Grammys 2021 as it happened: Taylor and Billie snag major awards as Beyonce breaks record

Hello people, welcome to the Grammys – or as I like to call it, The Awards Show That Gets It Wrong Literally Every Time (Except Last Year When Billie Eilish Won Everything, That One Was Fine).

Robert Moran here on the blog, I’ll be quipping fun insults about Post Malone and/or earnest musings about crying to Taylor Swift’s cardigan in the rain (do I really have to lower-case her stuff all day? This could get tiresome). My colleagues Martin Boulton will be contributing expert analysis throughout the ceremony and Melissa Singer will be guiding you through the red carpet fashion (can’t wait to see what Ringo Starr’s wearing).

The Grammys, huh? Feels like they should’ve faded into oblivion years ago, or at least following that time they awarded album of the year to Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic over Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN., only to have DAMN. win the ACTUAL PULITZER PRIZE just weeks later. Kind of undercuts your credentials once you’ve overlooked the ACTUAL PULITZER PRIZE winner in favour of a fluffy homage to ’90s new jack swing, but that’s kind of the joy of the Grammys. They’re bonkers, always.

This year’s instalment has its own lingering controversies which I’ll get it into shortly, but let’s just say they involve words like “corrupt” and “boycott”, while Fiona Apple has vowed to smash any trophies she wins with a sledgehammer. Ah, classic Grammys.

It was all going well, if a little laboured. A record-setting night for pop icon Beyonce, a useful haul for rising superstar Megan Thee Stallion, a nod towards Taylor Swift’s supreme vision. But then, a classic Grammys headscratcher for the show’s biggest award.

Even Billie Eilish appeared shocked when her single Everything I Wanted took out the night’s top prize, record of the year.

“This is really embarrassing for me. Seriously, can you just cheer for Megan Thee Stallion?” the 19-year-old offered in her acceptance speech, which was entirely dedicated to why her fellow nominee warranted the win. “You deserve this. You had a year that I think is un-stoppable.”

It echoed another classic clanger – in 2017, when Adele’s 25 was awarded album of the year over Beyonce’s Lemonade, and the British singer used her speech to implore the Grammys a mistake had been made.

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New Zealand film director Taika Waititi has added a Grammy to his collection, taking home the award for best compilation soundtrack for visual media for Jojo Rabbit, the 2019 film which also netted him an Oscar last year.

“It was so long ago, I can barely remember anything about making that movie – but it seems like it’s never going to go away, and I’m happy about that,” Waititi said when accepting the award.

The film opened in cinemas in November 2019. Eligibility for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards was for recordings released between September 1, 2019, and August 3, 2020.

After last year taking home record of the year for Bad Guy among her five other awards, 19-year-old Billie Eilish has done it again, winning her second consecutive Grammy for record of the year.

Accepting the win for Everything I Wanted from Ringo Starr, Eilish said, “This is really embarrassing for me,” asking the audience, “can you just cheer for Megan Thee Stallion?” Megan was nominated for her song Savage, featuring Beyonce, which was considered a strong chance to take out the category.

Before Eilish, U2 won record of the year in consecutive years for the tracks Beautiful Day (in 2001) and Walk On (2002). Roberta Flack was the first artist ever to win the category in consecutive years, with The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face in 1973 and Killing Me Softly With His Song in 1974.

It wasn’t Eilish’s only win at the Grammys – she also shared the win for best song written for visual media with her brother, Finneas, who co-wrote and produced Everything I Wanted.

He was there to present the final award, but Ringo Starr turning up at the Grammys was a thrill in itself.

“After a year when we’ve all been zooming in and zooming out … music must go on,” said the former Beatle and narrator of Thomas the Tank Engine.

He announced Billie Eilish as the winner of record of the year for Everything I Wanted and then he was gone, having wished everyone “peace and love” in the process.

Well, here it comes, the day’s biggest prize - record of the year. It’s the award the New York Times dubbed the “culture category”, in that it should somehow capture the prevailing mood of the year. Considering 2020 was horribly sad, the nominations were quite accurate.

Most of the nominees, bar Dua Lipa’s vitally escapist Don’t Start Now and Beyonce’s hefty Black Parade (released at the height of the #BlackLivesMatter protests), feel decidedly meh.

Imagine if every single film nominated for best picture at this year’s Oscars was Mank. That’s what this category feels like. Give the prize to Mank, like who cares?

Still, a win for Beyonce would surely top off a celebratory awards for her, and make up for the fact she hasn’t won a major category since 2010’s win for Single Ladies.

This time it’s K-pop superstars BTS’ turn. They head all the way up to the rooftop of a building in Seoul. “They recreated our whole set here over there,” explains Noah.

I don’t care. They could perform synchronised dance moves on Mars with the Perseverance rover at this stage and I’d still be like, “Dear god, get on with the awards!”