The 2021 Grammys awards were held at the Los Angeles convention center on Sunday night. The 63rd year of the annual award show aired on CBS. The event was hosted by comedian Trevor Noah. It featured performances from breakout stars and music industry legends. Following suit of other old entertainment award shows occurring during Covid there were no in-person audience members. A few nominees and performers, however, attended.
Beyoncé notably won an industry record for winning a remarkable 28 Grammys over the course of her career. She has nine nominations this year. Other notable numbers include Taylor Swift, LA-based rapper Roddy Ricch, and UK singer-songwriter Dua Lipa, who each received six nominations. Roddy Ricch did not win a single of his nominated categories. The nineteen-year-old Alternative musician Billie Eilish won Record of the Year for her album Everything I Wanted. Taylor Swift won album of the year for Folklore.
Female rapper Megan Thee Stallion won Best New Artist, and performed “Body/ Savage”, “WAP” and “Up”, some of which featuring Cardi B. H.E.R.’s song “I Can’t Breathe” won song of the year. The R&B song was released in mid-June 2020, at the peak of the Black Lives Matter Protests. Fiona Apple released her first album in eight years titled Fetch the Bolt Cutters. She received nominations for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song her track “Shameika”. She also won Best Alternative Music Album.
Some fans and people in the industry were not happy with the Grammy nominations and felt they were snubbed. Nicki Minaj, who is often considered the queen of rap, did not receive any Grammy nominations. R&B artist The Weeknd released his album After Hours in 2020 and performed at the Superbowl in 2021. However, he did not receive a single nomination and has decided to boycott the Grammys in the future.
