Jay-Z calls out Grammys for never awarding Beyoncé album of the year: ‘When I get nervous, I tell the truth’
Even though Beyoncé is the artist with the most Grammy awards ever won, the pop queen is often disqualified from key categories by the Recording Academy.
Jay-Z, Beyoncé’s husband, blasted the Recording Academy at Sunday’s Los Angeles gala for ignoring his wife during his acceptance speech for the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award.
“She has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year, so even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work,” Jay-Z said of his spouse.
Beyoncé wasn’t nominated for any Oscars this year, but her relationship with the academy is longstanding, so it was like resurrecting an old grievance.
Beyoncé has only won one Grammy—the song of the year—out of the four most coveted awards.
She has been passed over four times for album of the year and eight more times for record of the year. She has never received a nomination for artist of the year.
Below is a summary of Beyoncé’s most notable Grammy rejections.
2024: Jay-Z criticizes the school over its earlier rejections.
On stage at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 4, 2024, Jay-Z collects the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award with his daughter Blue Ivy.
Onstage at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Jay-Z and his daughter Blue Ivy accepted the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. Getty Images / Valerie Macon / AFP
Beyoncé went to the 66th annual Grammy Awards in February with her oldest daughter, Blue Ivy, to support her husband, Jay-Z, who was being honored with the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award for his accomplishments in the music business.
Jay-Z, accompanied by Blue, took the stage and started his acceptance speech by expressing gratitude to Dr. Dre and other rappers that broke through the glass barrier for Black musicians.
Then, for a small period of time, he attacked the Recording Academy, claiming it was absurd that his wife had never won album of the year.
“Gimmies, consider that the most. Album of the Year never won. That is ineffective,” he said.
“Some of you will feel like you’ve been taken advantage of when you get home tonight. Maybe a few of you will get robbed. “A few of you don’t fit the description,” he made a post-event joke. “No, when I get nervous, I tell the trutҺ.”
As he concluded, Jay-Z urged the crowd to keep going until they were given the recognition they deserved.
“You need to keep going; forget about the Grammys. till they bestow upon you all the honors you believe you are due,” he said. “Until they call you ‘chairman,’ until they call you a ‘genius,’ until they call you ‘the greatest of all time.'”