Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus not only scored a big win at the Grammys on Sunday, but also led the awards show to its highest ratings since 2020.
This year's star-studded ceremony, hosted by Trevor Noah, 39, took place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and the CBS broadcast averaged 16.9 million viewers, according to TVLine.
That's a 34 percent increase over last year's broadcast and the highest viewership in four years. The show's audience peaked at 18.25 million viewers around 9:45 p.m
Of course, there were plenty of memorable moments to tune into, including Swift, 34, making history when she won her fourth Album of the Year after making the shocking announcement that she would be releasing a new album.
Cyrus, 31, was one of the night's biggest winners, picking up her first Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance for her hit “Flowers” and later winning the coveted Record Of The Year award.
Taylor Swift (l) and Miley Cyrus (r) not only scored big wins at the Grammys on Sunday, but also led the awards show to its highest ratings since 2020
The 16.9 million viewers of the CBS broadcast does not include streaming.
The network says viewership of Paramount+'s live stream of the Grammys has more than doubled year over year, but the numbers were not disclosed.
The reporting from E! The Grammys red carpet averaged 1.5 million viewers, its largest viewership since 2020, up from 1.1 million annually.
In a similar trend, last month's viewership of the Golden Globe Awards increased 50 percent compared to last year, averaging 9.4 million live viewers on CBS, according to Nielsen ratings data.
A year ago, the Globes drew just 6.3 million viewers to the ceremony on Comcast Corp.'s NBC.
On Sunday, Swift had a number of memorable moments that were sure to draw in viewers.
The pop star stunned her fans when she made the surprise announcement of a new album during her acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album for her latest album Midnights – which marked her 13th Grammy win.
“I would like to thank the fans by telling you a secret that I have been keeping from you for the last two years, which is that my brand new album is coming out on April 19th.”
This year's ceremony, hosted by Trevor Noah, 39 (pictured), took place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and the CBS broadcast averaged 16.9 million viewers
That's a 34 percent increase over last year's broadcast and the highest viewership in four years. The show's audience peaked at 18.25 million viewers around 9:45 p.m
Of course, there were plenty of memorable moments to tune into, including Swift, 34, making history with her fourth album of the year
Swift later won album of the year but received backlash for “disrespect” by “ignoring” Celine Dion, 55, who presented her with the award.
Celine, who gave up her singing career due to her health problems, was visibly emotional as she took the stage with the support of her eldest son Rene-Charles, 23, to cheers and a standing ovation and presented the album of the year
The pop star also stunned her fans when she announced a surprise new album titled The Tortured Poet's Department during her acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album
The drama continued as Jay-Z, 54, called out the Grammys for never giving his wife Beyonce, 42, album of the year just before Swift won; Seen with daughter Blue Ivy, 12
“I don't want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than anyone else and has never won album of the year,” he said
“It's called The Tortured Poet's Department. “I'll go backstage right now and post the cover.”
Just minutes later, Taylor spoke up and shared the chic cover of her upcoming 11th studio album, which showed her lying on a bed in black underwear and a sheer black top, causing her Instagram page to be temporarily closed.
Swift later won album of the year, but received backlash for “disrespect” by “ignoring” Céline Dion, who presented her with the award.
Dion, during her battle with stiff person syndrome, made a surprisingly rare appearance at the ceremony to present Swift with the honor – which she herself won 27 years ago.
Swift – who was nominated for her 2022 album “Midnights” – became the first person to win the award four times and took the stage with excitement.
Dion, 55, presented her with the award, but fans pointed out that Swift didn't acknowledge her or make eye contact, but quickly looked back to celebrate the moment with her collaborators instead.
The drama continued when Jay-Z called out the Grammys for never giving his wife Beyoncé Album of the Year just before Swift won.
In a move that viewers claimed was reminiscent of Kanye West's infamous 2009 MTV VMAs speech, Jay-Z launched into an impassioned rant as he pointed out how ridiculous it was that Beyoncé had 32 awards but none for the main prize, being the Grammy's most awarded artist.
Cyrus, 31, was one of the night's biggest winners as she picked up her first Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance for her song “Flowers” and later won Record Of The Year
In another hilarious moment, she addressed the Grammy audience for not singing along to her live performance of Flowers by asking, “Why are you acting like you don't know this song?”
Meanwhile, Cyrus had some viral moments of her own, including when she called out the Grammy audience for not singing along to her live performance of Flowers.
She wowed in a sparkling silver dress with tassel details as well as colorful details on the skirt and a large cutout on the front.
At one point between belting out the song's lyrics, Cyrus could be heard urging the crowd in the venue to bring more energy, asking, “Why are you acting like you don't know this song?”
A few seconds later, the camera briefly showed some of the celebrities standing up and dancing along to the upbeat song, including Taylor Swift.
Miley could also be heard on stage quickly celebrating her recent Grammy win for Best Pop Solo Performance for Flowers.
After singing the lyrics, “Started to cry/But then I remembered,” she excitedly shouted, “I just won my first Grammy!”, causing the audience to erupt in cheers and applause.
Another highlight of the evening was Tracy Chapman, who had the audience shaking with a rousing rendition of her hit “Fast Car”.
Another highlight of the evening was Tracy Chapman, 59, who brought the audience to its feet with a rousing rendition of her hit “Fast Car.”
Dua Lipa opened the show with an energetic performance of new single “Training Season.”
Billie Joel performed at the awards show for the first time in 30 years, just days after he announced he would be releasing his first song since 2007
The legendary songwriter, 59, made a rare appearance as she rocked out on stage with Luke Combs, whose cover of her 1988 song was a crossover hit in 2023 and earned him a nomination for best country solo performance.
One of the night's biggest awards – Song Of The Year – went to Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas for What Was I Made For? which was included in the soundtrack of the most successful film of 2023, Barbie.
SZA was the most nominated artist at the event with nine artists, receiving two before the gala aired, but she took the stage first as she took home best R&B song, bringing her total to three.
Victoria Monet won best new artist against an impressive field including Coco Jones, Gracie Abrams, Fred Again, Ice Spice, Jelly Roll, Noah Kahan and The War and Treaty.