Volkswacht Bodensee - Beyonce's best album Grammy: a long time coming

How could the most nominated, most decorated artist in the 67-year history of the Grammys not have won its most prestigious prize?

Why were Recording Academy voters withholding this particular flower from one of the biggest artists in the world, who also happens to be a Black woman?

Would those voters -- there are 13,000 of them these days -- ever read the room?

And then, nearly a decade after Adele's memorable, tearful best album acceptance speech saying Beyonce's seminal "Lemonade" should've won over her own "25," it was finally Queen Bey's turn.

"It's been many, many years," she said Sunday with a small chuckle in accepting the Album of the Year award for her high-concept, rollicking homage to Black artists in country music, "Cowboy Carter."

The golden gramophone stands as a lifetime achievement award of sorts for the 43-year-old -- and an acknowledgment of everything that brought her to that moment.

"On the one hand, I can think, 'Finally!'" Birgitta Johnson, a professor of African American studies and music history at the University of South Carolina, told AFP after the gala.

"On the other is -- and the reason that some of us are shocked -- we understand the levels of barriers she has faced in the industry and society as a whole, even as she has impacted them both like no other artist in the 21st century."

- 'Big win' -

Beyonce's husband Jay-Z -- who publicly admonished Grammy voters for repeatedly snubbing his wife's work for top prizes at last year's ceremony -- was all smiles this time, including when he clinked champagne glasses with Taylor Swift, who has scooped the Album of the Year a record four times.

That used to be more times than all Black women who have won the prize combined.

Now, it's a tie. Before Beyonce came Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston and Lauryn Hill.

Queen Bey notably dedicated the prize to Linda Martell, the first commercially successful Black female country artist and the first to play on the venerated Grand Ole Opry stage, who also featured on Beyonce's record.

"I hope we just keep pushing forward, opening doors," said Beyonce, who also won two Grammys in the country categories.

The best album prize "is a big win for Beyonce" that also "reflects the growing awareness and recognition of Black artists working in country," musicologist Lauron Kehrer told AFP.

Prior to dropping "Cowboy Carter," her eighth studio album, Beyonce had brushed up against the overwhelmingly white, male gatekeepers of country music who have long dictated the genre's perceived boundaries.

Her 27-track, scholarly exploration of the genre -- while also delivering some rap, dance, soul, funk, rock and gospel moments -- was a pointed indictment of the backlash she had faced for trying to play music that celebrated her Southern roots.

"Sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists," Beyonce said Sunday in accepting her award for best country album.

- 'Diverse voices and perspectives' -

Alongside Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar -- another decorated Grammy artist whose work had been sidelined from the all-genre awards -- won the two coveted trophies for best record and best song, which honors songwriting.

Chappell Roan, whose vibrant artistic project includes celebrating queer love in song, rounded out the top four awards by winning Best New Artist.

Alongside Beyonce's work, "it's exciting to see queer pop and hip-hop, genres coming from and resonating with marginalized groups, have so many wins this year," Kehrer said.

"Particularly in the current political climate, it reflects that Americans actually do value diverse voices and perspectives."

Kehrer also noted that Doechii's win for best rap album -- she's only the third woman to take home that prize -- plus the best melodic rap performance prize going to two women, Rapsody and Erykah Badu, marked movement in Grammy voting patterns.

"Even within genres, we see a growing expansion of who is recognized," Kehrer said. "'Cowboy Carter'" is part of that shift as well."

As for Beyonce, it is -- as her husband Jay-Z once rapped -- on to the next one.

She's got a tour to saddle up for: not long after the Beyhive swarmed her "Renaissance" tour, it's time for round two.

Just before Sunday's gala, Beyonce announced the tour was on the way, and just after the ceremony, she posted the cities the "Cowboy Carter Rodeo Chitlin' Circuit tour" was slated to hit.

"SHE COMING," the caption read.

M.Betschart--VB