'La La Land" made history at the 74th annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton on Sunday night, January 8, 2017. Many people had predicted the musical would win some awards, but even die-hard fans were surprised with the number of awards the film actually received. The romantic musical comedy-drama was written and directed by Damien Chazelle with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in the starring roles.

Musical wins

The film received seven awards. That's more awards than any other film of the night. In fact, it was more wins than any other film in Golden Globe history since it began giving out awards on January 20, 1944. The closest any other movie has come to winning that number was in 1975 when "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" won six awards, and in 1978 when “Midnight Express” also won six awards.

No one expected "La La Land" to have that many wins. When Fred Berger accepted the best musical and comedy award, the producer said when the film was being worked on six years ago, it was just a fantasy that it would win an award.

Now it is a reality that the film won in seven categories.

Awards in seven categories

“La La Land" will go down in Golden Globe history for having won in the following categories:

  • Best Motion Picture for Musical or Comedy
  • Best Director
  • Best Actor
  • Best Actress
  • Best Screenplay
  • Best Original Score
  • Best Original Song ("City of Stars")

Damien Chazelle is the youngest director to ever win. At age 31, he was excited about winning, but he was super excited about seeing his college roommate, Justin Hurwitz, win two awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. Ryan Gosling, who won Best Actor, said he believed the film attracted so many people because they could relate to pursuing their own dream even though there might be obstacles.

Emma Stone, who won Best Actress, said people could relate to the characters she and Gosling played.

Emma Stone's response to award

Emma Stone received her first Golden Globe Award. In her acceptance speech, she dedicated the award to all the dreamers who have struggled with their dreams and have been stopped by others. Stone beat out veteran actresses Meryl Streep and Annette Bening (who were nominees in her category).