How TikTok's "Unofficial Bridgerton Musical" Won a Grammy

It started with one viral video.

As the music industry shifts its attention towards TikTok (wilfully or not), there’s bound to be a lot of disruption at traditional award shows like the Grammy’s.

And if our addiction to the app is any indication, this won’t just be a fad.

The Recording Academy has given their own tick of approval after awarding ‘Best Musical Theatre Album’ to the creators of the “Unofficial Bridgerton Musical”, which originated on TikTok.

It beat out the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cinderella” and the cast recording of “Les Misérables: The Staged Concert”.

The video that started it all featured “Daphne’s Song”, a piano ballad about Daphne’s emerging love for Simon. TikToker Abigail Barlow wrote it after binging the series.

It’s since racked up more than 2.3 million views, and spurred Barlow, in collaboration with Emily Bear, to write more than 15 songs with the help of fans who contributed through live writing sessions.

Here’s the moment the pair were nominated for a Grammy:

And here’s their monumental win.

Barlow thanked the internet in her emotional speech. She said, “a year ago when I asked the internet, ‘what if ‘Bridgerton’ was a musical?’ I could not have imagined we would be holding a Grammy in our hands.

"We want to thank everyone on the internet who has watched us create this album from the ground up—we share this with you.”

It’s a huge win not only for composers who are living in obscurity and find an outlet via the internet, but also for women composers. Barlow also said in her speech, “this is for all of my fellow female producers, composers and engineers that are still struggling to gain recognition and support for what we do.

“It’s not that we don’t exist. We do.”

The full soundtrack is now on Spotify to soundtrack all your Bridgerton fantasies.