This year’s Grammy Awards broadcast was different from a Grammy’s broadcast in a normal year, and that is not a bad thing. In fact, there were some who thought the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards was the best one yet like Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield who tweeted:
this was already the greatest Grammys of all time, by an absurd margin, and then THIS happened, just incredible pic.twitter.com/B0PX74SZ9w
— rob sheffield (@robsheff) March 15, 2021
a whole night of music—what a concept! https://t.co/XwzdOAGFAe
— rob sheffield (@robsheff) March 15, 2021
Lorraine Ali of the Los Angeles Times wrote about the awards show:
The Grammys were expected to be another COVID-era awards show disaster, much like last month’s Golden Globes. Then something incredible happened: When music’s biggest night was forced to go small on Sunday, the 63rd Grammy Awards delivered its best telecast in modern memory.
It was a night with intimate performances where only the show’s host, Trevor Noah, and other artists were watching the performances and it was this touch that brought a unique point-of-view to the night. While Harry Styles started out the night performing his hit song, “Watermelon Sugar,” you would see Billie Eilish standing in her area on the stage while dancing along as Styles sang. This trend continued throughout the night with other artists as well.
However, it wasn’t only the performances that made the night. With the staging area for the awards themselves scaled back to only the nominees that were present, watching as each award was presented seemed more like an intimate affair as well. It was a night that brought back, in many ways, what was important: the music.
It was also a night for LGBTQ artists with nine categories going to LGBTQ inclusive artists:
- Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: “Rain On Me” — Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande
- Best Rock Song: “Stay High” — Brittany Howard
- Best Dance/Electronic Album: “Bubba” — Kaytranada
- Best Dance Recording: “10%” — Kaytranada
- Best R&B Song: “Better Than I Imagined” — Robert Glasper feat. H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello
- Best Country Song: “Crowded Table” — The Highwomen (Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, and Lori Mckenna)
- Best Music Film: Linda Ronstadt: The Song of My Voice — Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman
- Best Spoken Word Album: Rachel Maddow — Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth
- Best Musical Theater Album: Jagged Little Pill
The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards was a great night for female artists as well. Beyoncé became the most-awarded female artist in Grammy history after winning four of the nine nominations she received this year, making her total number of Grammys won 28, beating Alison Krauss’ record of 27.
Taylor Swift’s folklore won the Album of the Year Grammy making it her third album of the year win.
In the final award of the night, Record of the Year, Billie Eilish won for her song, “Everything I Wanted,” which she co-wrote with her brother, FINNEAS. Presenting the Record of the Year Grammy was Ringo Starr, who was wearing a shirt with a hand in the form of the peace sign as a rainbow.
The complete list of winners from the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards is available on the Grammys website.
What was your favorite Grammy performance this year? Were you happy with who won a Grammy? Let us know in the comments or on our social media accounts.
Sources: Rob Sheffield Official Twitter Page, Los Angeles Times, GLAAD, Grammy.com, Recording Academy/ GRAMMYs Official YouTube Channel
