Trevor Noah’s opening monologue at the 2024 Grammy Awards was a star-studded rundown of the biggest names in the industry who showed up to music’s biggest night.
He played up the whole thing like he was something of a magician: The moment the comedian mentioned Meryl Streep, one of the evening’s presenters, she appeared in the arena as if summoned. A few minutes later, when he teased a highly anticipated appearance from Taylor Swift (possibly with some Reputation TV news?), the musician glided into the room, trailed by a whole crew of people including Producer of the Year-winner Jack Antonoff.
“Meryl Streep, yes. This moment right here. You know what that means? It means the Grammys is gonna win an Oscar,” he boasted. “I don’t know how but we just did. I want to thank both Academys.”
Noah popped over to Olivia Rodrigo’s table to inquire about how she’ll adjust the “blood sucker, fame fucker” lyric in “Vampire” to be appropriate for national television. He tapped in with Doja Cat, riffing off of her single “Paint the Town Red,” quipping: “We think you’re pretty great. Yeah, that’s right. I said what I said.” And he buzzed with anticipation as he announced that Beyoncé and Jay-Z would be in the building, too.
“In case you couldn’t tell this show is live. So anything can happen, right? This is like flying in a Boeing airplane. One minute there’s a door, the next one we outside,” Noah joked. “And my job as host is just to keep the good vibes going tonight. And make sure the Katt Williams doesn’t say anything about me after the show and that everyone has a good time. So let’s get straight into it. If you got me, I got you.”
If there’s a little bit of a spring in Noah’s step tonight, it could be that in addition to hosting the Grammy Awards for the fourth time, he was also attending the ceremony as a nominee, too.
During the 2024 Grammy Awards pre-show, Noah was up for Best Comedy Album. He was nominated for the 2022 stand-up special Trevor Noah: I Wish You Would. Other nominees in the category included Wanda Sykes, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, and Dave Chappelle, who ultimately took home the award.
I WIsh You Would marked the last stand-up special Noah would release before departing The Daily Show after seven years. Since then, he’s shared the special Trevor Noah: Where Was I and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Series for his final season on the series.
The comedian first announced that he would be returning to host the Grammys in December during his Spotify podcast What Now? With Trevor Noah. “I’m hosting the Grammys. I’m excited about that, yeah,” he said at the time. “It’s a lot of fun. I enjoy the Grammys because I get to watch the show in person and then experience and comment on it in person while it’s happening.”
The comedian is the only person other than LL Cool J and John Denver to host the Grammys more than three times since Andy Williams’ seven-year hosting streak in the Seventies.