The Grammy Awards show this year was a highly anticipated event for all Archmere music lovers. The competition this year was fierce with many superstar musicians having released new music this year such as Beyonce and Harry Styles. The winners sparked both public interest and commentary.

The year 2022 introduced many new albums from very popular artists that created a competitive atmosphere at this year’s Grammy Awards. Album of the Year is the Grammys’ most prestigious award and is always an- nounced last. The top nominations for 2022’s Album of the Year Award were Adele with “30,” Abba with “Voyage,” Bad Bunny with “Un Verano Sin Ti,” Beyoncé with “Renaissance,” Lizzo with “Special,” and Harry Styles with “Harry’s House.” The winner of this significant award was Harry Styles with “Harry’s House.” A 78-year old representative from Harry’s fan base, Reina, presented this award among the other nominees’ fan representatives. This was a heartwarming way to show the passion of the nominees’ fans of all ages. As he accepted his award, Styles hugged Reina and was very thankful for his fans’ support and everyone who contributed to his success. Although he was at a bit of a loss of words over his major victory he did tell his fans and everyone who helped him get to where he is now, “Thank you very very much.”

Another highly anticipated award was Song of the Year. Many popular songs like “About Damn Time” by Lizzo, “All Too Well (10Minute Version) (The Short Film)” by Taylor Swift, “As It Was” by Harry Styles, “Easy On Me” by Adele, “BREAK MY SOUL” by Beyoncé, and more went head-to-head for this year’s award. Surprisingly, the winner for the 2022 Song of the Year Award was Bonnie Raitt with “Just Like That,” a relatively unknown song in comparison to some of the other nominations from this year. This announcement caused a lot of controversy and debate among fans. Senior Annamaria DeCamp expressed her disappointment, stating “I’ve never even heard of Bonnie Raitt or her song, why did she win over Harry Styles?” Other young people like DeCamp claim that they have never heard the song and when going against very popular and record breaking songs like “All Too Well” and “Easy on Me,” the winning song should be very well known. Even Bonnie Raitt herself had an astonished and surprised look on her face when it was announced that her song won, despite her own song-writing and guitar skills which have garnered Grammys in the past. In conclusion, the 2022 Song of the Year award created controversy and confusion in the music industry.

Often confused with the award for Song of the Year, Record of the Year deals with how the song was recorded and the artists, pro- ducers, and engineers that went into creating it while Song of the Year is about the composition of the song and the people who wrote it. This past year offered some excellently recorded tracks from different types of genres that were all incredibly deserving of the prestigious honor of record of the year. The nominations

were “Don’t Shut Me Down” by ABBA, “Easy On Me” by Adele, “BREAK MY SOUL” by Beyoncé, “Good Morning Gorgeous” by Mary J. Blige, “You And Me On The Rock” by Brandi Carlile featuring Lucius, “Woman” by Doja Cat, “Bad Habit” by Steve Lacy, “The Heart Part 5” by Kendrick Lamar, “About Damn Time” by Lizzo, and lastly “As It Was” by Harry Styles. Needless to say, all of these records were pro- duced by great artists so the decision for which is the best could not have been an easy one. “As It Was” and “BREAK MY SOUL”, were our two favorite records off this nomination list, but

all the other songs definitely had earned their right to gain a nomination for this prestigious award. The grammys still did find a way to select which one they determined best though, and Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” ended up taking home the award for Record of the Year. Of course, as with every award, when all the nominees have countless fans, some viewers will have wished that their favorite artist had taken home the Grammy, but we are sure that many, especially here at Archmere, can put our favorite artist aside and agree that this was a well-deserved win for Lizzo and her ground- breaking record. Archmere sophomore Jillian Hamberger agrees with this statement saying, “Even though I am not a huge fan of any of the nominees this year, I still think that Lizzo definitely deserved this big award!

Beyoncé has certainly defined what it means to be a musical icon of the 2000s. Starting out in the musical trio Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé soon paved her way into an immense- ly successful solo career with hits such as “Single Ladies” and “Crazy in Love” along with a diehard fan base known as the “BeyHive.” Without a doubt Beyoncé has already created an iconic legacy which her latest album “Re- naissance” only adds to. This album was lauded by critics and fans alike upon release and was expected by many to sweep at the Grammys. Prior to the 2022 Grammy Awards, Beyoncé had already won 28 Grammys and received 79 nominations, tying her with her husband Jay-Z for the most Grammy nominations ever. Al- though Beyoncé did not take home the major awards such as Album of the Year and Song of the Year as hoped, she did take home four more Grammys placing her in the number one spot for most Grammy wins with 32 awards. This milestone was appreciated by musical fans worldwide as the “Queen Bee” finally ascended into the most desirable throne for any musical artist, winning the most esteemed award in the industry more than any other.

To conclude, the Grammys this year highlighted the accomplishments of many artists and marked a historic milestone for the most Grammy awards ever won. Even though some debates still linger among Archmere stu- dents regarding who they feel should have won the big awards, we are certain that we can all agree that each artist worked very hard and de- serves recognition. To say this year’s Grammys were a major success would be an understate- ment, and we are certain that next year’s award ceremony will exceed our expectations once again.