Taylor Swift accepts the Album Of The Year award for “Midnights” during the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 4, 2024. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy.

Every Grammy Awards have own storyline, and the 2024 edition may end up being most notable because it was … actually really good!? Every year, the Recording Academy show is defined by the gripes: what it got wrong, what it left out and how it doesn’t reflect what people are listening to. But Sunday’s marathon show found its groove by keeping it simple and celebrating why we all care in the first place: the music.

Taylor Swift made the biggest headline with her record-breaking fourth Album of the Year award and her bombshell new album announcement. During her first win, Swift declared she’d been holding for “two years in the making” that she’d be releasing her next record, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19. Swift also took home the night’s top honor of Album of the Year for Midnights. But the night wasn’t only defined by Swift. The Grammy Awards honored a diverse range of artists from the past and present, and spread those awards out pretty evenly.

Dua Lipa performs during the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 4, 2024. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy.

The performances were electric, the tributes poignant and the production terrific. The show managed make its points about the place of music in society and in culture without getting bogged down in the message. While Dua Lipa may have gone home empty-handed, her opening performance provided some of the biggest fireworks of the night. Fusing a premiere of “Training Season” and “Houdini,” Lipa showed why she’s one of the best hitmakers in the world, and certainly someone in line to pick up a few awards for herself on next year’s telecast.

Billie Eilish won multiple awards for “What Was I Made For?” and Miley Cyrus picked up a few more for her megahit “Flowers,” including Record of the Year. Given that so many award categories were filled with so many marquee artists, it seemed the wealth was spread relatively evenly. Olivia Rodrigo left without an award, but her performance of “Vampire” was also rock solid.

The tributes may have been where the Grammys truly shined. The duet with Tracy Chapman and country star Luke Combs was about as perfect of an award show performance as you’ll find. It was Chapman’s first time on stage in a long time, and the joy she exuded in playing the track was evident. Combs was a terrific sparring partner, offering up a beautiful harmonized vocal.

FINNEAS and Billie Eilish perform during the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 4, 2024. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy.

Joni Mitchell made her Grammy Awards debut with several guests including Brandi Carlile and Allison Russell. She was seated in an elegant armchair alongside a few artists she’s inspired, and it was truly powerful.

The In Memoriam, a tribute to musicians and music industry professionals who passed in 2023, hit absolutely every right note, from Stevie Wonder honoring Tony Bennett to Annie Lennox singing Sinéad O’Connor, to Fantasia Barrino—and Oprah!—tackling Tina Turner and Jon Batiste and several others singing the songs of Clarence Avant. Each segment had its own personality and historical weight.

There were moments of honesty, like when rapper Jay-Z needled the Recording Academy for its treatment of hip-hop artists in the past, as well as how it’s decorated Beyonce with awards but never the top honor. Grammy CEO Harvey Mason, Jr. honored those who lost their lives at the Supernova Music Festival in Israel on Oct. 7, while also recognizing the collective connection of humanity through music surrounded by a string quartet with Arab, Israeli and Palestinian musicians.

Billy Joel.

Billy Joel returned to the stage to perform his first new song in three decades and even closed out the night with a second song after all the awards were given away. SZA went into the night with the most nominations and captivated with her performance, as did Travis Scott with his fiery time on the stage. Billie Eilish and FINNEAS offered up a subtle and beautiful take on her “Barbie” soundtrack song, while legendary rockers U2 made a cameo in what amounted to an advertisement for their temporary home in Las Vegas, Sphere. Their compilation clip showed off the venue’s technical marvels but wasn’t really a performance—and U2 and Sphere were quickly overshadowed by Swift’s album surprise.

All in all, it was a night the Recording Academy should consider a success and a blueprint for future iterations of the Grammy Awards that bring our favorite songs and artists to life in ways that show off their talents best.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.