Amy Allen becomes first woman to win best songwriter Grammy

You may not have heard of the first woman to be named best songwriter at the Grammys before – but you may well have sung along to one of her hits.

Amy Allen is behind a string of pop chart-toppers including Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso and Please Please Please, and was also nominated for co-writing tracks with Olivia Rodrigo, Justin Timberlake and Tate McRae.

Allen was one of four women nominated for songwriter of the year, non-classical, in the third year since it was launched as a standalone category.

In her acceptance speech, she highlighted the prior lack of recognition for songwriters, adding: “Without us, there would be no songs for anyone to win awards for.”

She was previously nominated for the same award in 2023, its inaugural year.

While she did not win then, she took home her first Grammy for her work on Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, which won album of the year.

“The child in me that was starting writing songs when I was little in Maine is screaming and crying and laughing at the absurdity of this moment,” she said as she picked up the golden gramophone on Sunday night.

“This is the third year that songwriter of the year has even been a category, so this award goes out to all the legends who soundtracked the lives and generations with all of our stories.

“You should have been able to receive your flowers back then.”

Allen, a singer herself who released her debut album last September, entered the music world at the age of eight – playing bass in her sister’s band.

She stayed in the band until high school and then went to nursing school, before deciding to change course and join Berklee School of Music. Her first project was as Amy and the Engine, and she was the support act for singers like Kacey Musgraves and Vance Joy.

Allen’s first hit for another artist came when she penned Selena Gomez’s Back to You – something she said “propelled” her career in pop song-writing. She then paired up with Gomez to write My Mind & Me, which was nominated for a best original song Oscar in 2023.

She went on to work with Halsey and with Styles, including writing his hit Adore You, as well as with Lizzo. Her first Grammy nomination was in 2022 for Justin Bieber album Justice.

Allen has since picked up a total of eight nominations, including four this year.

She helped Carpenter write every track on chart-topping album Short n’Sweet, with the singer telling Variety she was a “once-in-a-lifetime writer and friend”, adding: “It all comes to her very naturally and effortlessly.”

This year, Allen’s co-nominees were the singer Raye, alongside writers Jessi Alexander, Jessie Jo Dillon and Edgar Barrera.

She said the award also belonged to them, saying they were “fighting the good fight”.

“We are the engine that fuels the music industry,” she said. “And have been so long overlooked and under-appreciated.

“It goes without saying, we have a long way to go.”