Grammy 2021: the 10 moments to remember of the evening

Agree, it was the Beyoncé edition that, as predicted by bookmakers, became the most awarded artist in the history of the Grammy Awards, reaching as many as 28 statuettes, beating the record until then held by Alison Kraus. but the ceremony of 2021, the first after the pandemic, also had the merit of making us savor that pinch of normality that in the last year has seen live music sweeping by trapping it inside a screen, preventing artists from rediscovering that connection with the public that is also the soul of performance.

Taking advantage of the alternation between recorded and live contributions, the 63rd Grammys, made following a very rigid security protocol costing tens of millions of dollars, managed to bring the ship to port in the sign of the restart and, above all, of women.

Insieme to Beyoncé, which hit the night with four awards, including Best R&B Performance for Black Parade and best music video together with her daughter Blue Ivy Carter, the youngest Grammy winner ever – the Knowles-Carter family seems to be at home -, in fact, to hold the bench during the evening Megan Thee Stallion, crowned best new artist, moved and excited to the point of turning a thought to the mother she lost several years ago; Taylor Swift, which thanks to the album of the year award with Folklore she became the first female artist to achieve three wins in the category, joining Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon; is Billie Eilish, that after making the 2020 ceremony his own, he won for the best record thanks to Everything I Wanted.

And if Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande were not present to be able to collect the award for the best pop duo for Rain on Me – Gaga is, in fact, currently working in Italy for the filming of House of Gucci, the new film by Ridley Scott with Adam Driver, Robert De Niro and Jared Leto – the Grammys went on thanks to extraordinary performances like that of Dua Lipa, which also took home the accolade for the best album of pop songs, and by Harry Styles which, in addition to opening the evening with his performance by Watermelon Sugar sung shirtless and with a green boa around the neck, it also won the award for Best Pop Solo Performance: for him it is the first participation in the Grammys. For the rest, beyond the conduct of the comedian Trevor Noah, who however did not convince the US critics who judged it lackluster compared to expectations, the Grammys have been talked about not only for the victory, from the strong symbolic power , by HER for his I Can’t Breathe as best song of the year, but also for the controversy that, from Zayn Malik to The Weeknd, the artist who continued to accuse the organization of the award of being corrupt and not very transparent (his album After Hour was not, in fact, a candidate in any category), the Grammys have always been at home.

Browse the gallery above to discover the 10 moments we will remember from the 2021 Grammy Awards >>

Here are all the winners:

Record of the Year: Billie Eilish, “Everything I Wanted”

Album of the Year: Taylor Swift, Folklore

Best R&B Performance: Beyoncé, “Black Parade”

Best Pop Vocal Album: Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia

Best Rap Song: Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé, “Savage”

Song of the Year: H.E.R., “I Can’t Breathe”

Best Latin Pop or Urban Album: Bad Bunny, YHLQMDLG

Best Melodic Rap Performance: Anderson .Paak, “Lockdown”

Best Pop Solo Performance: Harry Styles, “Watermelon Sugar”

Best Country Album: Miranda Lambert, Wildcard

Best New Artist: Megan Thee Stallion

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Andrew Watt

Best Country Song: The Highwomen, “Crowded Table”

Best Country Duo/Group Performance: Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber, “10,000 Hours”

Best Country Solo Performance: Vince Gill, “When My Amy Prays”

Best Rock Album: The Strokes, The New Abnormal

Best Rock Song: Brittany Howard, “Stay High”

Best Metal Performance: Body Count, “Bum-Rush”

Best Rock Performance: Fiona Apple, “Shameika”

Best Rap Album: Nas, King’s Disease

Best Rap Performance: Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé, “Savage”

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: James Taylor, American Standard

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande, “Rain on Me”

Best R&B Album: John Legend, Bigger Love

Best Progressive R&B Album: Thundercat, It Is What It Is

Best R&B Song: Robert Glasper featuring H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello, “Better Than I Imagined”

Best Traditional R&B Performance: Ledisi, “Anything for You”

Best Latin Jazz Album: Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Four Questions

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Maria Schneider Orchestra, Data Lords

Best Jazz Instrumental Album:  Chick Corea, Christian McBride and Brian Blade, Trilogy 2

Best Jazz Vocal Album: Kurt Elling Featuring Danilo Pérez, Secrets Are the Best Stories

Best improvised Jazz Solo: Chick Corea’s “All Blues”

Best Alternative Music Album: Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters

Best Musical Theatre Album: Original Broadway Cast, Jagged Little Pill

Best Comedy Album: Tiffany Haddish, Black Mitzvah

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books and Storytelling): Rachel Maddow, Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, And The Richest, Most Destructive Industry On Earth

Best Children’s Music Album: Joanie Leeds, All the Ladies

Best Global Music Album: Burna Boy, Twice as Tall

Best Reggae Album: Toots and the Maytals, Got to Be Tough

Best Regional Roots Music Album: New Orleans Nightcrawlers, Atmosphere

Best Folk Album: Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, All the Good Times

Best Contemporary Blues Album: Fantastic Negrito, Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?

Best Traditional Blues Album: Bobby Rush, Rawer Than Raw

Best Bluegrass Album: Billy Strings, Home

Best Americana Album: Sarah Jarosz, World on the Ground

Best American Roots Song: John Prine, “I Remember Everything”

Best American Roots Performance: John Prine, I Remember Everything

Best Song Written for Visual Media: Billie Eilish, “No Time to Die” (From No Time to Die)

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media: Hildur Guðnadóttir, Joker

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: Various Artists, Jojo Rabbit

Best Contemporary Classical Composition: Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony, Rouse: Symphony No. 5

Best Classical Compendium: Michael Tilson Thomas, Thomas, M.T.: From The Diary Of Anne Frank & Meditations On Rilke

Best Classical Solo Vocal Album: Sarah Brailey & Dashon Burton, Smyth: The Prison

Best Classical Instrumental Solo: Richard O’Neill, Theofanidis: Concerto For Viola And Chamber Orchestra

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: Pacifica Quartet, Contemporary Voices

Best Choral Performance: JoAnn Falletta, James K. Bass & Adam Luebke, Danielpour: The Passion Of Yeshua

Best Opera Recording: David Robertson, Eric Owens & Angel Blue, Gershwin: Porgy And Bess

Best Orchestral Performance: Gustavo Dudamel, Ives: Complete Symphonies

Best Tropical Latin Album: Niche group, 40

Best Regional Mexican Album (Including Tejano): Natalia Lafourcade, A Song For Mexico, Vol. 1

Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album: Fito Paez, The Conquest of Space

Producer of the Year, Classical: David Frost

Best Engineered Album, Classical: Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, ‘Babi Yar’

Best Remixed Recording: SAINt JHN, “Roses” (Imanbek Remix)

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical: Beck, Hyperspace

Best Historical Album: Mister Rogers, It’s Such A Good Feeling: The Best Of Mister Rogers

Best Album Notes: The Replacements, Dead Man’s Pop

Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package: Wilco, Ode to Joy

Best Recording Package: Vols. 11 & 12 Desert Sessions

Best Roots Gospel Album: Fisk Jubilee Singers, Celebrating Fisk! (The 150th Anniversary)

Best Gospel Album: PJ Morton, Gospel According To PJ

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album: Kanye West, Jesus Is King

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song: Zach Williams & Dolly Parton, “There Was Jesus”

Best Gospel Performance/Song: Jonathan McReynolds & Mali Music, “Movin’ On”

Best New Age Album: Jim “Kimo” West, More Guitar Stories

Best Music Film: Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

Best Music Video: Beyoncé with Blue Ivy, and WizKiD, “Brown Skin Girl”

Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals: Jacob Collier with Rapsody, “He Won’t Hold You”

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella: John Beasley, “Donna Lee”

Best Instrumental Composition: Maria Schneider, Sputnik

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: Snarky Puppy, Live at the Royal Albert Hall

Best Dance/Electronic Album: Kaytranada, Bubba

Best Dance Recording: Kaytranada, “10%”