Grammys for Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Beyoncé, HER
This year’s Grammy gala was dominated by women. The prizes in the major categories all went to women. Taylor Swift was named Best Album for Folklore, HER’s anti-racism number “I Can’t Breathe” was named “Song of the Year”, and Billie Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted” was named best recording. R&B diva Beyoncé picked up her 28th prize and is now the most-awarded musician in Grammys history.
Beyoncé’s song “Black Parade” was honored as “Best R&B Performance”. Together with her nine-year-old daughter, the 39-year-old received the award for “Best Music Video” and two other prizes for “Brown Skin Girl”. With that she took the record from the US bluegrass singer Alison Krauss with her 27 Grammys. Most of the Grammys, namely 31, were collected by the Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti, who died in 1997.
Swift also set a record: She is the first woman to win three awards for the best album of the year.
The 13,000 members of the Recording Academy also chose women in other important categories: US rapper Megan Thee Stallion was named best new artist (who got two more for “Savage”, her cooperation with Beyoncé), Dua Lipa takes the award for the best pop singing album (“Future Nostalgia”), the Grammy for the best pop duo performance went to Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande (“Rain on Me”).
The 63rd Grammy Gala – which was postponed from January to March due to the acute corona situation in Los Angeles at the time – was heavily influenced by the corona pandemic: the performances and award ceremonies took place on different stages, some in the open air. In the audience, there were only very few invited guests, mostly the musicians and their accompaniment, with masks decorated in fancy and at tables set far apart. Several prizes were presented by representatives of music clubs from various US cities, some of which have not been able to open for months. The stars from the music industry who died last year were remembered more extensively than usual – some of them also after being infected with the virus.
The music “touched our lives and saved our souls” during the pandemic, said presenter and comedian Noah. “If you haven’t been to a concert in a long time, neither have I – but we’re bringing the concerts to you now.” “After a year of all of us zooming in and out, it’s great to be here – great to be anywhere at all,” said former Beatles singer Ringo Starr, who presented an award.
In addition to the pandemic, the protests against racism in the USA, which were heated up in a brutal police operation last summer after the death of the African American George Floyd, played a role at the gala again and again. “This fight that we had in us in the summer of 2020? Let’s keep this energy”, urged the singer HER after receiving the award in the “Song of the Year” category for her anthem “I Can ‘”, which was written in response to the protests. t Breathe “. During a performance by rapper Lil Baby, activist Tamika Mallory also addressed US President Joe Biden directly: “President Biden, we demand justice.”
The gala was overshadowed by long-lasting debates about transparency and diversity in the award of prizes. The Canadian singer The Weeknd – who is currently one of the most successful musicians, but was not nominated – had already announced in advance that he would boycott the Grammys in the future. The musician Zayn Malik, who was also not nominated, had also criticized the Grammys for a lack of transparency and diversity – and responded via Twitter during the award ceremony: The progress made so far has not been enough. “I’m keeping the pressure on,” Malik wrote. “We need to make sure we honor and celebrate everyone’s creative quality.”
(SERVICE – www.grammy.com)