Only the fourth solo female comedian to do in 60 years

Tiffany Haddish has won the Grammy for best comedy album for the audio recording of her stand-up special Black Mitzvah.

She is only the fourth solo woman to have won the prize since it was founded in 1959, and only the second woman of colour after Whoopi Goldberg in 1986.

The Girls Trip star Haddish found out the news while recording her CBS TV show Kids Say the Darndest Things.

Through tears of emotion she told the children on set: 'Can I tell you why I'm crying? 

'It's a lot of bumpy roads that you cross. And it's a lot of times you feel like "Well, am I doing the right thing?",  "Is this good enough?", "Am I good enough?", "Am I strong enough to do this job?"

'And then you just have to believe in yourself as much as you can and against all odds you just think, "You' know what, I'm  just going to put my best foot forward and I'm going to give the world the best that I got."'

'Anything is possible.'

How I found out I won a Grammy while working on @KidsSayDarndest I am so Honored to share with the kids. Full situation is on my YouTube page. pic.twitter.com/pYzmt4nIgo

— Tiffany Haddish (@TiffanyHaddish) March 15, 2021

Haddish later posted online: 'I was flooded with a such a sense of accomplishment and relief. I kinda didn’t know what to say. I just wanted to cry but I knew it would have confused the babies. So I decided to use that moment to teach and share my feelings.'

She was also the only woman nominated this year, sharing the shortlist with Jim Gaffigan Bill Burr, Patton Oswalt and Jerry Seinfeld.

The other previous solo female winners were Lily Tomlin in 1972, and Kathy Griffin in 2014.  Two women have won the award for collaborations: Jo Stafford with Paul Weston in 1961, and Elaine May & Mike Nichols the following year.

Black Mitzvah describes her rise to fame and her unexpected discovery that she was Jewish, as well as what streaming service Netflix called  ‘raunchy reflections on her long road to womanhood’.

Haddish, 41, had previously been nominated for an Emmy award for the screen version of the same show, too, but lost out to Dave Chappelle’s Sticks and Stones.

In December, she revealed that the Grammy's organisers had asked her to host a three-hour pre-broadcast event this year - for no pay.

And on top of that they expected her to pay for her own hair, makeup and wardrobe.

'All of that would have to come out of my pocket,' she told Variety. 'I don’t know if this might mean I might not get nominated ever again, but I think it’s disrespectful.'

Published: 14 Mar 2021