Billie Eilish at the GrammysReuters

Billie Eilish’s contribution to the Barbie film soundtrack, What Was I Made For?, has won one of the top prices at the Grammy Awards, song of the year.

The track underscores one of the most emotional moments in the hit movie, as the doll questions her reality.

It also won the Grammy for best song written for visual media at Sunday’s ceremony in Los Angeles.

The other winners included SZA, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, who used her speech to announce a new album.

Swift could make history later if she scoops her fourth best album award.

She is currently tied on three wins with Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Frank Sinatra.

Taylor Swift at the Grammys

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Eilish beat Swift and other stars including SZA, Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo to the prize for song of the year, which recognises songwriters.

“Damn, that’s stupid guys,” she remarked to the crowd as she accepted the award with her brother and co-writer Finneas.

“Everybody in this category – that was a crazy list of incredible people, incredible artists, incredible music. I feel crazy right now.”

The Barbie album, which was put together by producer Mark Ronson, also picked up the award for best compilation soundtrack for visual media.

Dua Lipa

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Dua Lipa opened the ceremony with an athletic medley of her songs including her contribution to the Barbie album, Dance the Night, which was also up for song of the year.

R&B star SZA is the show’s leading nominee with nine nods. For her performance, the singer staged a recreation of the Crazy 88 fight scene from Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill to accompany her song of the same name.

She was joined by a phalanx of sword-wielding female dancers who swiftly dispatched hordes of men in suits – a reference to her song’s comical tale of killing her ex.

SZA

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The first award of the night went to Miley Cyrus, who picked up best pop vocal performance for her song Flowers.

It was the star’s first Grammy, a fact she noted in her acceptance speech, telling the story of a boy whose futile attempts to catch a butterfly ended when he stopped swinging around a net and stayed still.

“And right when he did is when the butterfly came and landed right on the tip of his nose. And this song, Flowers, is my butterfly,” she said.

Miley Cyrus

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Billed as “music’s biggest night”, the Grammys are the industry’s most prestigious awards.

Rodrigo, Eilish, Burna Boy and Travis Scott were also among the performers, with stars like Swift, Beyoncé and Doja Cat in the audience.

But rare appearances by two music legends eclipsed the younger stars.

Tracy Chapman

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Tracy Chapman has only performed in public a handful of times since going into semi-retirement in 2009, but she joined country singer Luke Combs, who had a smash hit with a cover of her song Fast Car last year.

Then Joni Mitchell gave a poignant seated rendition of her classic Both Sides Now – her first Grammy performance at the age of 80.

The Canadian singer-songwriter had earlier picked up best folk album for a live album that captured her return to the stage in 2022 after a brain aneurysm.

That was one of many awards that were handed out during a four-hour “premiere ceremony” on Sunday afternoon.

Joni Mitchell performs with Brandi Carlile during the 66th Annual Grammy Awards

Reuters

That pre-ceremony also saw multiple wins for indie-rock trio Boygenius, whose debut album The Record combines 1970s California rock harmonies with lyrics about love and friendship.

Rapper Killer Mike won three awards but was later filmed apparently being taken away in handcuffs backstage.

Kylie Minogue won her second ever Grammy, best pop dance recording, for the viral smash Padam Padam.

Olivia Rodrigo at the Grammys

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And South African singer Tyla made history by picking up the first ever award for best African performance.

The 22-year-old, who came fourth in the BBC’s Sound of 2024, won for her viral smash Water, which inspired a TikTok dance craze last summer.

“I still have to remind myself that it’s my song,” she said. “Everywhere I go, it’s playing and people know it. I don’t even know [how to describe] the feeling.”

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