Beyoncé and Swift Make History at Grammy Awards
Female performers had a record-making night at the 2021 Grammy Awards on March 14.
Four women won the top four prizes, including Taylor Swift, who became the first female performer to win album of the year three times. Beyoncé became the most-awarded woman in Grammy history with her 28th win.
H.E.R. won song of the year, and Billie Eilish got record of the year for the second year in a row.
Women have won the top four awards in the past — including Eilish winning all of them herself last year — but this was the first time four separate, solo women have taken home the top four honors.
Swift won album of the year with Folklore, which she released as a surprise last year. She previously won album of the year with Fearless and 1989.
Beyoncé entered the evening with 24 wins and received four more, including best R&B performance for “Black Parade.” The song was released on Juneteenth, which commemorates the date of June 19, 1865, when the last African Americans learned they were free from slavery.
Several other winning songs honored the Black experience, including H.E.R.’s “I Can’t Breathe” and Anderson Paak’s “Lockdown,” which was also released on Juneteenth.
Beyoncé also won best music video for “Brown Skin Girl,” and shared the awards for best rap performance and best rap song with Megan Thee Stallion for “Savage.”
Beyoncé is now tied with producer and musician Quincy Jones for the second-highest number of Grammy wins. She and Jones are only behind conductor Georg Solti, who has 31 wins.
Megan Thee Stallion, who won three awards, also made history by becoming the first female rap artist to win best rap song.
Trevor Noah hosted the event from downtown Los Angeles, with guests wearing masks and sitting, socially distanced, at small tables. The show included prerecorded performances from a number of artists, including Swift and Eilish.
Billie Eilish arrives at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards.