all that glitters

The absolute gayest moments from last night’s Grammy Awards

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(from left to right) Celine Dion, Troye Sivan, Victoria Monét, Miley Cyrus | Photo Credits: Getty Images

Last night, an especially crowded awards season rolled on, and this time it was the singers, songwriters, and musicians’ turn to get their flowers at the 66th annual Grammy Awards!

Yes, the stars were out at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for music’s biggest night, presided over by return host Trevor Noah, who’s a pleasant enough guy, seemingly happy to be in the room just to tell dopey dad jokes and excitedly point out all the famous people in attendance.

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While there were ultimately only a handful of awards to give out during the show, the night was full of dynamic performances from honest-to-god living legends (Tracy Chapman! Joni Mitchell! Annie Lennox!) and some of the industry’s hottest rising stars (SZA! Dua Lipa! Billie Eilish!).

And even if the winner of the ceremony’s climactic final award was a little expected at this point, there were still plenty of fun surprises along the way, including some very worthy LGBTQ+ winners.

You can see a full list of the night’s winners on the official Grammys website. But re-live the best—and gayest—moments of the show below:

[Oprah voice] You get a trophy, and you get a trophy, and…

If you weren’t watching the Grammys pre-show, you only got maybe… 1/8th of the story? There were a whopping 94 categories to get through, so it’s understandable that the Recording Academy had to dole out a healthy majority of trophies prior to the televised ceremony, with plenty of LGBTQ+ artists—like Boygenius (Best Rock Performance), Victoria Monét (R&B Album), and Billie Eilish (Best Song Written For A Visual Medium)—taking home gold early.

Kylie out-dances Troye

And it was during the hours-long pre-ceremony that—as far as we’re concerned—the showdown of the night occurred: Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam” vs. Troye Sivan’s “Rush” in the Best Pop Dance Recording category; the two songs that ruled not only every gay’s summer, but our entire year. It was a tight race, but the Recording Academy heard it and they knew—”Padam Padam” came out on top, earning Miss Kylie her second Grammy (20 years after last winning for “Come Into My World). Troye, baby, your time will come… maybe even at the Queerties??? It’s up to you! (hint, hint: Don’t forget to vote!)

Dua Lipa gets physical

The proper ceremony got off to a very gay start with Dua Lipa, kicking into her high-energy new single “Training Season” flanked by a bunch of beefy male dances swinging around a little jungle gym set. We’re pretty sure we loved the song, but we’ll have to listen again when we’re not distracted by the homoerotic workout routine? She then gave the dolls just a taste of her Barbie number “Dance The Night,” but catch it before it goes because that quickly transitioned to a rousing rendition of “Houdini”—which was pretty magical, we might add!

Miley gets her flowers

The show producers had the wise idea to let the legendary Mariah Carey present the first award of the night, Best Pop Solo Performance, setting a high bar for glamor and class on that stage. The trophy went to Miley Cyrus for “Flowers,” and the artists formerly known as Hannah Montana seemed appropriately stoked to be standing next to Carey—so much so that they were both in frame for the entirety of her acceptance speech.

Tracy Chapman’s still got it

And while we’re talking legends… queer icon Tracy Chapman made an all-too-rare public appearance to sing her timeless classic “Fast Car” alongside country artist Luke Combs, whose cover of the song has been a massive crossover hit. Nice of him to cede some stage to such a trailblazer, her voice sounding as great as ever, giving us Full. Body. Chills. We hope the success of Luke’s cover is making her some coin!!

Pop Star Barbie

Billie Eilish—channeling Jennifer Coolidge channeling Monic Vitti/Peppa Pig—took the stage to perform her goosebump-inducing Barbie number “What Was I Made For?,” and even though it was an appropriately stripped down, quieter performance, she really commanded the entire arena. The song’s just that good (going on to win Song Of The Year later in the evening, too). Next up for Billie? The Oscars stage!

The presence of Tina Turner was in the room

Rock’n’roll superstar Tina Turner—who passed last May—was a major fixture of the In Memoriam segment, receiving the final musical tribute courtesy of Fantasia Barrino performing the queen’s version of “Proud Mary” like no one else could. But even before that, we were getting major Tina vibes from Miley Cyrus’ live performance of “Flowers,” all big hair and sparkles as she wailed her way through the number center-stage (razzing the audience for not singing along) and dropping the whole d*mn mic stand before strutting off stage. Tina would be proud of them both.

Jay Z calls out the Grammys for snubbing Beyoncé

She may not have been nominated for anything this year, but mother Beyoncé was in the house to support her man, Jay Z, who was accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. And Jay was definitely speaking for all of us when he took a moment to acknowledge that his wife is the most Grammy-awarded artist of all time and somehow still hasn’t one Album Of The Year. Hey, yeah, what is up with that, Recording Academy??? Speak on it, Jay! (“Some of you don’t belong in the category.”—Oop!)

Joni Mitchell has everyone sobbing

When queer country-rock crooner Brandi Carlile hit the stage, we knew what was about to happen, so we immediately grabbed our tissue boxes—and we’re so glad we did. She gave a lovely speech in honor of her friend Joni Mitchell, and then sat right beside her as they (and a few other talented friends) performed a truly stunning, heartbreaking rendition of “Both Sides, Now.” Mitchell sounded so wonderful and truly looked so happy to be there. Near the end of the song, many LA viewers got a “flash flood” alert on their phones—which was appropriate because the tears were flowing!

Victoria Monét finally gets her due

It was stiff competition, but this year’s Best New Artist award when to R&B bi-con Victoria Monét, giving one of the sweetest, funniest, and most gracious speeches of the night. The always contested category honors folks who have never been nominated before, even if they aren’t necessarily “new”—underscored by the fact that, as she said in her speech, Monét’s already been working in this industry for 15 years. But that made this moment all the more deserved, and we hope this is the start of an even bigger, better chapter for this talented artist. (Next up? The Queerties Awards!)

Miley Cyrus thanks her “main gays”

She’s just being Miley! While accepting her second award for “Flowers,” Record Of The Year, Cyrus gave another memorable speech, referencing the fact that she “might’ve forgotten underwear.” But one thing she didn’t forget? To thank her gays. While rattling off names, she made sure to shout out her “main gays—’cuz look how good I look,” met with a loud round of applause from the audience.

The return of Celine Dion / The reign of Taylor Swift

A mystery teased all night by the show, the Grammys’ final presenter was none other than global pop icon/every gay’s favorite Celine Dion, making her first public appearance in months as she’s been dealing with stiff-person syndrome. The diva looked absolutely fabulous and got the rapturous reception she deserved as she walked on stage to present Album Of The Year.

And the Grammy goes to… Taylor Swift’s Midnights, which makes the superstar a record-breaker as the first artist ever to win four Album Of The Year awards. Her army of fans were no doubt thrilled, though many viewers took umbrage with the fact that Swift was so caught up in the historical moment that she didn’t even acknowledge she was sharing the stage with Celine Dion—not a thank you, not a hug, not even a look—nothing. But before anyone could get too mad, the pair did take a celebratory make-good photo backstage, so… problem solved we guess?

Those Red Carpet threads

And, last but certainly not least, the night’s carpet presented a nonstop runway of looks that had us gooped and saving so many photos to our camera roll. And you know our favorite stars turned it out, from Janelle Monáe to Rufus Wainwright to eternal goddess of the red carpet, Laverne Cox—check out a few favorites below:

Not thrilled with how the Grammy Awards panned out this year? Well, don’t get mad—get even! The night’s biggest names and many more were nominated for the 2024 Queerties Awards, and you can vote for your favorites—in “Anthem,” “Music Video,” “Breakout Musical Artist,” and beyond—once a day between now and February 22.

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