What were the musical performances with record audiences at the last Grammy Awards ceremony?

The 66th annual edition of the Grammy Awards drew an average of Sunday night 16.9 million viewersthanks to a gala full of high-profile performances and surprises.

This scores a 34% improvement over last year’s programwhich averaged 12.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched Grammy ceremony of 2020.

The numbers are calculated from Nielsen’s measurement of linear viewership on CBS and data from Paramount Global covering streaming on Paramount+, CBS.com and the CBS app.

Moreover, Fundamental+ recorded the highest Grammy viewership in its history with 173% more views than in 2023.

In turn, NBCUniversal also scored some wins on Sunday:AND! The Grammys live from the red carpet had its largest broadcast since 2017 with 1.5 million viewers. The pre-show live from AND! Countdown to the Grammys and the post-show Live from E!: Grammys After Party They reached their highest audience since 2020.

The segments with the largest audience

With a peak of 18.3 million viewers, The most watched quarter of an hour of the broadcast was during the classic episode “In Memoriam”where Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Jon Batiste and Fantasia Barrino remembered with songs some of the figures who died in the last year.

Wonder sang a duet with a video of Tony Bennettand Lennox was encouraged by the great song which he popularized Sinéad O’Connor, Nothing compares to 2U. Both died last year.

There were also segments dedicated to Tina Turner and executive Clarence Avant, who signed legends like Bill Withers.

Another highlight of Sunday’s program was Tracy Chapman’s first public appearance in years, accompanied by Luke Combs to sing her hit Fast car.

They also measured well Joni Mitchell’s first Grammy performance; and when Celine Dion surprised everyone by presenting the award for best album, more than a year after revealing his diagnosis of stiff person syndrome. AND Taylor Swift announced his next album The Department of Tortured Poets.

The winners

The main winners of the 66th Grammy Awards, presented on Sunday in Los Angeles by the Recording Academy, were:

Album of the Year: MidnightTaylor Swift.

Record of the Year: flowersMiley Cyrus.

Song of the Year (Songwriter Award): What was I created for?Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O’Connell.

Best New Artist: Victoria Monet.

Best Pop Solo Performance: flowersMiley Cyrus.

Best pop duo/group performance: Ghost in the car SZA with Phoebe Bridgers.

Best Pop Vocal Album: MidnightTaylor Swift.

Best Dance/Electronic Music Recording: RhombusSkrillex, Fred again… and Flowdan.

Best Rock Album: Here becauseParamore.

Best Progressive R&B Album: SOS.SZA.

Best Folk Album: Joni Mitchell in Newport (Live)Joni Mitchell.

Best Latin Urban Music Album: Tomorrow will be beautiful, Karol G.

Best alternative rock or latin music album (necktie): Daily life of Juanes, and Of all the flowersby Natalia Lafourcade.

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (including Texan): GENESISFeather-weight.