LGBTQ+ singer Victoria Monét wins Best New Artist at the Grammys
Victoria Monét was nominated for seven Grammys overall. (Getty)
Singer-songwriter, and bisexual icon, Victoria Monét has won best new artist at the 2024 Grammy Awards, beating out fellow nominees Gracie Abrams, Fred Again, Noah Kahan, Ice Spice, Jelly Roll, Coco Jones, and the War and Treaty for the honour.
After winning the award, Monét said in her speech: “I just want to say to everybody who has a dream. I want you to look at this as an example. My roots have been growing underneath ground, unseen for so long. And I feel like today, I’m sprouting.”
She added that winning the award for her debut solo album Jaguar II was the culmination of 15 years of hard work to get there.
Monét also won a Grammy for Best R&B Album and for Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical). Her wins put her in the same category as Olivia Rodrigo, Megan Thee Stallion, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, Bruno Mars, Anderson Paak, and TLC.
Monét has opened up about being bisexual
The singer came out publicly as bisexual on Twitter in 2018 but she didn’t mean to do it – she was just “venting”. She previously told Gay Times: “But it wasn’t planned, it was a defiant moment. I felt like I should be myself.”
Even though her coming out wasn’t planned, Monét did want to be open about her sexuality eventually so that her fans can “know the real [her]”. She said: “If I should be successful, I don’t want to be successful based on someone’s imaginary view of me.”
To that end, she has also been open about her bisexual identity through her music. In her 2019 song Monopoly, featuring Ariana Grande, she sings: “I swerve both ways, dichotomy / I like women and men”, using her music to discuss how she feels about being bisexual.
“Music has been a playground for sexuality. And some things I don’t even express in words will just come out in music because it’s on my spirit and soul to do so,” Monét told Variety earlier this month.
Is this Monét’s first Grammy win?
Monét has been nominated for a Grammy before, having been a longtime songwriter for the likes of Ariana Grande and Chlo X Halle. In 2020, Monét was nominated for Record of the Year as a producer for Grande’s Thank U Next.
Monét was nominated for seven Grammys in total this year: Record of the Year, Best R&B Album, Best R&B Performance, Best R&B Song, Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best Engineered Alum (Non-Classical), and Best New Artist.
She tied for second-most nominations this year, alongside Phoebe Bridgers and behind SZA. Her two-year-old daughter Hazel has also become the youngest nominee for her appearance on Monét’s song Hollywood.
You can read all of our Grammys 2024 coverage here.
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