Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Megan Thee Stallion, and Billie Eilish were among the big winners at the 2021 ceremony aired Sunday night.
The 63rd annual Grammy Awards were held in Los Angeles on Sunday, and in a history-making night, women took the major awards: Album of the Year (Folklore by Taylor Swift); Song of the Year (I can’t breathe by H.E.R.); Record of the Year (Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish); and Best New Artist (Megan Thee Stallion).
The ceremony that recognized the recordings released between Sept. 1, 2019, and Aug. 31, 2020, had important changes, starting with its venue. I was held in a novel outdoor setting in downtown Los Angeles, and the artists faced each other while performing, making it a much intimate encounter. The show was hosted by Trevor Noah, and many artists had the chance to deliver speeches that highlighted the difficulties of the music industry during the pandemic, recalled the Black Lives Matter protests, and pointed attention to the role of women in music.
Beyoncé won four awards, becoming the woman that holds more Grammys (28); and Taylor Swift also made history and now is the first woman to be a three-time winner of the prize for Album of the Year with Folklore (she previously won the award for Fearless in 2010 and 1989 in 2016). Megan Thee Stallion was the first female rapper to win the best new artist award since Lauryn Hill (1999). Finally, in the top four awards of the ceremony, Billie Eilish took the record of the year for Everything I Wanted, after winning the same prize last year for Bad Guy.
Mickey Guyton, also made history as the first black female solo artist to earn the Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance. The record-breaking for the women artists occurs just three years after ex-Recording Academy president Neil Portnow drew fierce criticism for saying women needed to “step up” if they wanted to be acknowledged at the Grammys. Portnow was the head of the academy until 2019.
Award winners in the 83 categories
As for the other awards shown during the Grammys broadcast, Blue Ivy Carter, Beyonce’s daughter, won her first award for her participation in Brown Skin Girl. Dua Lipa, meanwhile, won Best Pop Vocal Album for Future Nostalgia. Harry Styles won his first Grammy, Best Pop Solo Performance, for Watermelon Sugar. Also, the Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny, who won Best Latin Pop or Urban Album for YHLQMDLG.
Prine, the folk singer who died of Covid-19 last year at age 73, won two awards for his song I Remember Everything. Similarly, Chick Corea, the jazz keyboardist who died of cancer last month, also won two prizes. Both men’s widows accepted their awards on their behalf.
