Tonight, at the 2024 Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena, Jay-Z was handed the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. During his speech, Jay-Z called out the Recording Academy for never giving his wife, Beyoncé, Album of the Year despite her being the winningest artist in Grammy history. Find his speech below.
“I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the Year,” Jay-Z said. “So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys; never won Album of the Year. That doesn’t work.”
Beyoncé has been nominated for 88 competitive Grammy Awards, winning 32 of them. Like her husband, Beyoncé has been nominated six times for Album of the Year. Famously, in 2017, Album of the Year victor Adele said that Beyoncé should have won the award for Lemonade.
On Thursday, February 1, the Recording Academy and the Black Music Collective presented Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz with Global Impact Awards at a Los Angeles event. The version of the award that Carey and Kravitz won “recognizes Black music creators whose dedication to the art form has greatly influenced the industry and whose legacy of service inspires countless individuals worldwide, celebrating those who, through leadership and passion, empower others to embrace their authentic selves and contribute to positive change,” according to the Recording Academy.