Beyoncé! Billie Eilish! Kelly Rowland! A Look Inside Glamour’s Women of the Year
Glamour Women Of The Year (WOTY) is known as a night that uplifts women on the world stage—and last night was no different. This year s honorees celebrated women from all corners of the world: there were, of course, the starlets, Global WOTY Pamela Anderson, award-winning actor Taraji P. Henson, and it-girl Sydney Sweeney; the Olympic gold medalists Allyson Felix and Suni Lee; Tennis Superstar Serena Williams; and the reproductive rights activists Hadley Duvall and Kaitlyn Joshua. For the first time in Glamour s WOTY history, the awards toasted to the Mothers of the Year: Tina Knowles, Donna Kelce, Maggie Baird, and Mandy Teefey—the accomplished moms behind some of the biggest mega-celebrities of 2024.
“We ve been talking about [the moms] for a while at Glamour—When you look at Women of the Year speeches, the one person that s always thanked is a mom. We wanted to bring this very special, unique, and fun group of supermoms together,” global Glamour editorial director Samantha Barry told Vogue.
In midtown, programming kicked off in the Paradise Club at the Times Square Edition and there was much to see. Though Sweeney and Williams were unable to attend, there was plenty of revelry nonetheless! Mother-daughter-duos were all the rage, with red carpet hosts Brooke Shields (a former honoree herself) and Rowan Francis Henchy hosting the livestream side by side.
On the carpet, Baird posed for photos alongside her children, multi-grammy award winners Billie Eilish and Finneas, while speaking to the importance of making mothers feel seen and supported. "I think being a mom may be uncredited in many cases. [Society] sort of has a national devotion to mothers, but not actually in policy or action," Baird told Vogue. "We don t fund women who want to stay home with their children. We don t fund people who have a job and need daycare." (Fun fact: Baird shared that Eilish s first steps were caught on camera, as she toddled towards her mom to take the camera).
Meanwhile, Kelce, mother of two NFL brothers, Travis and Jason, humbly marveled at being honored alongside so many women she deeply admired, inspired by the working moms who were peers and watching Clair Huxtable on TV. "I m certainly not used to the limelight for myself," Kelce mused to Vogue. It s wonderful that Glamour is showing women over 50 that they can do anything they want to do."
After the red carpet, party-goers stepped off the 7th-floor elevator and into the speakeasy-style room lined with cabaret seating. The Batala Drumline started the party with a pulsating performance, followed by an upbeat freestyle from the Tony-nominated group Freestyle+, who carried guests throughout the show as playful hosts (making up songs on the spot about each honoree and famed guests with impressive ease). During Kelsea Ballerini s uplifting acoustic performance, a special guest in particular clapped along—none other than Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland arrived in proud support of their beloved mother. Just as delighted as all attendees were to be in the presence of Queen B, Ballerini thanked Beyoncé for creating a country album.
After an impromptu ballad introducing Suni Lee, the 21-year-old Olympic medalist emerged in front of the rhinestone-encrusted microphone stand to share a word of advice and thanks. "Grit is bad for your skin but so good for your soul. I m always trying to be perfect in competition, but you can t get a perfect 10 in real life," Lee told attendees. "When something goes wrong, I no longer ask myself why or why me. Instead, I think, how do I work through this? What tools do I need to get from where I am to where I wanna be, and who can help me get there?"
