It’s been a spot of contention for years that the most celebrated artist in music history has never won Album of the Year. Beyonce subtly shaded the Grammys in her new album, Cowboy Carter, even though it sounds like it’s water off a duck’s back.
In the song “Sweet Honey Buckin’”, the 32-time Grammy winner sings: “A-O-T-Y, I ain’t win (That’s cool) / I ain’t stuntin’ ’bout them / Take that shit on the chin / Come back and fuck up the pen (Yeah)” with AOTY clearly meaning Album of the Year.
Queen Bey has lost AOTY twice to Taylor Swift. In 2010, Beyoncé lost to Swift’s Fearless; and again in 2015, she lost to 1989. Perhaps most famously, Beyonce lost to Swift for Best Female Video at the 2009 VMAs, prompting Kanye West to interrupt Tay’s acceptance speech.
But there’s no love lost between Tay and Bey, clearly. Swift opened up about her years-long Relationship with the former Destiny’s Child star in her TIME Person of the Year cover story, saying: “She’s the most precious gem of a person—warm and open and funny,” she said. “And she’s such a great disrupter of music-industry norms. She taught every artist how to flip the table and challenge archaic business practices.”
Beyonce’s 32 Grammy wins make her the most decorated artist in the award show’s history. She’s also tied with her husband Jay-Z as the most-nominated music act in the history of the Grammys with 88 nominations each. She won Best Dance / Electronic Music Album for RENAISSANCE at the 2023 Grammys, taking over the late conductor Georg Solti, who set the record for most Grammy wins in 1997.
Contrary to popular belief, Swift does not make a cameo on Beyoncé’s album Cowboy Carter, People confirmed. Fans speculated that the Tortured Poets Society artist was on the album and vented their theories to social media. “I ABSOLUTELY THOUGHT THAT WAS TAYLOR SWIFT IN BODYGUARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY GOD, IMAGINE A DELUXE WITH TAYLOR ACTUALLY SINGING A VERSE WITH BEYONCÉ!!!!! THAT’S DEADASS HER BACKGROUND VOCALS!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! PLS CONFIRM I KNOW I AM NOT DELUSIONAL!!!!!!” one fan enthusiastically posted on X.