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Getty Images for Recording A
The 66th annual Grammy Awards accelerated toward ratings success Sunday, drawing an average of 16.9 million viewers with a show that featured several high-profile performances and surprises.
This marks a 34% improvement over last year’s show, which reached 12.4 million viewers on average, and the most-watched Grammy ceremony since 2020. (These figures are calculated from Nielsen’s measurement of linear views on CBS and Paramount Global’s own streaming data). on Paramount+, CBS.com and the CBS app).
Additionally, Paramount+ saw its highest Grammy viewership ever with 173% more views than in 2023.
With 18.3 million viewers, the show’s most-watched quarter hour began at 9:45 p.m., during which Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Jon Batiste and Fantasia Barrino led the In Memoriam segment.
Other highlights from Sunday’s show included Tracy Chapman’s first public appearance in years, joined by Luke Combs to sing her hit song “Fast Car”; Joni Mitchell’s first Grammy performance; Celine Dion surprises audience by presenting album of the year award more than a year after revealing her diagnosis of stiff person syndrome; and Taylor Swift announcing her upcoming album “The Tortured Poets Department.”
Trevor Noah hosted the Grammys for the fourth year in a row. Fulwell 73 produced the show for the Recording Academy. Ben Winston served as executive producer alongside Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins.
NBCUniversal also scored some wins on Sunday: “E! Grammys Live From the Red Carpet” had its biggest stream since 2020 with 1.5 million viewers, its best stream in four years. Pre-show of “E! Countdown to the Red Carpet” and post-show “E! After Party” also reached its largest audience in four years.