On Sunday March 14, 2021, Trevor Noah of “The Daily Show” hosted the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony that was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
As with other awards show held during the pandemic, there were no live audiences in attendance for the Grammys this year except for a limited number of performers and award nominees.
Performers at the prestigious event included Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, Dua Lips, Cardi B, and Megan Thee Stallion
Beyonce led the field with nine nominations and after picking up the 28th Grammy win of her career; she broke the record for the most Grammy wins ever by a female artist and most Grammy wins ever by a singer.
Beyoncé walked into the show with 24 wins and picked up four honours by the end of the night, including best R&B performance for “Black Parade”, best music video for “Brown Skin Girl” as well as best rap performance and best rap song for “Savage”, with Megan Thee Stallion.
Taylor Swift also had a record-making night at the 2021 Grammy Awards as the artist became the first female performer to win “Album of the Year” three times. Taylor had won top prize “Album of the Year” for her album “Folklore”, a folky themed alternative album that the artist released on surprise last year.
Taylor Swift previously won album of the year for her albums “Fearless” and “1989”.
Artist H.E.R. won song of the year and Billie Eilish picked up her second consecutive record of the year honour, telling the audience that best new artist winner Megan Thee Stallion deserved the award.
Though women have won all top four awards in the past — including Eilish’s sweep last year — it marked the first time four separate and solo women won the top four honours.
Canadian artists also won big on Sunday night as Dj Kaytranada and artist Justin Bieber won awards at the Grammys.
The Montreal-based DJ Kaytranada lived up to his reputation as one of Canada’s respected, but stealth, music producers as he swept through the Grammy Awards on Sunday with a double win that needed little fanfare.
Kaytranada picked up best dance recording for his song “10%”, featuring Kali Uchis, and best dance or electronic album for “Bubba” in a matter of minutes.
Justin Bieber became the owner of a country Grammy, the latest twist in his pursuit of being considered an R&B singer, rather than a pop star.
The Stratford, Ont.-raised musician won best country duo or group performance for 10,000 Hours, a hit single recorded with country pair Dan and Shay.
Bieber had expressed displeasure ahead of the Grammys over seeing his music nominated in pop categories when he felt it was R&B music.
Other early Canadian winners included Shawn Everett, raised in Bragg Creek, Alta., who won a Grammy for best engineered album, non-classical for Beck’s Hyperspace. Everett shares the award with a team of fellow engineers who worked on the album.
List of Grammy Award Winners of 2021:
Record of the year: Everything I Wanted, Billie Eilish
Album of the year: folklore, Taylor Swift
Best R&B performance: Black Parade, Beyoncé
Best pop vocal album: Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa
Best rap song: Savage, Megan Thee Stallion, featuring Beyoncé
Song of the year (songwriter’s award): I Can’t Breathe, H.E.R., Dernst Emile II and Tiara Thomas
Best pop solo performance: Watermelon Sugar, Harry Styles
Best country album: Wildcard, Miranda Lambert
Best new artist: Megan Thee Stallion
Best traditional pop vocal album: American Standard, James Taylor
Best dance/electronic album: Bubba, Kaytranada
Best rock album: The New Abnormal, the Strokes
Best alternative music album: Fetch the Bolt Cutters, Fiona Apple
Best progressive R&B album: It Is What It Is, Thundercat
Best R&B album: Bigger Love, John Legend
Best rap album: King’s Disease, Nas
Best jazz vocal album: Secrets Are the Best Stories, Kurt Elling featuring Danilo Perez
Best jazz instrumental album: Trilogy 2,Chick Corea, Christian McBride and Brian Blade
Best gospel album: Gospel According to PJ, PJ Morton
Best contemporary Christian music album: Jesus Is King, Kanye West
Best Latin rock or alternative album: La Conquista del Espacio, Fito Paez
Best reggae album: Got to Be Tough, Toots and the Maytals
Best spoken word album: Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth, Rachel Maddow
Best comedy album: Black Mitzvah, Tiffany Haddish
Best compilation soundtrack for visual media: Jojo Rabbit
Best score soundtrack for visual media: Joker
Producer of the year, non-classical: Andrew Watt
Best music video: Brown Skin Girl, Beyonce with Blue IvyBest music film: Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, Linda Ronstadt
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