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Beyoncé breaks record for most Grammy wins of all time: Her Grammys timeline in full

Beyoncé has broken the record for the most Grammy Award wins of all time – totalling at 32 – after taking home four awards at the 2023 ceremony.

The R&B superstar, who won her first Grammy in 2001 as part of Destiny’s Child, took home awards for Best Dance/Electronic Album (Renaissance), Best Dance/Electronic Recording (Break My Soul), Best Traditional R&B Performance (Plastic Off the Sofa) and Best R&B Song (Cuff It).

In winning her 32nd Grammy award, Beyoncé overtook Hungarian-British conductor George Solti, whose record of 31 Grammys had previously stood for more than 20 years.

The award that broke the record was her win for Best Dance/Electronic Album for her critically acclaimed seventh studio album, Renaissance.

“I’m trying not to be too emotional and I’m trying to just receive this night,” Beyoncé said while receiving her historic Grammy for Renaissance. “I want to thank God for protecting me. I’d like to thank my uncle Johnny, who’s not here, but he’s here in spirit.”

“I’d like to thank my parents, my father, my mother for loving me and pushing me. I’d like to thank my beautiful husband, my beautiful three children who are at home watching.

"I’d like to thank the queer community for your love and for inventing this genre. Thank you so much to the Grammys. Thank you.”

Beyoncé conceived and recorded Renaissance during the Covid-19 pandemic, aiming to inspire joy and escapism after the long period of self isolation, and to celebrate a club era in which marginalised people sought liberation through dance music.

Each track on the album transitions into the following song like a seamless disco DJ mix, blending elements of post ‘70s black dance music and house, all the while paying homage to the black and queer pioneers of those genres.

As mentioned in her acceptance speech, Beyoncé was largely introduced to the queer culture and its music by her ‘Uncle’ Jonny, her homosexual cousin who helped raise her until his death during the AIDS epidemic.

Renaissance was a commercial success, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart – her seventh consecutive album to do so – and is certified platinum. It also reached number one in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The album’s lead single Break My Soul reached number one on several charts worldwide, including the US Billboard Hot 100. The album's second single Cuff It peaked in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and internationally.

The album received universal acclaim from music critics for its eclectic yet cohesive sound, joyous mood, and Beyoncé's vocal performance.

The most highly lauded album of 2022, it was named the best album of the year by publications including the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, NPR, Pitchfork and Rolling Stone.

Renaissance received a record-breaking nine nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

Beyoncé fans felt sure that this would be her year to take home AOTY for Renaissance.

Yet despite her record breaking success on the night, many noted that for the fourth time in a row Beyoncé was once again overlooked for the coveted Album Of The Year award – despite each time being a favourite to win the award.

In 2010 I Am... Sasha Fierce lost out to Taylor Swift's Fearless, in 2015 Beck took home the award for Morning Phase over Beyoncé, and in 2017 Lemonade (which Headliner called her most accomplished, adventurous and fiercely proud work yet) was beaten by Adele’s 25, leading a stunned Adele to acknowledge the impact of Beyoncé’s sixth studio album in her acceptance speech.

“I can’t possibly accept this award. I’m very humbled, and I’m very grateful and gracious, but the artist of my life is Beyoncé,” she said in her speech. “The Lemonade album was just so monumental – Beyoncé – so monumental, and so well thought out, and so beautiful and soul-bearing, and we all got to see another side to you that you don’t always let us see. And we appreciate that, and all us artists here fucking adore you. You are our light, and the way that you make me and my friends feel – the way that you make my black friends feel – is empowering, and you make them stand up for themselves. And I love you, I always have, and I always will.”

This year a visibly shocked Harry Styles won Album of the Year for Harry's House over what Beyoncé fans felt would finally be her time to take home the coveted gong for the boundary-pushing Renaissance.

In another surprise win, Bonnie Raitt's Just Like That won Song of the Year over mainstream best-selling hits including Beyoncé's Break My Soul, Adele's Easy on Me, Harry Styles' As It Was and Lizzo's About Damn Time.

Check out the full winners list here.

Beyoncé led the 2023 nominations with nine, putting her in a tie for all-time Grammy nominations with her husband, Jay-Z, at 88 each.

Prior to the 2023 Grammy Awards, Beyoncé had already made history, as with her previous 28 Grammy wins she had already been crowned the most awarded female artist in the awards’ history.

Headliner takes a look back at the timeline of each one of Beyoncé’s Grammy wins:

2001

(Destiny’s Child) Say My Name: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, Best R&B Song

2002

(Destiny’s Child) Survivor: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal

2004

Dangerously in Love: Best Contemporary R&B Album

The Closer I Get to You (with Luther Vandross): Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals

Crazy in Love (featuring Jay-Z): Record of the Year, Best R&B Song, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

Dangerously in Love 2: Best Female R&B Vocal Performance

2006

So Amazing (with Stevie Wonder): Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals

2007

B'Day: Best Contemporary R&B Album

2010

I Am... Sasha Fierce: Best Contemporary R&B Album

Halo: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It): Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance

At Last: Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance

2013

Love on Top: Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance

2015

Beyoncé: Best Surround Sound Album

Drunk in Love (featuring Jay-Z): Best R&B Performance, Best R&B Song

2017

Lemonade: Best Urban Contemporary Album

Formation: Best Music Video

2019

Everything Is Love: Best Urban Contemporary Album

2020

Homecoming: Best Music Film

2021

Black Parade: Best R&B Performance

Savage (remix) (Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé): Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song

Brown Skin Girl (Beyoncé, Saint Jhn and Wizkid featuring Blue Ivy Carter): Best Music Video

2023

Renaissance: Best Dance/Electronic Album

Break My Soul: Best Dance/Electronic Recording

Plastic Off the Sofa: Best Traditional R&B Performance

Cuff It: Best R&B Song


Image credit: Mason Poole