Amy Allen poses in the press room with the award for songwriter of the year, non-classical, during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles. Richard Shotwell/Invision via AP

Maine’s Amy Allen won one of four Grammy Awards she was nominated for on Sunday, but it was a big one.

Allen took home the songwriter of the year award for her work with several artists, including Sabrina Carpenter, Leon Bridges, Olivia Rodrigo and Justin Timberlake.

“The child in me that was starting writing songs when I was little in Maine on my bed is screaming and crying and laughing at the absurdity of this moment,” said Allen during her acceptance speech. “This award goes out to all of the legends who have sound-tracked the lives and generations with all of our stories.”

Allen continued.

“This award also belongs to my fellow nominees and every single songwriter still out there fighting the good fight. Without us, there would be no songs for anyone to win awards for. We are the engine that fuels the entire music industry and have been so long overlooked and under-appreciated.”

Allen was a co-writer of all the songs on Carpenter’s smash album “Short n’ Sweet,” which was nominated for album of the year. She co-wrote Carpenter’s hit “Please, Please, Please,” which was nominated for song of the year. Allen’s fourth Grammy nomination, for best song for visual media, came from her work on the song “Better Place,” from the movie “Trolls Band Together.”

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Allen, who grew up in Windham and South Portland, has become one of pop music’s most sought after songwriters in recent years. She was nominated in four Grammy categories, including songwriter of the year, song of the year, album of the year and best song for visual media.

Allen previously won one Grammy, for Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House,” which was Album of the Year in 2023. That same year, she was nominated for songwriter of the year for songs she co-wrote that were recorded by Lizzo, Carpenter, Styles and several others.

Allen is a 2010 graduate of Waynflete School in Portland who performed music on her own and in a band before moving to Los Angeles around 2017 to work as a songwriter and, within a year and a half, had co-written radio hits for Selena Gomez and Halsey. Since the release of “Short n’ Sweet” in late August, Allen has been lauded as one of the most in-demand songwriters in the industry and someone who is helping to shape the current sound of pop music. She’s been written about and interviewed by NPR, the Los Angeles Times and Billboard, among others.

In September, Allen made it to No. 1 on Billboard’s songwriters chart, thanks largely to the 12 songwriting credits she had on Carpenter’s album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Each song was written by Carpenter, Allen and at least one other writer. The song “Please, Please, Please” made it to No. 1 on the singles chart, while “Espresso” and “Taste” were in the top 5.

Allen’s competitors for the songwriter Grammy were Jessi Alexander, Edgar Barrera, Jessie Jo Dillon and Raye. Alexander has written songs for Luke Combs, Cody Johnson and Megan Moroney. Dillon has written for Post Malone, Moroney and others. Barrera has written songs for Bridges and Shakira, while Raye has written for Rita Ora, Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce.

Staff Writer Ray Routhier contributed to this story.

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