By Diana Sanchez
Historical Background of the Grammys
The Grammy Awards, originally named The Gramophone Awards, began in 1958. During this time there were no annual awards for pop music, however there were the Oscars and the Emmy Awards which gave awards to film and television. As a result of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an interest in music and the recording industry led to the GRAMMY Awards becoming an award to recognize musicians.
On live television people see the better known awards for the top artists, but there are actually dozens of categories that aren’t televised. The amount of categories has changed every year as new ones have been added and some have been taken away. For example, the first Grammy Awards had only 28 categories while the 2021 Grammys had 83 categories.
There is an award called the Lifetime Hall Fame Award which is given to well-known artists who have left an impact on the music industry. Some of the winners of this award include Frank Sinatra (1965), The Rolling Stones (1986), Led Zeppelin (2005), The Beatles (2014), and Queen (2018). Another huge award is the Grammy Hall of Fame Award which recognizes significant music and songs by popular artists. Some songs that have gotten this award are “California Dreamin” by The Mamas & the Papas and “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The Grammy Trustees Award is given to individuals and artists who through their careers in music or technology have made significant contributions—other than performing—to the field of recorded music. Some past winners include Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, The Beatles, and Frank Sinatra.
Who decides who gets the Grammy?
It is said that the decision is voted on by hundreds of music experts in various genres. The first step involves the recording studios and the Recording Academy members submitting their entries for consideration. There are checks for the eligibility of the entries, then the members of the Recording Academy vote in the categories that they have the most experience in and the four main categories which are Best New Artists, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Record of the Year.
Controversies Surrounding The Grammys
For some time now the Grammys have been under fire for not recognizing artists of color, and this year is no exception. The Grammys have been accused of undermining artists of color or using their status for views, and not giving them an award. Many artists over the years have called out the Grammys for this and say that the Grammys voting system is corrupted. The Weekends song “Blinding Lights,” which was one of the most popular songs of this year, didn’t receive a nomination. On Twitter he said “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…” Further stating that he will not be submitting his music for consideration again.
The famous rapper Eminem has stated in past interviews, “Don’t f**king get us all here, to use as your selling point for your f**king show, and stiff everybody every single f**king time. After that point in time I said don’t ever ask me to come here again. My answer is no for a hundred million years.”
Artists such as Drake, Wiz Khalifa, Nicki Minaj, Halsey, Justin Bieber and many more have expressed their opinions over the system of the Grammys for a while.
The 63rd Annual Grammys
The 63rd annual Grammys was hosted by comedian Trevor Noah who is also the host of the news comedy show The Daily Show. Due to COVID regulations, the award ceremony had no live audience. The televised event was moved outside the Staple Center, for the fresh air to circulate. All the artists who were in the audience were wearing masks, and the host and award presenters stayed 6 feet apart from each other (except for a few times).
Over the years the amount of views the Grammys have received has been declining. The most viewed Grammy award show was in 2012 with 39 million viewers. Despite this the 2021 Grammys had only about 8.8 million viewers. The Grammys isn’t the only award show that has seen a decline in viewers over the years, the Oscars, the Golden Globes and the MTV Music Awards have also seen declines.
Beyoncé was up for the most awards, a contender in nine categories. Add up all her annual nominations over the years, and you discover that Beyoncé has reached a massive total of 79 nominations. This makes her the most-nominated female in the history of the Grammys. Some first time nominees include Megan Thee Stallion, BTS, Harry Styles, the Strokes and more.
Beyoncé made even more history this year at the Grammys. She has now broken the record for the most Grammys won by any female artist by earning a total of 28 Grammys.
Winners
There were 83 categories for this year’s Grammy awards, so there is a long list of winners! However a few winners are listed below.
Record of the Year: EVERYTHING I WANTED – Billie Eilish
(Nominees: BLACK PARADE – Beyoncé, COLORS – Black Pumas, ROCKSTAR – DaBaby Featuring Roddy Ricch, SAY SO – Doja Cat, DON’T START NOW – Dua Lipa, CIRCLES – Post Malone, SAVAGE – Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé)
Album of the Year: FOLKLORE – Taylor Swift
(Nominees: CHILOMBO – Jhené Aiko, BLACK PUMAS (DELUXE EDITION) – Black Pumas
EVERYDAY LIFE – Coldplay, DJESSE VOL.3 – Jacob Collier, WOMEN IN MUSIC PT. III – HAIM, FUTURE NOSTALGIA – Dua Lipa, HOLLYWOOD’S BLEEDING – Post Malone)
Song Of The Year: I CAN’T BREATHE – H.E.R.
(Nominees: BLACK PARADE – Beyoncé, THE BOX – Roddy Ricch, CARDIGAN – Taylor Swift, CIRCLES – Post Malone, DON’T START NOW – Dua Lipa, EVERYTHING I WANTED – Billie Eilish, IF THE WORLD WAS ENDING – JP Saxe Featuring Julia Michaels)
Best New Artist: MEGAN THEE STALLION
(Nominees: INGRID ANDRESS, PHOEBE BRIDGERS, CHIKA, NOAH CYRUS, D SMOKE, DOJA CAT, KAYTRANADA)
Best Pop Solo Performance: WATERMELON SUGAR – Harry Styles
(Nominees: YUMMY – Justin Bieber, SAY SO – Doja Cat, EVERYTHING I WANTED – Billie Eilish, DON’T START NOW – Dua Lipa, CARDIGAN – Taylor Swift)
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: RAIN ON ME – Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande
(Nominees: UN DIA (ONE DAY) – J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny & Tainy, INTENTIONS – Justin Bieber Featuring Quavo, DYNAMITE – BTS, EXILE – Taylor Swift Featuring Bon Iver)
Best Pop Vocal Album: FUTURE NOSTALGIA – Dua Lipa
(Nominees: CHANGES – Justin Bieber, CHROMATICA – Lady Gaga, FINE LINE- Harry Styles, FOLKLORE – Taylor Swift)
Best R&B Performance: “BLACK PARADE” – Beyoncé
(Nominees: LIGHTNING & THUNDER – Jhené Aiko Featuring John Legend, ALL I NEED – Jacob Collier Featuring Mahalia & Ty Dolla $ign, GOAT HEAD – Brittany Howard, SEE ME – Emily King)
Best Rap Performance: “SAVAGE” – Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé
(Nominees: DEEP REVERENCE – Big Sean Featuring Nipsey Hussle, BOP – DaBaby, WHATS POPPIN – Jack Harlow, THE BIGGER PICTURE – Lil Baby, DIOR – Pop Smoke)
Best Rap Song: “SAVAGE” – Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé
(Nominees: THE BIGGER PICTURE – Lil Baby, THE BOX – Roddy Ricch, LAUGH, NOW CRY LATER – Drake Featuring Lil Durk, ROCKSTAR – DaBaby Featuring Roddy Ricch)
Some Iconic Moments From The Grammys
Harry Styles
Harry Styles opened up the award show with his song Watermelon Sugar. Styles performed shirtless, however he was in a black leather suit and green feather boa.
Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa performed her songs “Levitating” and “Don’t Start Now.” The performance started off with a close up on her in a purple suit. However as the songs progressed, Lipa had a total of three outfit changes. She also demonstrated some of her dancing skills throughout her performance.
BTS
BTS was nominated for their first full English song “Dynamite,” which is what they performed at the Grammys as well. BTS didn’t win the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category, but made history by being the first K-pop act to perform one of their own songs at the Grammys. 2019 was when they made their first appearance at the Grammys and presented an award. In 2020, they shared a stage with Lil Nas X performing “Old Town Road (Remix).” Now in 2021, they performed their own song at the Grammys. However due to COVID-19 the South Korean group was unable to attend the Grammys in LA, so they built a duplicate Grammy stage in South Korea and performed.
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift sang three of her songs “Cardigan,” “August” and “Willow.” She shared the stage with collaborators Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff. Her performance started with her laying on the roof of a small cottage. She then transitioned into the cottage and continued her performance.
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion began her performance with “Body,” then transformed the stage to fit her GRAMMY-winning “Savage” single. Beyoncé had a part in this song but she never performed it. Instead, Megan continued the song with her choreography. On the stage next appeared Cardi B with her song “Up,” wearing a pink metallic suit. Cardi and Megan then joined stages to perform their collaboration “WAP.”