Beyoncé, Grammy Underdog No More

After nearly 20 years and 99 nominations, the star’s album of the year win for “Cowboy Carter” ends a confounding chapter in the awards’ history.

“I Am … Sasha Fierce” losing to Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” — plausible. “Beyoncé” losing to Beck’s “Morning Phase” — laughable. “Lemonade” losing to Adele’s “25” — teachable. “Renaissance” losing to Harry Styles’s “Harry’s House” — risible.

Four times, Beyoncé was nominated for album of the year at the Grammys, and four times, she came up short. Given that she is the most nominated artist in Grammy history, and also the winningest, the shutout has been notable and borderline inexplicable.

And so some trepidation hovered over the 67th annual Grammys on Sunday night, where she was, for the fifth time, up for album of the year.

This time, though, she won. And her victory — for “Cowboy Carter,” an album of reimagined American roots music, centered through the lens of Black participation and innovation — was so welcome that even her competitors appeared relieved when her name was announced. Swift, one of the losers, clinked champagne flutes with Jay-Z, Beyoncé’s husband: two people who almost certainly didn’t want to have to navigate a fifth Beyoncé loss.

In order to fully assess the Grammys’ earlier blind spot, it helps not to dwell too long on the quality of Beyoncé’s albums, which are overwhelmingly excellent and, at the very minimum, conceptually and technically impressive. They often sound as if they required more labor and thought than all other albums released in a given year put together. They make ambition sound ecstatic.