Grammy Awards preview: The big moments to look out for

Los Angeles, California - It seems like the Year of Taylor Swift, but anything could happen at the ever unpredictable Grammy Awards on Sunday, with Queen Swift poised to make history and women performers expected to reign supreme.

The 66th Grammy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on Sunday night and broadcast live on CBS.
The 66th Grammy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on Sunday night and broadcast live on CBS.  © Getty Images for The Recording Academy

The 66th edition of music's most prestigious awards ceremony marks a historic year for women, queer, and gender fluid artists up for the night's major trophies.

But whether they'll actually win is anyone's guess, and there's always room for eyebrow-raises and quirky choices across the evening's more than 90 competitive fields.

Here's a guide on what to watch at Sunday's ceremony in Los Angeles, which TAG24 will be bringing to you live on social media.

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Taylor Swift is poised to make history at the 2024 Grammy Awards on Sunday.
Taylor Swift is poised to make history at the 2024 Grammy Awards on Sunday.  © SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP

Taylor Swift is up for six gramophones this year, including for Album of the Year for her most recent new volume of work, Midnights.

If she wins the prestigious trophy, it would be her fourth – the most of any artist, breaking the tie she is currently in with Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, and Stevie Wonder.

Her high-profile relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is among the myriad reasons Swift's name is headline catnip these days, but the NFL superstar is not set to attend Sunday's gala with her. Kelce will be busy preparing to play in next weekend's Super Bowl in Las Vegas, in which the Chiefs will face the San Francisco 49ers.

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"I wish I can go and support Taylor at the Grammys and watch her win every award that she is nominated for," Kelce said in a recent interview.

Who will she be sitting with and will she perform on Sunday? We have our bets hedged.

Grammys 2024 could see Tracy Chapman, Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell, and more

Country singer Luke Combs is slated to perform at the Grammy Awards in LA on Sunday night.
Country singer Luke Combs is slated to perform at the Grammy Awards in LA on Sunday night.  © Jason Kempin / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

The Recording Academy hands out most of its dozens of awards prior to the more than three-hour, performance-heavy main broadcast, to air on CBS.

Expected on stage is Luke Combs, the country singer whose omission from the evening's major prizes was a surprise. Combs dropped a cover of Tracy Chapman's 1988 classic Fast Car to resounding success, earning a single nod in the country categories. It is rumored that Combs' performance will include Chapman herself, who rarely appears in public.

Viewers can also look forward to a set from Billy Joel, who just released a new single, his first original music in nearly two decades.

Icon Joni Mitchell also will serenade the gala, her first Grammy performance ever despite a half-century relationship with the Academy. The 80-year-old received a folk album nomination for her live record Joni Mitchell at Newport, when she delivered a set just years after an aneurysm led to fears she might never play again.

Mitchell isn't the only OG up for a prize: two compilations from Bob Dylan and the late Lou Reed are in the running for Best Historical Album. The winner of that prize will go to the albums' producers and engineers, rather than the artist, but the name recognition could boost their chances.

The same goes for a music video set to I'm Only Sleeping by The Beatles. The Fab Four aren't up for the award themselves – the video's director and producers are – but their appearance on a shortlist that includes Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler Childers, and Troye Sivan was a little far-out.

Barbie and Bernie

Billie Eilish's wrenching ballad What Was I Made For? could win big for Barbie at the 2024 Grammys, alongside a win for Senator Bernie Sanders (l.).
Billie Eilish's wrenching ballad What Was I Made For? could win big for Barbie at the 2024 Grammys, alongside a win for Senator Bernie Sanders (l.).  © Collage: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI & MICHAEL TRAN / AFP

Women have more representation than ever at this year's Grammys, with SZA earning nine nods followed closely by the likes of Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and supergroup boygenius.

But it's our girl Barbie who raked in the most chances at Grammy gold, with 11.

The eclectic, star-powered soundtrack to the billion-dollar summer blockbuster earned nominations for songs performed by Eilish, Dua Lipa, Best New Artist favorite Ice Spice, and the Oscar contender Ryan Gosling.

Eilish won a Golden Globe last month for her spare, wrenching ballad What Was I Made For? which earned her Grammy nominations for both Best Song and Best Record – and could also see her win an Oscar next month.

It's a rare hit that wins both a Song of the Year Grammy and an Academy Award for Best Original Song: others to accomplish the feat are Barbra Streisand's The Way We Were and Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On.

Meanwhile, "And the Grammy goes to... Bernie?" could happen. Bernie Sanders – yes, that Bernie Sanders – has a second chance to win a Grammy in the audiobook and narration category. The leftist senator's reading of It's Ok to Be Angry About Capitalism is up against efforts by Michelle Obama, Meryl Streep, William Shatner, and Rick Rubin in one of the night's quirkier categories. If former first lady Obama wins, it would be her second audiobook victory; her husband Barack has two already.

Also in contention is Trevor Noah, the comedian hosting the gala for the fourth consecutive year.

Noah lost the Best Comedy Album honor in 2020 to Dave Chappelle, one year before he began his stint as Grammy master of ceremonies.

Speaking to People recently, Noah joked that his hosting gig is just a campaign to win: "It's all been a long con."

The Grammy Awards kicks off on Sunday night, and TAG24 has you covered!

Cover photo: Collage: SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP, JASON KEMPIN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP, & Getty Images for The Recording Academy

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