Kelly Rowland is standing behind Jay-Z’s criticism of the Grammy Awards for previously snubbing his wife, Beyoncé.
“Shawn Carter is one of the greatest men I know and his words ring so loud to me,” Rowland, 42, told Entertainment Tonight in an interview published Tuesday, February 6, referring to Jay-Z, 54, by his birth name. “I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Rowland said she was “really happy for a lot of things that he said,” adding, “I think that he made a lot of artists feel very seen and very heard in those minutes that he took on stage.”
Jay-Z called out the awards show while accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award during the ceremony on Sunday, February 4. In his speech, the Roc Nation Chairman noted that Beyoncé has never won one of the most coveted Grammy categories despite her overall record of 32 awards.
“I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than anyone and never won Album of the Year,” Jay-Z said on stage alongside his 12-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy. “So, even by your own metrics that doesn’t work. Think about that — the most Grammys, never won Album of the Year. That doesn’t work.”
Jay-Z insisted that he wanted the Recording Academy “to get it right,” noting, “We love y’all. We want you to get it right. At least get it close to right. And obviously it’s subjective because it’s music. And it’s opinion-based.”
Beyoncé was previously nominated for Album of the Year four times — I Am… Sasha Fierce in 2010, her self-titled release in 2015, Lemonade in 2017 and Renaissance in 2023 — but she has never added the trophy to her collection. (Taylor Swift took home Album of the Year on Sunday night for her 2022 record, Midnights.)
While on stage, Jay-Z shared his best advice for other artists who have been snubbed.
“Forget the Grammys,” he continued. “You have to keep showing up until they give you all those accolades you feel you deserve, until they call you chairman, until they call you a genius, until they call you the greatest of all time.”
Rowland, who won three Grammys with Beyoncé as a member of Destiny’s Child, agreed that Queen Bey deserves greater recognition for her historic accomplishments.
“I feel like she is an icon … and that’s for a reason — it’s because she starts trends. She is innovative, her thoughts are big and bright and she just jumps for them and does it,” she continued on Tuesday. “I think that her albums are a reflection of that, and it should be really celebrated in that way.”
While acknowledging that she could be biased, Rowland added, “I’m not saying that because it’s my sister, I’m saying it because it’s the truth. I’ve seen the blood, sweat and tears that she puts into these projects, and her thoughts and her heart and her passion and her soul.”
Rowland has witnessed Beyoncé’s record-setting career path since they were children.
After being born in Atlanta, Rowland’s family moved to Beyoncé’s hometown of Houston, Texas, and eventually moved in with her and her family. In the early ‘90s, they were members of the group Girl’s Tyme, which later changed its name to Destiny’s Child. They became one of the most successful girl groups of all time, selling over 60 million records, leading to Beyoncé’s phenomenal solo career.
