
Ali Miraj 7pm - 10pm
3 February 2025, 05:48 | Updated: 3 February 2025, 08:08
Beyonce has secured the prestigious album of the year Grammy Award for her chart-topping country album Cowboy Carter.
The US superstar had been nominated on four previous occasions, but failed to secure the prize with 2008's I Am... Sasha Fierce, 2013's Beyonce, 2016's Lemonade and 2022's Renaissance.
Collecting the award on Sunday, she said: "I just feel very full and very honoured.
"It's been many, many years and I want to thank the Grammys, every songwriter, every collaborator, every producer, all of the hard work.
"I want to dedicate this to Ms (Linda) Martell, and I hope we just keep pushing forward, opening doors. God bless y'all. Thank you so much."
The singer also praised the firefighters for "keeping us safe" during the Los Angeles wildfires.
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She also secured best country album and was presented the award by pop star Taylor Swift.
Delivering her acceptance speech, the singer said: "I really was not expecting this. I want to thank God that I'm able to still do what I love after so many years.
"I'd like to thank all of the incredible country artists that accepted this album. We worked so hard on it.
"I think sometimes genre is a cold word to keep us in our place as artists and I just want to encourage people to do what they're passionate about and to stay persistent."
Ahead of releasing the album last year, the 43-year-old said in a social media post that the album had been "born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed... and it was very clear that I wasn't".
She added: "But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive."
The singer thanked her "beautiful family" as her daughter Blue Ivy and her husband Jay-Z looked on from the audience, as well as her fans and the artists who collaborated with her on the album, including Miley Cyrus and Post Malone.
She currently holds the title of most Grammy wins in a lifetime after the singer made history when she picked up her 32nd gong in 2023.
Beyonce picked up her first award of the night during the pre-ceremony for her song featuring Miley Cyrus, titled II Most Wanted, winning the country duo/group performance gong.