Beyonce has broken the record for most wins ever by a singer and most wins by a female artist with 28 at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
The 39-year-old singer became the most decorated singer in the history of the gala event as she earned Best R&B Performance for Black Parade inside of a tent outside of the Los Angeles Convention Center for music’s biggest night.
The award was presented by two of the most iconic producers of all-time – Babyface and Jimmy Jam – as Jam proudly made the announcement saying: ‘Oh! Okay, wait a minute, history has just been made, breaking the all-time record for the most Grammy wins ever by any female artist or any singer male or female, the Grammy goes to Beyonce!’
What a feat! Beyonce has broken the record for most wins ever by a singer and most wins by a female artist with 28 at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night
Minutes earlier at the event the Queen Bey joined Megan Thee Stallion on stage as they earned Best Rap Song for Savage to tie the record.
The duo from Houston were about to walk off stage after an emotional acceptance speech as host Trevor Noah updated the audience with the historic news.
Epic: Beyonce has tied the record for most wins ever by a singer and most wins by a female artist at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night
Dynamic duo: The 39-year-old singer joined Megan Thee Stallion on stage as they earned Best Rap Song for Savage inside of a tent outside of the Los Angeles Convention Center for music’s biggest night
‘So congratulations Queen Bey’: The duo from Houston were about to walk off stage after an emotional acceptance speech as host Trevor Noah updated the audience with the historic news
He said: ‘Before you leave the stage, before you leave the stage I just wanted to say this, we want everybody to know that right now grammy history has been made. Because with that award, Beyonce has just tied the all-time record for most Grammy wins ever by a female artist and by any singer male or female.
‘So congratulations Queen Bey. Beyonce is tied at 27 Grammys, tied at 27 Grammys. What an achievement. Wow. Ladies.’
Beyonce and Megan beat out an impressive field including Lil Baby for The Bigger Picture, Roddy Ricch for The Box, Drake featuring Lil Durk for Laugh Now, Cry Later, and DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch for Rockstar.
Harry Styles scored a surprise victory in the Best Pop Performance category as he beat out a very impressive field including Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, and even ex Taylor Swift at the The 27-year-old singer was honored for his hit Watermelon Sugar.
He faced very heavy competition including: Taylor Swift for Cardigan, Dua Lipa for Don’t Start Now, Doja Cat for Say So, Justin Bieber for Yummy, and Billie Eilish for Everything I Wanted.
Golden: Harry Styles scored a surprise victory in the Best Pop Performance category as he beat out a very impressive field including Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, and even ex Taylor Swift at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
Still supportive: Taylor applauded ex Harry when his name was announced as they dated for a short time between 2012 and 2013
Dua, Taylor, and Billie were all seen in the socially-distanced crowd applauding for Harry as he walked toward the podium.
He hit the stage to accept the gong as he said: ‘Wow, to everyone who made this record with me, thank you so much. This is the first song we wrote after my first album came out.
‘During a day off in Nashville and I just want to say thanks to Tom, Kyle and Mitch and everyone. Rob Stringer and everyone at Columbia, my manager, who has always nudged me to do better and never pushed me and thank you so much. So very grateful to be here. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.’
Blessed: The 27-year-old singer was honored for his hit Watermelon Sugar inside of a tent outside of the Los Angeles Convention Center for music’s biggest night
Beating the odds: He faced very heavy competition including: Taylor Swift for Cardigan, Dua Lipa for Don’t Start Now, Doja Cat for Say So, Justin Bieber for Yummy, and Billie Eilish for Everything I Wanted
Good sports: Dua (pictured left), Taylor, and Billie were all seen in the socially-distanced crowd applauding for Harry as he walked toward the podium
He hit the stage to accept the gong as he said: ‘Wow, to everyone who made this record with me, thank you so much. This is the first song we wrote after my first album came out’
Harry and Taylor dated for a brief period between 2012 and 2013. He is currently in a relationship with Olivia Wilde after working together on the film Don’t Worry Darling.
Before that, Megan Thee Stallion was the first artist honored at the gala as she took home Best New Artist.
The 26-year-old rapper got emotional as she was given the award by her friend Lizzo at the event in a tent outside Megan fought back tears as she said: ‘I don’t want to cry. But first of all I want to say everybody is amazing. Every artist that was nominated for this award is so amazing. So shout out to all y’all.
Simply stunning: Megan Thee Stallion was the first artist honored at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night as she took home Best New Artist
Big win: The 26-year-old rapper got emotional as she was given the award by her friend Lizzo at the event in a tent outside the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday night
‘Secondly, I really just want to thank god because thank you for putting life into my body for me to be able to even be here today. I want to say thank you for always being with me, being by my side.’
At one point during the speech, the outdoor elements next to a busy LA street came into effect as Megan seemed annoyed when traffic noise had interrupted her speech.
Regardless, she persisted through as she made sure to thank her beloved mother, Holly Thomas, who passed away from a brain tumor in March 2019.
Emotional: Megan fought back tears as she said: ‘I don’t want to cry. But first of all I want to say everybody is amazing. Every artist that was nominated for this award is so amazing. So shout out to all y’all’
Megan continued: ‘Secondly, I really just want to thank god because thank you for putting life into my body for me to be able to even be here today. I want to say thank you for always being with me, being by my side’
She concluded her speech by saying: ‘I really want to say thank you to my mama, she’s not here with me today but I know she is here with me in spirit and she always believe I could do it, so thank you all so much.’
Megan faced heavy competition in the category including: Ingrid Andress, Phoebe Bridgers, Chika, Noah Cyrus, D Smoke, Doja Cat, and Kaytranada.
H.E.R. scored one of the biggest upsets of the night as she beat out competition including Beyonce and Jay-Z in the Song Of The Year category.
Earned it: H.E.R. scored one of the biggest upsets of the night as she beat out competition including Beyonce and Jay-Z in the Song Of The Year category as she was joined by Tiara Thomas who was featured on the song
They made it: Beyonce and Jay-Z made a surprise appearance when the category was announced
Can’t believe it: She was obviously shocked as her jaw dropped when her name was announced by Trevor Noah
Showing her support: Beyonce gave the fellow artists a standing ovation as they made their way to the stage
Purple reign: The 23-year-old half-Black, half-Filipino artist was honored for the track I Can’t Breathe
‘Keep that same energy’: The song was a response to the racial injustice that occurred in the spring/summer of 2020 including the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd at the hands of police
The 23-year-old half-Black, half-Filipino artist was honored for the track I Can’t Breathe as she was joined by artist Tiara Thomas who was also featured on the song.
She was obviously shocked as her jaw dropped when her name was announced by Trevor Noah and addressed the small crowd in attendance saying: ‘Oh my god, I don’t even know what to say.
‘I think the first thing I want to say is that I have never been so proud to be an artist. And everybody else that was nominated, those songs were to me, song of the year also and they were all amazing.’
The song was a response to the racial injustice that occurred in the spring/summer of 2020 including the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd at the hands of police.
H.E.R. concluded the speech saying: ‘I’m so speechless right now, I can’t believe this, thank you so much. But remember, we are the change that we wish to see, and that fight that we had in us, the summer of 2020, keep that same energy. Thank you.’
She faced heavy competition in the category including Beyonce for Black Parade, Roddy Rich for The Box, Taylor Swift for Cardigan, Post Malone for Circles, Dua Lipa for Don’t Stop Now, and JP Saxe featuring Julia Michaels for If The World Was Ending.
Support system: Lizzo could barely contain herself as she announced her pal as the winner
Support system: The two women looked ecstatic as Megan made her way on stage to accept the gong
Sisterhood: The two friends shared a warm embrace together
The second award of the night was given out an hour and five minutes into the show as Best Country Album was given to Miranda Lambert for Wildcard.
Her competition included: Ingrid Andress ‘Lady Like’, Brandy Clark ‘Your Life Is A Record,’ Little Big Town ‘Nightfall,’ and Ashley McBryde ‘Never Will.’
The 37-year-old singer thanked her fellow nominees – who happened to be all female as she said: ‘ We are such a family in country music so I feel like like I’m holding it for all of us, especially us girls.
‘I’m very thankful, I’m thankful for Jay who had three in this category, Ashley and myself, who made Wildcard what it is this past season, inspired it, thanks to my family, husband, my manager, my crew, I missed hell out of y’all. I can’t wait to get back out as a band. I love you so much. Thank you.
Golden: The second award of the night was given out an hour and five minutes into the show as Best Country Album was given to Miranda Lambert for Wildcard
Taking the plunge: She donned a low-cut shimmering silver dress as she beat out competition including: Ingrid Andress ‘Lady Like’, Brandy Clark ‘Your Life Is A Record,’ Little Big Town ‘Nightfall,’ and Ashley McBryde ‘Never Will.’
The 37-year-old singer thanked her fellow nominees – who happened to be all female as she said: ‘ We are such a family in country music so I feel like like I’m holding it for all of us, especially us girls’
The show is taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center which offers plenty of space indoors and outdoors for the socially-distanced telecast as winners were announced in an open air tent outside.
Extensive precautions were made amid the COVID-19 pandemic after the event, normally held at LA’s famed Staples Center, was delayed from its original date of January 31 and pandemic protocols had to be put in place.
Harry Styles was the first musical performer of the night as he donned a leather suit with no shirt underneath for a stripped down version of his hit Watermelon Sugar.
Shortly after Billie Eilish – who had a record-breaking night at last year’s Grammys – was joined by her brother FINNEAS for an emotional performance of hit Everything I Wanted.
Then Haim hit the stage as the three Los Angeles native sisters performed a rousing rendition of their hit The Steps.
Host Trevor Noah opened up the show by explaining the safety precautions while giving a tour of the gala grounds which included an open air tent and venue inside for musical performances.
She’s back: No doubt Taylor Swift will have one of the most talked about performances of the night as she performed hits from her surprise albums Folklore and Evermore
Epic: Her performance took place in an intricate stage which resembled an attic of a house
Stunning: Taylor sat on the roof of the home which included greenery atop it
Squad: She was joined by Jack Antonoff (left) and Aaron Dessner for the performance
Hunk: Harry Styles was the first musical performer of the night as he donned a leather suit with no shirt underneath for a stripped down version of his hit Watermelon Sugar
Emotional: Harry seemed to have a blast during the performance
Dynamic: Shortly after Billie Eilish – who had a record-breaking night at last year’s Grammys – was joined by her brother FINNEAS for an emotional performance of hit Everything I Wanted
Dripping in jewels: Billie seemed very much in her element
Wow factor: Dua Lipa made sure to draw viewers in during her performance
Pretty in pink: She donned a billowy pink number before stripping it off to show off a sparkly number which looked like a two-piece bikini
Leg up on the competition: She put on her impressive flexibility on display
Rockstar: DaBaby had a solo performance before later joining Dua on-stage
Megastar: Jhay Cortez (left) joined Bad Bunny during a performance
Of the safety protocols, Grammys executive producer Ben Wilson told Variety on Monday, March 8: ‘The performers and nominees are each other’s audience, so it’s a room of incredible musicians, all safely distanced from each other, and every 45 minutes a new four groups come in and the [previous] four go out.’
Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Post Malone, Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa are among those who will be hitting the stage at the star-studded event as some of the performances were actually prerecorded.
Co-executive producer Raj Kapoor told Variety: ‘One of our mandates was that [performers] have to come to us and be part of our team and film in L.A.
Triple threat: Then Haim hit the stage as the three Los Angeles native sisters performed a rousing rendition of their hit The Steps
Big chance: Black Pumas also performed at the event as they earned three Grammy nominations
‘We’re not interested in doing a show that is disconnected. There’s a physical presence to it, of people performing live for the camera and being in a single location. Other shows may have used music videos and virtual reality and stuff, but ours is actually based in Los Angeles, where we usually celebrate the Grammys.
‘It may be done in a different way, but it definitely feels like people are coming together to make this show.’
Other performers include Chris Martin, John Mayer, Doja Cat, Maren Morris, DaBaby, HAIM, Lil Baby, Brandi Carlile, Roddy Ricch, Brittany Howard, Miranda Lambert, Mickey Guyton and Black Pumas.
Wow factor: Lizzo was a wonder in a white gown as she presented the first award of the night in the Best New Artist category
Happy: Lizzo seemed in good spirits on stage
Beyonce leads all nominees as she is up for nine awards on the night.
The 39-year-old singer picked up song and record of the year bids with Black Parade, which she released on Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free.
The song, which reached the Top 40 on the pop charts, is also nominated for best R&B song and best R&B performance.
Beyonce’s Black Is King film that highlighted Black art, music, history and fashion is up for best music film while Brown Skin Girl, a song dedicated to dark- and brown-skinned women, is nominated for best music video.
The singer also earned three nominations for her slick guest appearance on Megan Thee Stallion´s No. 1 hit Savage, including record of the year, best rap performance and best rap song.
A winner of 24 Grammys, Beyonce becomes the second-most nominated act in the history of the awards show with 79 nominations as she is currently tied with Paul McCartney.
Beyonce is only behind her husband Jay-Z and Quincy Jones, who have both earned 80 nominations each.
Multiple nominations went to Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Roddy Ricch, who each earned six nominations and followed the Lemonade hitmaker as the second-most nominated acts.
Megan Thee Stallion, who released her highly anticipated debut album last week after finding success with hit singles and mixtapes since 2018, scored four nominations including best new artist.
Another musician who is competing with Megan in the best new artist category is Phoebe Bridgers who also has four nominations including in the best alternative music album category for Punisher.
K-pop kings BTS earned their first-ever Grammy nomination after years of having success on the pop charts. They will compete for best pop duo/group performance with their No. 1 hit, Dynamite.
Other first-time nominees include the Strokes, Megan Thee Stallion, Michael Kiwanuka, Jay Electronica and Harry Styles, who became the first One Direction member to earn a Grammy nomination.
Several acts earned posthumous nominations, including John Prine (best American Roots performance, best American Roots song), Nipsey Hussle (best rap performance), Leonard Cohen (best folk album) Pop Smoke (best rap performance) and songwriter LaShawn Daniels (best gospel performance/song).
There was some controversy regarding nominations as The Weeknd earned zero nominations despite having multiple hits this year including Blinding Lights which has remained on the Billboard Top 10 for a full year.
The 31-year-old Canadian crooner expressed displeasure withe the lack of recognition when nominations were announced back in November.
‘The Grammys remain corrupt,’ the singer said on Twitter at the time. ‘You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency.’
Songs and albums released between Sept. 1, 2019 and Aug. 31, 2020 were eligible for nominations this year