SZA speaks out about losing album of the year to Taylor Swift at the Grammys

SZA is speaking out after she lost album of the year to Taylor Swift at the 2024 Grammys.

The year's most-nominated artist, with nine nods Sunday night, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter after losing the ceremony's biggest honor to Swift. SZA's album "SOS" was up against Swift's 2023 hit "Midnights."

SZA responded with love for Swift.

"I'm grateful I won three. I could have left with nothing, and I didn't, and I'm grateful. My parents got to see it and I didn't bomb on live television, and that was so scary. And I faced some really big fears and I'm just happy that it all went well, genuinely and I’m happy for everybody," SZA said.

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SZA won best R&B song for "Snooze," and she made social media noise as she ran from backstage with iPhone in hand to accept the award, which was presented by her close friend Lizzo.

"Had I not won a lick, won a single thing, I would've been so grateful to just have survived the night, so to have one of my closest friends (Lizzo) present me an award and then also get to take home a couple more is wild. It’s like a fever dream, basically," SZA told THR.

SZA also shouted Swift out with a "hey, Taylor" during the acceptance speech for the award, and she told the outlet said they "talked a bunch." SZA also snagged awards for best pop duo/group performance for "Ghost in the Machine," her collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers, and best urban contemporary album. On Sunday, Swift made history and broke the record (four Grammys) for most album of the year wins for "Fearless," "1989," "folklore," and now, "Midnights."

Fans call out the Grammys after SZA snub for album of the year

Fans called out the fact that a Black woman hasn't won an album of the year in 25 years.

Singer and rapper Lauryn Hill was the last Black woman to win album of the year in 1999 for her debut solo album, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." Only three Black women including Hill have won the honor since the category was presented at the first Grammy Awards in 1959, Natalie Cole in 1992 and Whitney Houston two years later.

While SZA seemed happy with the Grammys and Swift, the internet did not.

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"Undeniably her worst pop album. a poor showcase of her songwriting abilities and Jack's production. Truly an album that'll be forgotten in her discography and an example of the Recording Academy's incompetence and refusal to reward black women when they deserve it," one user wrote on X about Swift.

"SZA's SOS lost album of the year, just as Beyoncé's Renaissance did last year. SOS was an even bigger hit, relative to the year's other releases, than Renaissance was. It topped the Billboard 200 for 10 weeks, longer than any of this year's other album of the year nominees," Billboard's award editor Paul Grein wrote online.

"Sza honestly had the best album of the year," TikTok star Raymonte said on X.

Contributing: Devarrick Turner

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SZA talks Grammys snub, album of the year loss to Taylor Swift