Everything you need to know about the Grammys 2021

Alongside the Oscars and the Met Gala, the Grammy Awards is one of the most glamorous—and important—nights of the year in entertainment. Consistently securing an arsenal of A-list artists, past ceremonies have seen exhilarating performances from Kendrick Lamar (2016), Miley Cyrus performing with Dolly Parton (2019), or Adele clearing space in her already-full trophy cabinet by winning six awards in one night (2012).

However, the prestigious show has also come under attack in recent years, not least by the artists it honours. Host of the 62nd Grammys, Alicia Keys, slammed the awards for its lack of diversity, while during the 2020 ceremony Tyler, The Creator questioned the racist overtones of the word “urban” (the Recording Academy responded by changing Best Urban Contemporary Album to Best Progressive R&B Album). Fast-forward to the end of 2020, and there’s more upset. Following the announcement of the nominations on November 24, The Weeknd took to social media to protest the omission of his hugely successful album, as did Halsey, while Ellie Goulding posted her thoughts on Medium about the problems of awarding creativity.

With all this and a pandemic to navigate, we’re sure the ceremony next year will be one to remember. Here’s what we know so far about the 63rd Grammy Awards, 2021.

The Grammys will be held on January 31, 2021

Despite COVID-19, the show will be broadcast live from Los Angeles’s Staples Center, where it’s been hosted 19 times since first being televised live in 1971. “Rain or shine, COVID-19 vaccine or not… Whether or not there will be a live audience or red carpet will be determined and revealed closer to the big day,” says the Grammys website.

The host is unconfirmed

For the past two years, singer and 15-times-Grammy winner Alicia Keys has fronted the show, and before her comedian James Corden was on presenting duties. While 2021’s host is yet to be announced, given the ceremony’s penchant for comedians (Billy Crystal, Rosie O’Donnell, Whoopi Goldberg and Ellen DeGeneres have all hosted previously), Michelle Wolf, Chris Rock or Dave Chappelle would all do a great job in 2021.

The performers have not been confirmed

While no names have been announced as yet, we can expect to see Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, Harry Styles and Billie Eilish represent the pop spectrum, with Megan Thee Stallion and DaBaby covering rap. We also hope to see BTS, Phoebe Bridgers, and Kaytranada making their Grammy-stage debuts.

Beyoncé is the most nominated artist for 2021

Queen Bey received nine nods for her acclaimed visual album Black Is King, which premiered via Disney+ in July. With 24 Grammys already in the cabinet and 79 nominations to her name, Beyoncé is currently the eighth most-awarded artist of all time and the joint-second most-nominated alongside Paul McCartney (her husband Jay-Z is joint-first with Quincy Jones, both of whom have 80 noms). If Bey wins eight of those nine categories on the night, she will officially be the most-awarded artist of all time, beating composer Georg Solti who currently holds the top spot.

BTS are nominated for their first ‘proper’ award

The seven-piece group is the first-ever K-pop group to get Grammy recognition, with a nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Their chart-topping single Dynamite is up against Justin Bieber’s Intentions featuring Quavo and Lady Gaga’s Rain On Me with Ariana Grande, as well as J Balvin, Bad Bunny, Dua Lipa and Tainy’s Un Dia/ One Day, and Exile by Taylor Swift featuring Bon Iver. BTS were nominated last year for Best Album Package for their Love Yourself: Tear artwork but it’s not a category that massively counts. Their reaction to the news—besides a stunned V—was certainly not muted.

The Weeknd is very unhappy

With one of the year’s biggest commercial and critical successes, the lack of nominations for Abel Tesfaye’s Blinding Lights album and his huge global hit single of the same name is certainly a huge omission by the Recording Academy. He’s not going quietly though, voicing his displeasure on Twitter. “The Grammys remain corrupt,” he said. “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…” Drake also supported his pal via an Instagram story saying, “We should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards.”

Halsey wasn’t best pleased either

Joining in the outrage after also missing out for her album, Manic, the American pop star called out the process for being deeply unfair. “It can often be about behind-the-scenes private performances, knowing the right people, campaigning through the grapevine, with the right handshakes and ‘bribes’ that can be just ambiguous enough to pass as ‘not-bribes’,” she wrote on her Instagram stories.

Women dominate the nominations

It’s been a great year for pop music, with everyone from Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa to Beyoncé and Taylor Swift delivering first-rate records between the Grammys’ parameters of September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2020. Dua Lipa’s excellent Future Nostalgia is up for five awards, trailed by Taylor Swift’s Folklore with five (plus another for Beautiful Ghosts, Swift’s contribution to the Cats soundtrack) and Billie Eilish’s Everything I Wanted. Relative newcomer Phoebe Bridgers also picked up four, including Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Song. Strangely, Lady Gaga’s Chromatica was overlooked in the major categories, but she picked up one for Best Pop Vocal Album and another for her Ariana Grande duet Rain On Me.

It’s a good year for progressive and emerging acts

Arca became the second trans woman to be Grammy nominated—Sophie was nominated in 2018, also in the Best Dance/ Electronic Album category. Vogue favourites Megan Thee Stallion and Chika are both found in the Best New Artist category while journalist Ronan Farrow received his first ever nod for Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators (Little, Brown), for the 2019 audiobook version recounting his investigation of Harvey Weinstein. Beyoncé proteges Chloe x Halle released one of the year’s finest records with Ungodly Hour and earned three nods, though we’re sad FKA Twigs and her stunning Magdalene received no love. Other key nominees include Phoebe Bridgers, Roddy Ricch and Doja Cat.

Also read:

Where do the Grammys go from here? Tyler, the Creator and Diddy have ideas

5 breakout bedroom pop stars on how they survived and thrived in 2020