The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards aired on Sunday, March 14. The award ceremony was bigger and more exciting than expected, despite its delay. The Recording Academy originally scheduled the ceremony for Sunday, January 31. It was set to be semi-virtual with no live audience, but the organizers eventually announced that the event would be postponed. The Recording Academy made a statement regarding this decision: “Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show.”

Trevor Noah hosted the show from the Los Angeles Convention Center. Other presenters included Jhene Aiko, Jacob Collier, Lizzo, and Ringo Starr. Parts of the show were also presented live from iconic venues in different cities that have been affected amidst the pandemic. The award show paid tribute to locations including the Hotel Cafe, the Troubadour, the Apollo Theater, and the Station Inn.

I was eager to watch the show, and it was definitely worth the wait. The Academy organized a huge lineup of performances for the night, some including Taylor Swift, BTS, Harry Styles, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, and Post Malone. There were so many artists featured at the show, both well-known and new, which really made it feel like a gigantic celebration of music and the industry’s growth over the past year. 

The night was full of record-breaking wins by female artists. Beyonce broke the record for all-time wins by a woman with 28 awards in total when she received the best R&B performance for “Black Parade”. “As an artist, I believe it is my job and all of our jobs to reflect the times,” she said during her acceptance speech. “And it’s been such a difficult time. So I wanted to uplift, encourage, and celebrate all of the beautiful black queens and kings that continue to inspire me and inspire the whole world.” 

Beyonce also took home the award for Best Music Video along with her nine-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, for “Brown Skin Girl”. This made Carter the second youngest Grammy award winner in history. Beyonce broke many records that night, she also won the Best Rap Song award alongside Megan Thee Stallion for their collaboration on the remix of “Savage”, becoming the first pair of women to win the category. 

With her Album of the Year award for “Folklore”, Taylor Swift became the first woman to win three times in that category. Only three other artists have done this, including Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, and Stevie Wonder.