame as part of the girl group Destiny’s Child — whose smash hits included “Survivor” AND “Say My Name” — before embarking on a wildly successful solo career.
From setting the standard for the overnight album drop to delivering her earth-shattering “Homecoming” show at Coachella in 2018, Beyonce has long bucked the industry’s conventional wisdom, and is simultaneously one of music’s most private and most-watched stars.
Her paradigm-shifting 2016 album “Lemonade,” which emphasized Black womanhood against the backdrop of America’s heritage of slavery and culture of oppression, remains one of the most venerated musical projects in recent memory.
Then she dropped the critically acclaimed song “Black Parade” in June 2020, amid nationwide protests ignited by the murder of an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, at the hands of a white police officer.
“She’s arguably the most culturally important artist in the world,” Merck Mercuriadis, the music publishing mogul who was once Beyonce’s manager, told AFP at a pre-Grammy gala.
“Renaissance,” her house-tinged 2022 dance record, offered a pulsating, sweaty collection of club tracks.
Eminently danceable and rife with nods to disco and EDM history, the 16-song album was an instant hit and earned wide praise for its deep ambition.
Prior to releasing her…
