VOA新闻杂志2024--Taylor Swift, Women Win Big at Grammy Music Awards

Taylor Swift, Women Win Big at Grammy Music Awards

American pop singer and songwriter Taylor Swift won Album of the Year for Midnights" on Sunday at the Grammy Awards.

She has now won that award four times, breaking the record for wins in that category. Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, and Stevie Wonder each won the award three times.

An album is a collection of songs on a single recording¹.

"For me, the award is the work," Swift said. "All I want to do is keep doing it."

Earlier, when receiving another Grammy, for Best Pop Vocal² Album for Midnights, she shared a surprise. She announced that her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, will be released April 19.

Women lead the awards

Women earned the biggest awards and gave the majority of the performances on the American television broadcast.

Of the eight nominees³ for Song of the Year, seven were performed by women.

Billie Eilish's song from the movie Barbie, What Was I Made For? won Song of the Year for her and co-writer Finneas O'Connell, her brother.

Miley Cyrus won Record of the Year for her song Flowers. The record of the year recognizes the best-sounding recording of a particular song. Flowers also earned Cyrus the award for Best Pop Solo performance.

Solána Imani Rowe, known professionally as SZA, won for best R&B song, Snooze. R&B stands for rhythm and blues⁴. SZA also won for Best Pop Duo/group Performance for Ghost in the Machine with Phoebe Bridgers.

Rock group boygenius, whose three members are women and include Bridgers, won Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance for their song Not Strong Enough. The group also won a Grammy for Alternative Album of the Year. Their album is simply named The Record.

Victoria Monét won the Grammy for Best New Artist. But it has taken her years of work to become a successful performer.

"Thanks to my mom, a single mom raising this really bad girl," said Monét when she received her award. Then she started to cry, adding that this award was "15 years in the making."

Karol G of Colombia become the first female performer to win Best Música Urbana Album for Mañana Será Bonito.

New awards

The Grammys added three new categories this year: African Music Performance, Alternative Jazz Album, and Pop Dance Recording. Women were the winners in each of them.

South African singer Tyla won the African music performance Grammy for her hit song, Water.

"I never thought I'd say I won a Grammy at 21 years old," she said in her acceptance speech. "Last year, God decided⁵ to change my whole life."

Meshell Ndegeocello, an American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bass⁶ player, won Best Alternative Jazz Album.

And Kylie Minogue of Australia won Best Pop Dance Recording for her hit Padam Padam.

Rap

Rapper Killer⁷ Mike won three awards Sunday, his first since winning a Grammy in 2003. He won Best Rap Performance for Scientists & Engineers, which featured André 3000, Future and Eryn Allen Kane. The performers won for Best Rap Song for the same song. Killer Mike also received the award for Best Rap Album, for Michael.

Jay-Z won the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. Jay-Z has won 24 Grammys and has been nominated 88 times. He spoke⁸ about the times that rap artists did not get enough attention from the Grammys, although they sold lots of recordings⁹.

Jay-Z's wife, Beyoncé, has won 32 Grammys, more than any other artist. Because she has won so many, Jay-Z thinks it is unfair that she has never won album of the year. "Think about that. The most Grammys, never won album of the year. That doesn't work," Jay-Z said.

"When I get nervous, I tell the truth," he added.

From young to old

The awards show included performers both young and old. American pop singer and songwriter Olivia Rodrigo, aged¹⁰ 20, was nominated for six Grammys, including top awards such as Song of the Year and Album of the Year.

Singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell, aged 80, won for Best Folk Album. It was her eleventh Grammy win. She performed Both Sides Now from her 1969 album Clouds. Mitchell suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015 and has had to relearn how to walk and speak.

American singer and songwriter Billy Joel, 74, ended the awards show with two performances. First, he played his new song Turn the Lights Back On. It is his first pop music release since 1993. Later, he played his 1980 hit, You May Be Right.

The first Grammy Awards show was held in 1959. The awards now include 94 categories.

Words in This Story

category –n. a group of things that are considered similar and are subject to the same kind of consideration

aneurysm –n. an abnormal and dangerous expansion of a blood vessel that can bleeding

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

3 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

4 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

7 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

10 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。