Women artists swept the Big Four Awards at the 2024 Grammys, which were presented on Sunday (Feb. 4) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Taylor Swift won album of the year for Midnights, Miley Cyrus took record of the year for “Flowers,” Billie Eilish won song of the year for “What Was I Made For?” (which she co-wrote with her brother Finneas) and Victoria Monét won best new artist.
It’s the seventh time female solo artists or groups in which women were full-fledged members have swept the Big Four awards in the Grammys’ 66-year history. This happened just twice in the Grammys’ first 40 years, and has happened five times in the last 20 years, which clearly signals a growing trend.
We’ll take a closer look at those seven occasions, but first we’ll discuss one situation that came close but didn’t quite measure up to the others.
In 2008, Amy Winehouse won record and song of the year for “Rehab,” a top 10 hit on the Hot 100. She also won best new artist. Album of the year went to Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters. Five women – Norah Jones, Joni Mitchell, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza and Tina Turner – won Grammys as featured artists on that album, but Hancock was the principal artist.
Women also swept the Big Four awards at the 2023 Latin Grammys for the first time in the show’s 24-year history. The show was held on Nov. 16 in Seville, Spain.
Colombian singer Karol G won album of the year for Mañana Será Bonito, which made history as the first all-Spanish language album by a woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Mexican singer Natalia Lafourcade won record of the year for “De Todas las Flores.” Colombian superstar Shakira won song of the year for “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” which was a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. (Shakira co-wrote the song with a male collaborator, Bizarrap.) Venezuelan singer Joaquina, just 19, took best new artist.
Here are the seven times women artists – either solo artists or full-fledged group members – have swept each of the Big Four Awards at the Grammy Awards.