The 63rd Grammy Awards In A Covid-19 Year
Everything you need to know about the Recording Academy’s 2021 Grammy Awards
The 63rd Grammy awards, which took place on March 14, 2021 brought us exciting performances, awards, and outfits following a difficult year of quarantining, socially distancing and masking up. Hosted by Trevor Noah, host of “The Daily Show” from Comedy Central, the Grammy’s were a great showcase of music from the past year.
While we are still rolling out vaccines, wearing masks and being covid-conscious, the Recording Academy was able to create a safe Grammy’s experience while taking the right precautions. Executive-producer Ben Winston had worked tirelessly to create a successful Covid-safe experience for performers, nominees, and crew. The Grammy’s were originally scheduled for January 31st, but Winston felt that American morale was at a low point in the midst of high Covid rates, political unrest and an impeachment trial.
The show was around three and a half hours, and included performances, awards and acceptance speeches as always. The Grammy experience this year was an audience free, multi-stage showcase. Artists had their own backstage areas, and they entered stages from different directions to minimize contact. There was 5 stages, 4 for performances and 1 for presenting awards. Many performances were live from the venue, but some were be pre-recorded simply because they were unable to safely have all those performers and crew in the same venue. Awards were given on a stage under a large tent outside the Staples Center in L.A. for a safer outdoor atmosphere for the artists to gather in a better way to prevent the spread of Covid, while the performances were from inside the Staples Center.
There were performances from 25 artists, including Taylor Swift (6 nominations), Harry Styles (3 nominations), Billie Eilish (3 nominations), Post Malone (2 nominations), Roddy Ricch (6 nominations), HAIM (2 nominations), Megan Thee Stallion (4 nominations), Doja Cat 93 nominations), Black Pumas (3 nominations) and more.
Some of the most noteworthy awards every year are Record of The Year, Album of The Year, Song of The Year, and Best New Artist. The nominees for Record of the Year were Beyoncé’s Black Parade, Black Pumas’ Colors, Rockstar by DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch, Doja Cat’s Say So, Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish(winner), Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa, Post Malone’s Circles, and Savage by Megan Thee Stallion ft. Beyoncé. The Album of the Year nominees were Jhené Aiko’s Chilombo, Black Pumas’ Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition), Coldplay’s Everyday Life, Jacob Collier’s Djesse Vol. 3, Haim’s Women in Music Pt. III, Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa, Hollywood’s Bleeding by Post Malone, and Folklore by Taylor Swift(winner). The nominees for Song of The Year were Black Parade by Beyoncé, The Box by Roddy Ricch, Cardigan by Taylor Swift, Circles by Post Malone, Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa, Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish, I Can’t Breathe by H.E.R.(winner), and If The World Was Ending by JP Saxe and Julia Michaels. The nominees for Best New Artist were Ingrid Andress, Phoebe Bridgers, Chika, Noah Cyrus, D Smoke, Doja Cat, Kaytranada, and Megan Thee Stallion(winner).
Like every year, there were snubs for nominations. One big surprise this year was that The Weeknd didn’t get any nominations. His recent album “After Hours” has been a soundtrack to this year, along with his hit song “Blinding Lights” which has just become the first song in history to be in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 Chart for a whole year. Despite his chart topping songs and album, he received zero nominations in a year of a Weeknd-dominated music industry.
Red carpet fashion came out in full force at the Grammy’s with many artists having two or even three outfits, one for performing, and one for the red carpet. To start with some one the most noteworthy looks of the night, Harry Styles opened the show in a custom black leather Gucci suit with a green boa and bare chest. Taylor Swift walked the rec carpet and accepted her award in a flower embroidered dress with pink heels and a matching mask. Jhene Aiko arrived in a long, pink gown, Dua Lipa in a floor-length gown shimmering from head to toe with a butterfly motif by Versace, Megan The Stallion with an orange dress with a large bow and thigh-high slit by Dolce & Gabbana, BTS with coordinated Louis Vuitton suits and Phoebe Bridgers sported a floor-length black gown with a bedazzled skeleton outline.
As for records, Beyoncé has broken the record for most Grammy wins by a female artist, surpassing Alison Krauss with a whopping 28 Grammys, 4 from this years show. These Grammys come from a total of 79 nominations. Taylor Swift has become the first female to win Album of the Year for the third time, doing it this year with her album “Folklore”. Previously she had won in 2010 with “Fearless” and again in 2015 for “1989”.
