The 2024 Grammys mark Trevor Noah‘s fourth consecutive year as the host of music’s biggest night.
In his opening monologue, Noah took a moment to praise all musicians — nominated at this year’s awards or otherwise. “These people write the soundtracks of our lives,” he said.
The comedian pointed at Barbie music producer Mark Ronson’s table and called him one of the greatest producers of all time. He continued by saying that Ronson’s mother-in-law, Meryl Streep, would be sitting at the table right there.
Then, Streep herself, accidentally crashed his opener by arriving at her seat late. The Oscar winning actress apologized to the host, and he told her she didn’t need to.
“This moment right here. Do you know what this means? The Grammys is gonna win an Oscar,” he joked. “I don’t know how. I want to thank both Academys. Thank you so much.”
Meryl Streep and Trevor Noah at the 2024 Grammys
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
He specifically shouted out how the Grammys nominations this year were dominated by women, naming SZA, boygenius and Taylor Swift — as the “Anti-Hero” songstress, who could make Grammys history Sunday night, then walked into the ceremony a little late, too.
With Swift’s head-turning entrance, Noah made it a purpose to say he doesn’t think it’s fair that people are annoyed that the NFL keeps showing her during Kansas City Chiefs games (where her boyfriend Travis Kelce is a tight end). “Let her live,” Noah said. “Every time they mention Taylor Swift. I’m gonna cut to someone who played football,” he joked, before cutting to Terry Crews in the Grammys audience.
The comedian mentioned that Swift is only one of four artists who has ever won album of the year three times, and if she wins it this year for Midnights, she will be the first person to ever win the award four times.
Noah has hosted before, however, this is the first time he served as the evening’s emcee while up for an award. He was competing against Wanda Sykes, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle for best comedy album, with Chappelle taking home the awards earlier in the night.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the awards show, Noah opened up about competing against his fellow comedians for the trophy.
“I don’t ever take those moments for granted. I think to myself how crazy it is to even be in the same category as these people,” he said about competing against some of his “heroes.” “These are my mentors and my friends. This is a surreal experience.”
The former Daily Show host also shared that he is rooting for all the artists who could possibly break records at the 2024 Grammys, including Swift and SZA. SZA could be the first Black woman to win album of the year in 25 years for SOS.
“Any time history can be made, I’m always in favor of it because I always think, ‘If you can just knock down that first domino, then hopefully the rest follow,’” he explained. “There’s just something magical about seeing somebody’s journey culminate in the making of history.”
The 2024 Grammys are taking place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and airing live from 5-8:30 p.m. PT on CBS and Paramount+ With Showtime. The awards are produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy, with Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins serving as executive producers.