CBS broadcasted the 63rd Grammy Award Show the night of Mar. 14. Amidst the various COVID-19 protocols and guidelines, numerous celebrities were able to attend the event. All attendees practiced social distancing and were required to wear a mask.
Trevor Noah, the host of The Daily Show, hosted the award show, and did so by using his comedian background and making humorous comments towards the performers and nominees.
Due to the COVID-19 guidelines the award show looked a little different since there was not a large audience. Celebrities such as John Legend and Crissy Teigen, along with a few other small music business owners joined the Grammys via Zoom.
Will Metcalf, a junior exercise science major, said, “I thought it was great that the Grammys were able to happen this year and that they could host it while maintaining COVID-19 protocol.”
Taylor Swift performed three of her songs from her latest albums Evermore and Folklore. Swift was nominated for five Grammys, but only won one Grammy which was Album of the Year for Folklore. This Grammy allowed her to make history as she is the first female artist to win album of the year three times.
“Taylor Swift’s performance was the best part about the Grammys,” senior English education major Ashley Moore said. “She performed multiple songs during her performance that flowed so well together from her new albums Folklore and Evermore.”
Along with Taylor Swift making history, “Queen Bee” Beyonce made history as she became the first female artist with the most Grammy awards. The Grammy award given to Megan Thee Stallion for Best Rap Song, that Beyonce is featured on, tied the record for most Grammy awards for Beyonce. Later in the show, Beyonce was awarded her twenty-eighth Grammy award for Best R&B Performance for her song “Black Parade.” This award made Beyonce the record holder for most Grammy awards.
Harry Styles performed his song “Watermelon Sugar” from his album Fine Line. Styles was nominated for three Grammy awards, however he won only one of these nominations. The Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance was awarded to Styles for his song “Watermelon Sugar,” making it his first Grammy award.
Among numerous other performances, several artists came together to sing songs by those who were once a part of the music industry but have been lost in the past year. Bill Withers, Little Richard, Eddie Van Halen and Kenny Rogers were a few celebrities that were remembered during the Tribute section of the award show.
Darren Frasier, a freshman mass communications major, said, “I believe that the Grammys is still such a high achievement and means so much but I do believe that the achievement has been tainted because of the more recent results as people have been winning and the mass public hasn’t been agreeing with all the winners.”
During the Grammy Award Show, the Recording Academy put out a statement explaining that they do not support sexism and racism and do not allow those actions to take place in their industry.
“Usually, I’m not a fan of the Grammy committee due to their perceived racism within the nomination and award selection process of artist, but there seemed to be some more inclusivity this year,” Metcalf said.
According to the statement from the Record Academy, we can hopefully look forward to seeing more diversity and fairness in the selection of the nominees and winners in the future Grammy Awards.
