Evan Roeschen, Senior
This year is the 63rd year of the Grammy Awards. This award spans back nearly 70 years covering history in motion. Looking back on the events of this legendary award is proof enough of the impact it has had on American culture and the globe as a whole. As of 2019, there are a total of 84 categories that hand out awards to nominees. Hollywood royalty has hosted this event over the past 63 years spanning generations of icons. Recently in 2019, Alicia Keys hosted for her first time. In 2005, Queen Latifha hosted. Grammy hosting is a long-standing honor and looking back you can see history evolve in front of your eyes. In 1963 the legend Frank Sinatra hosted. Kenny Rogers hosted in 1980 and had a follow-up in 1986. The Trustee Award honors famous contributors to the music world or the Grammy Awards itself. Some of these names include The Beatles, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, and Frank Sinatra. Four of the biggest awards given out during the night are Best New Artist, Record, Song, and Album of the year. In the 63-year history of the Grammys, only three artists have ever won all four, being Christopher Cross, Billie Eilish, and Adele. Though 2020 was a difficult year, the music that shapes the world has not stopped and 2021 is a makeup year for what was lost.
On the night of the Grammys, Taylor Swift won Album of the Year for Folklore, showing music’s versatility through the darkest of times. The album in question was written in her room during the pandemic and it was one of two albums released in 2020 by the superstar, in order to cope with the isolation from fans. Billie Eilish took home the Record of the Year for “Everything I Wanted.” In 2020, Billie Eilish made history by becoming the youngest artist to sweep all four major awards. In doing so, she became the third artist in Grammy history to win all four major categories and the first in a decade since Adele in 2011. In fact, she has become such a force in the music industry in only three years, winning 61 awards and receiving over 150 award nominations. One of the most standout wins of the night was from former One Direction frontman Harry Styles. His breakout solo song “Watermelon Sugar” beat out Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa, and Billie Eilish. If nothing else, this shows that the fan power of One Direction has not faded out despite the group's disbandment in 2015.
Another big award of the night was the Best R&B Album, going to John Legend for his album Bigger Love. One of the most unusual wins was in the country awards. For Best Country Duo/Performance, Dan and Shay, with the addition of Justin Bieber, won for their song 10,000 Hours, making this the first time the pop superstar has received an award for a country song in his over-decade-long career. They managed to beat out country titans including Lady Antebellum, Brothers Osborne, and Little Big Town. Country legend Dolly Parton won her 12th Grammy, further cementing herself as one of the best female artists of all time. Throughout her career, Parton has received 50 nominations, winning 12 of them. This makes Dolly Parton the second most nominated female artist behind Beyoncé. The last award she received on the stage was her lifetime achievement award in 2011.
The night was not all smiles and achievements, however. All eyes were on BTS, the first K-pop and Asian artist to ever receive a Grammy nomination. Lady Gaga and Ariane Grande beat them out for their duet of Rain On Me, which greatly upset the Armies, the K-pop group’s super-fan base. In 2019, BTS made history for becoming the first K-pop act to present an award at the ceremony. They also performed with Charlie Puth. Now in 2021, they have made further history becoming the first K-pop and Asian artist to perform one of their hits at the Grammys. Dynamite was the song they performed and was also the song that they were nominated for. The song shattered YouTube in August of last year, becoming the first video to break 100 million views in 24 hours. Despite the big disappointment, one fan tweeted: “Last year's guests, this year's nominee, next year we will win it”. The Grammys is exclusively a panel award and not a fan-voted award. This is a major factor blocking a Korean superstar act from winning, as the night before for Kids Choice Awards 2021, BTS won all categories they were nominated for: Best Group, Best Global Artist, and Favorite Song. This meant that they beat out their arch rival Blackpink for Best Group and for Favorite Song they beat Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, and Shawn Mendes. For the Best Global Artists, they once again beat out Taylor Swift.
Award shows with fan voting are proof of the massive influence and power K-pop now commands in the US music market. The future will show if the Grammys will eventually award one of the superstar groups from Korea or stay the way they are. Nonetheless, the future of music has been altered after this historic nomination. The Kids Choice Awards started in 2008 and this is the first time in its 13 years that K-pop acts have been nominated and received awards.
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