Scaled down but no less significant—the 63rd Grammy Awards raised the bar for awards shows in the ongoing pandemic. Held at the Los Angeles Convention Centre instead of the usual Staples Center, the show had no audience, was overseen by Covid-19 safety officers, and featured five equally sized stages arranged in a circle facing inwards.
Hosted by Trevor Noah, the Grammys opened with back-to-back performances by Harry Styles (Best Pop Solo Performance), Billie Eilish and brother Finneas, and the Haim sisters. Dua Lipa, who won Best Pop Vocal Album, shimmied to ‘Levitating’ and ‘Don’t Start Now’ against a moon backdrop reminiscent of a cosmic disco.
Other “out of this world” performances came from Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B who performed ‘WAP’ with dancers dressed as aliens; and Doja Cat who donned a futuristic bodysuit for ‘Say So’ accompanied by “robotic cat” dancers.
Silk Sonic—a project group by Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, who won Best Melodic Rap Performance—made a grooving, 70s-inspired debut with “Leave The Door Open’. BTS dropped in, albeit remotely, like ‘Dynamite’ with a pre-recorded rendition of the song filmed in Seoul.
In three and a half hours, history was made multiple times. Taylor Swift became the first female artist ever to win Album of the Year three times, taking home the prize this year for Folklore. Only three others have achieved this feat: Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder. Swift performed ‘Cardigan’, ‘August’ and ‘Willow’ amidst a magical forest setting.
Beyoncé accepted her record-breaking 28th Grammy award for Best R&B Performance, which she won for ‘Black Parade’. She is now the most-awarded woman in Grammys history, equalling super-producer Qunicy Jones and just three behind classical conductor Sir Georg Solti’s 31 trophies. Nine-year-old Blue Ivy Carter became the second youngest Grammy winner when she won Best Music Video for ‘Brown Skin Girl’ with her mama.
Beyoncé also picked up more trophies with her contribution to Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Savage’, which won Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. Megan was also awarded the Best New Artist honour.
Last year’s ingenue and big winner, Billie Eilish, continued her record-setting streak this year. Picking up the Record of the Year award for Everything I Wanted, Eilish is now the youngest artist to win the award more than once, and only the fifth to win it twice. Her acceptance speech paid tribute to Megan Thee Stallion, who she said deserved the trophy. Megan summed it up in her speech for Best New Artist: “I don’t want to cry but first of all I wanna say everybody is amazing.”
All winners of the 63rd Grammy Awards:
Record of the Year
Everything I Wanted — Billie Eilish
Album of the Year
Folklore — Taylor Swift
Song of the Year
I Can’t Breathe — Dernst Emile II, H.E.R., and Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)
Best New Artist
Megan Thee Stallion
Best Pop Solo Performance
Watermelon Sugar – Harry Styles
Best Pop Vocal Album
Future Nostalgia — Dua Lipa
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Rain on Me — Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
American Standard — James Taylor
Best Dance Recording
10% — Kaytranada featuring Kali Uchis
Best Dance/Electronic Album
Bubba — Kaytranada
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
Live at the Royal Albert Hall — Snarky Puppy
Best Rock Album
The New Abnormal — The Strokes
Best Rock Performance
Shameika — Fiona Apple
Best Rock Song
Stay High — Brittany Howard, songwriter (Brittany Howard)
Best Metal Performance
Bum-Rush — Body Count
Best Alternative Music Album
Fetch the Bolt Cutters — Fiona Apple
Best R&B Performance
Black Parade — Beyoncé
Best R&B Album
Bigger Love — John Legend
Best R&B Song
Better Than I Imagine — Robert Glasper, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Gabriella Wilson, songwriters (Robert Glasper featuring H.E.R. and Meshell Ndegeocello)
Best Traditional R&B Performance
Anything for You — Ledisi
Best Progressive R&B Album
It Is What It Is — Thundercat
Best Rap Song
Savage — Beyoncé, Shawn Carter, Brittany Hazzard, Derrick Milano, Terius Nash, Megan Pete, Bobby Session Jr., Jordan Kyle Lanier Thorpe, and Anthony White, songwriters (Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé)
Best Rap Album
King’s Disease — Nas
Best Rap Performance
Savage — Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé
Best Melodic Rap Performance
Lockdown — Anderson .Paak
Best Comedy Album
Black Mitzvah — Tiffany Haddish
Best Country Solo Performance
When My Amy Prays — Vince Gill
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
10,000 Hours — Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber
Best Country Album
Wildcard — Miranda Lambert
Best Country Song
Crowded Table — Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, and Lori McKenna, songwriters (The Highwomen)
Best New Age Album
More Guitar Stories — Jim “Kimo” West
Best Improvised Jazz Solo
All Blues — Chick Corea, soloist
Best Jazz Vocal Album
Secrets Are the Best Stories — Kurt Elling featuring Danilo Pérez
Best Jazz Instrumental Album
Trilogy 2 — Chick Corea, Christian McBride, and Brian Blade
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
Data Lords — Maria Schneider Orchestra
Best Latin Jazz Album
Four Questions — Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Best Gospel Performance/Song
Movin’ On — Jonathan McReynolds and Mali Music; Darryl L. Howell, Jonathan Caleb McReynolds, Kortney Jamaal Pollard, and Terrell Demetrius Wilson, songwriters
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
There Was Jesus — Zach Williams and Dolly Parton; Case Beathard, Jonathan Smith, and Zach Williams, songwriters
Best Gospel Album
Gospel According to PJ — PJ Morton
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
Jesus Is King — Kanye West
Best Roots Gospel Album
Celebrating Fisk! (The 150th Anniversary Album) — Fisk Jubilee Singers
Best Latin Pop or Urban Album
YHLQMDLG — Bad Bunny
Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album
La Conquista Del Espacio — Fito Paez
Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)
Un Canto por Mexico, Vol. 1 — Natalia Lafourcade
Best Tropical Latin Album
40 — Grupo Niche
Best Americana Album
World on the Ground — Sarah Jarosz
Best American Roots Song
I Remember Everything — Pat McLaughlin and John Prine, songwriters (John Prine)
Best American Roots Performance
I Remember Everything — John Prine
Best Bluegrass Album
Home — Billy Strings
Best Traditional Blues Album
Rawer Than Raw — Bobby Rush
Best Contemporary Blues Album
Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? — Fantastic Negrito
Best Folk Album
All the Good Times — Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
Best Regional Roots Music Album
Atmosphere — New Orleans Nightcrawlers
Best Reggae Album
Got to Be Tough — Toots and the Maytals
Best Global Music Album
Twice as Tall — Burna Boy
Best Children’s Music Album
All the Ladies — Joanie Leeds
Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling)
Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth — Rachel Maddow
Best Musical Theater Album
Jagged Little Pill — Original cast
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
Jojo Rabbit — Various artists
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
Joker — Hildur Guðnadóttir, composer
Best Song Written for Visual Media
No Time to Die (From No Time to Die) — Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas Baird O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Best Instrumental Composition
Sputnik — Maria Schneider, composer (Maria Schneider)
Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella
Donna Lee — John Beasley, arranger (John Beasley)
Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals
He Won’t Hold You — Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier featuring Rapsody)
Best Recording Package
Vols. 11 & 12 — Doug Cunningham and Jason Noto, art directors (Desert Sessions)
Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
Ode to Joy — Lawrence Azerrad and Jeff Tweedy, art directors (Wilco)
Best Album Notes
Dead Man’s Pop — Bob Mehr, album notes writer (The Replacements)
Best Historical Album
It’s Such a Good Feeling: The Best of Mister Rogers — Lee Lodyga and Cheryl Pawelski, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Mister Rogers)
Best Remixed Recording
Roses (Imanbek Remix) — Imanbek Zeikenov, remixer (SAINt JHN)
Best Engineered Album, Classical
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, ‘Babi Yar’ — David Frost and Charlie Post, engineers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer (Riccardo Muti and Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
Producer of the Year, Classical
David Frost
Best Orchestral Performance
Ives: Complete Symphonies — Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Best Opera Recording
Gershwin: Porgy and Bess — David Robertson, conductor; Angle Blue and Eric Owens; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestral The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
Best Choral Performance
Danielpour: The Passion of Yeshua — JoAnn Falletta, conductor; James K. Bass and Adam Luebke, chorus masters (James K. Bass, J’Nai Bridges, Timothy Fallon, Kenneth Overton, Hila Plitmann, and Matthew Worth; Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and UCLA Chamber Singers)
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
Contemporary Voices — Pacifica Quartet
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Theofanidis: Concerto for Viola and Chamber Orchestra — Richard O’Neill; David Alan Miller, conductor (Albany Symphony)
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Smyth: The Prison — Sarah Brailey and Dashon Burton; James Blachly, conductor (Experiential Chorus; Experiential Orchestra)
Best Classical Compendium
Thomas, M.T.: From the Diary of Anne Frank & Meditations on Rilke — Isabel Leonard; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Jack Vad, producer
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Rouse: Symphony No. 5 — Christopher Rouse, composer (Giancarlo Guerrero and Nashville Symphony)
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Hyperspace — Drew Brown, Andrew Coleman, Shawn Everett, Serban Ghenea, David Greenbaum, Jaycen Joshua, and Mike Larson, engineers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer (Beck)
Best Music Video
Brown Skin Girl — Beyoncé
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Andrew Watt
Best Music Film
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice — Linda Ronstadt
For more on the Grammys, click here.
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