Michelle Obama wins second Grammy for best audiobook recording, tying with Barack Obama
The former first lady beat actress Meryl Streep and Sen. Bernie Sanders with her second Grammy win.
Michelle Obama is now a two-time Grammy winner.
The former first lady, 60, won her second Grammy at the 2024 Grammy Awards pre-ceremony at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday. Michelle Obama took home the award for best audiobook, narration and storytelling for her book, “The Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times,” tying with her husband, former President Barack Obama, for Grammy wins. Michelle Obama, who beat actress Meryl Streep and Sen. Bernie Sanders in the category, was not in attendance to accept the award.
Michelle Obama won her first audiobook Grammy for her memoir, “Becoming.” Barack Obama became a Grammy winner in 2006 for best spoken word album, “Dreams from My Father.” He followed up that Grammy with a 2008 win in the same category for “The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.”
The Obamas have made a name for themselves in Hollywood with the emergence of their production company, Higher Ground. Founded in 2018, the company has produced multiple award-winning projects, including “We the People,” which won a Children’s & Family Emmy for outstanding short form program, “Our Great National Parks,” which won an Emmy for outstanding narrator for Barack Obama, and “American Factory,” which won an Academy Award for best documentary feature.
The Obamas’ latest film, “Rustin,” which they produced, has been nominated for several awards this season, including an NAACP Image Award for outstanding actor in a motion picture and BAFTA, Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Critics Choice Award, and Image Award nominations for best actor and for lead actor Colman Domingo.
“I know how easy it is to doubt who you are, to wonder if the way you look or where you’re from or who you love will leave you on the margins of the broader American story,” Michelle Obama said in November about the film at the HBCU First Look Film Festival. “But as you watch this movie, I want you to let Bayard Rustin’s example give you the strength to silence those doubts. Let his story remind you that no matter the complication, no matter the hardship, you can make history.”
Though the Obamas are known for historical and educational productions, they recently have started to branch out into other genres. Their “Leave the World Behind,” an apocalyptic psychological thriller, debuted last year.
“It’s taken a while for us to remind our team at Higher Ground, as well as the creative community in Hollywood, that this isn’t like Masterpiece Theatre — not everything we do has to fit on PBS,” Barack Obama said in a New York Times interview. “We are known to watch other things.”
“I’m a bit of a sucker for science fiction, dystopias or thrillers,” he added. “Michelle jokes that my favorite movies involve horrible things happening to people and then they die, whereas she actually likes fun, uplifting stories that make her laugh.”
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