Every time someone presented one of the show’s major prizes — album of the year, record of the year, song of the year, best new artist — he or she rattled off the line before revealing the winner. It was a small but telling detail that demonstrated how the academy wants to be perceived after years of being portrayed as a shadowy record-industry cabal.

The award, presented by the Los Angeles Fire Department, ended the singer’s long-running streak as the most nominated female artist without a win in the category.

Beyoncé has finally won Album of the Year. The win comes more than two decades into her career for Cowboy Carter, her history-making eighth studio album created in response to her experience being rejected from the country genre as a Black woman from the South.