Beyonce? nears all-time Grammys record with early wins

The Grammy Awards began on a positive note for Beyonce? and actress Viola Davis.

Beyonce? won best dance-electronic music recording for “Break My Soul” and best traditional R&B performance for “Plastic Off the Sofa” before Sunday night’s main ceremony, giving her 30 career Grammy wins — one shy of the all-time record.

She entered the 2023 Grammys leading all artists with nine nominations, including in the night’s biggest categories: album, record and song of the year. Conductor Georg Solti holds the all-time record with 31 wins.

Beyonce?'s 88 nominations are tied with her husband, Brooklyn-born rapper Jay-Z, for the most ever.

Davis won her first career Grammy during the live-streamed, non-televised portion of Sunday’s show, making her the 18th person to achieve EGOT status as the recipient of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

Her win came in the best audio book, narration and storytelling recording category for her 2022 memoir, “Finding Me.”

“I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola, to honor her, her life, her joy, her trauma, everything,” Davis said during an acceptance speech. “It has just been such a journey.”

Davis, 57, is the first person to reach the EGOT milestone since Jennifer Hudson in 2021. Rita Moreno, John Legend, Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg and Andrew Lloyd Webber are among the other EGOT recipients.

Many of the night’s 91 categories were announced before the main show at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Other early winners included Kendrick Lamar, who won best rap song and best rap performance for “The Heart Part 5.” His six wins in the best rap performance category are the most ever.

Like Beyonce?, Lamar was nominated for album, record and song of the year. Adele, Lizzo and Harry Styles also received nominations in all three categories.

Brandi Carlile — whose previous six Grammy wins came in country, American roots and Americana categories — won best rock song and best rock performance Sunday for “Broken Horses.”

“It’s rock ‘n’ roll, man,” said Carlile, who co-wrote the song with her bandmates Phil and Tim Hanseroth. “I cannot tell you how much this means to us. We’re born and raised in Seattle. When I met these guys 22 years ago we decided to get into a band.”

Carlile also won best Americana album for “In These Silent Days,” which was nominated as well for album of the year.

Other album of the year finalists included the Bronx-born Mary J. Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe)” and Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti,” which was the first Spanish-language project to be nominated in the category.

With News Wire Services