The 26-year-old star was the first female rapper to take the accolade since Lauryn Hill in 1999 and was initially speechless when Lizzo announced she had won ahead of Ingrid Andress, Phoebe Bridgers, Chika, Noah Cyrus, D Smoke, and Doja Cat.
She tearfully said: “I don’t want to cry. But first of all, I want to say everybody is amazing. Every artist that was nominated for this award is so amazing. So shout-out to all y’all.”
Megan then gave thanks for her faith and paid tribute to her late mother.
She continued: “Secondly, I really just want to thank God because thank you for putting life into my body for me to be able to even be here today. I want to say thank you for always being with me, being by my side. I want to say thank you to everybody at 300 for believing in me, sticking by me through my craziness and you know, it’s been a hell of a year but we made it. Thank you everybody at Rock Nation.
“And I really want to say thank you to my mama, she’s not here with me today but I know she is here with me in spirit and she always believed I could do it, so thank you all so much.”
Before the ceremony had begun, Megan had already won the Best Rap Performance for “Savage,” which features Beyoncé, during the pre-show, beating out the late Pop Smoke, DaBaby, Lil Baby, Jack Harlow and Big Sean featuring the late Nipsey Hussle.
She wrote on Twitter after the news was announced: “AHHHHHHHJHGJDKNBOOM,” accompanied by a row of crying emojis.
She also went on to win Best Rap Song for “Savage.”
Elsewhere in the pre-ceremony, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande beat the likes of BTS, Taylor Swift and Bon Iver, and Justin Bieber and Quavo to be named Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their song “Rain On Me,” and The Strokes were given the gong for Best Rock Album for their record, “The New Abnormal.”
Beyoncé’s daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, became one of the youngest Grammy winners ever thanks to her feature on her mother’s song “Brown Skin Girl,” which picked up the award for Best Music Video.
There was also an early win for Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell, as “No Time To Die” — which is the theme for the upcoming James Bond movie of the same name — was named the Best Song Written For Visual Media.
Other winners in the pre-ceremony included Burna Boy, who won Best Global Music Album, John Legend, who took home the Best R&B Album award, Kanye West, who was given the Best Contemporary Christian Music Album trophy, and Fiona Apple, who picked up both the Best Rock Performance and Best Alternative Music Album awards.
