Sunday’s Grammy Awards raked in an average of 16.9 million viewers, according to data from Nielsen, marking the show’s highest-performing night since its pre-pandemic installment in 2020.
The 16.9 million viewers are a 34% increase from last year’s Grammys, which averaged 12.5 million viewers.
Paramount+ scored its highest Grammys viewership ever and was up 173% in streams from last year, though the views don’t count toward the CBS broadcast numbers.
The most-watched portion of the show peaked at 18.3 million viewers during its In Memoriam segment, which featured performances from Stevie Wonder, Jon Batiste, Fantasia Barrino and Annie Lennox.
E!’s red carpet coverage also experienced a boost, bringing in an average of 1.5 million viewers, the NBCUniversal pre-show’s best viewership since 2020, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The awards ceremony took place at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena and featured record-breaking wins for some artists and performances by Luke Combs, Tracy Chapman, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, SZA and more. Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” won the award for Album of the Year, making the 34-year-old superstar the first artist to win the prize four times. Miley Cyrus won Best Pop Solo Performance and Record of the Year with her chart-topping single, “Flowers.” Veteran Atlanta rapper Killer Mike won awards for Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Album before later being escorted out of the venue in handcuffs over a reported physical altercation. The rapper told the Big Tigger Morning Show his detainment was a “speed bump” before him and his team headed “back to the party.”
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