The unofficial Bridgerton Musical took home the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album last night, marking the Recording Academy’s first win for a project that began on TikTok.
Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow have created songs inspired by Netflix hit series Bridgerton and have racked up millions of views on TikTok since early 2021. Writing from the perspective of the characters on the show, Bear and Barlow used TikTok to solicit suggestions, interact with fans and more to share the songwriting process with viewers. The duo released songs as soon as they were finished, eventually recording and releasing a 15-song album in September. Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“A year ago, when I asked the internet, ‘What if Bridgerton was a musical?’ I never imagined we would hold a Grammy in our hands,” Barlow said in her acceptance speech. “We’d like to thank everyone on the internet for watching us create this album from the ground up. We share this with you.”
Other nominees in this category included Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Burt Bacharach and Steven Sater’s Some Lovers, Broadway’s Girl from the North Country, Les Misérables: The Staged Concert and Stephen Schwartz’s Snapshots.
Bear and Barlow’s victory is just another example of how viral hits on TikTok can lead to more traditional off-platform success for developers, even without an established mainstream presence. The company reported that 430 songs hit 1 billion views last year — more than triple the number in 2020 — and 175 viral songs landed on the Billboard Hot 100.