Updates from the 63rd annual Grammy Awards

Thanks for following along with us tonight! Overall, I think the show went as smooth as a pandemic award show could. I am very thankful for women in music tonight and Harry Styles’ three different boas.

Thank you everyone for reading our updates! I had a good time tonight, and I hope everyone else did as well. Special shoutouts to BTS and Megan Thee Stallion, my favorite performers of the evening who also deserved to win way more awards. Also shoutout to our editor, Trevor, who spent the evening multitasking between edits and serenading us over Zoom with his renditions of 2020’s biggest hits.

Billie Eilish won the award for Record of the Year for “Everything I Wanted.” She accepted the award for a second year in a row along with her brother Finneas, although she praised Megan Thee Stallion and said she wanted her to win. This is Eilish’s seventh Grammy and second of the night after winning best song for visual media for “No Time to Die.”

BTS makes history by being the first K-Pop group to do a solo performance at the Grammys. Unfortunately, though, their performance is clouded by the frustration that the group was snubbed for their hit pop song, “Dynamite,” and quite frankly, snubbed for years, as they’ve consistently churned out some of the most innovative and talent-packed albums of the last five years, with little to no recognition from mainstream American music awards.

*Sigh* All that aside, I’m still so thrilled that BTS is finally getting some level of recognition. I remember working Grammys night in 2019, begging our editors to find and post photos of BTS, promising that they were a music group worth covering. And here they are as one of the final acts of the night. Maybe the best part of this all is that I know my mom is going to call me immediately after this to talk about the “Dynamite” performance. I’ll always love being a part of ARMY.

Yes Swifties!!! Taylor Swift wins the Grammy for Album of the Year for “Folklore.” She accepted the award with some of her “Folklore” collaborators. This is Swift’s third Album of the Year award, making her the first woman to do so. The album meant a lot to her fans who saw it as a glimmer of light in this dark year. Congratulations to Taylor and her lovely floral dress, complete with a matching mask.

Beyoncé won the Grammy for best R&B performance for “Black Parade,” which makes her the female artist with the most Grammy wins at 28 awards. She also congratulated her daughter Blue Ivy during her acceptance speech, who is one of the youngest Grammy winners with Beyoncé’s earlier win for best music video for “Brown Skin Girl,” which Blue Ivy was featured on. Queen Bey continues to reign.

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Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” wins for best pop vocal album! As I said before, I adored this album, but I am fairly surprised that she beat Taylor Swift, who’s normally such a Grammys favorite.

Megan Thee Stallion does it again! Megan won best rap song for “Savage” featuring Beyoncé, who accepted the award with her. The OG Hot Girl won best rap performance for the same track. It was a big moment for Megan, who said she has looked up to the fellow Houston superstar ever since she was a teen. The win was also historic for Beyoncé, who is now tied with Alison Krauss for female artist with the most Grammys at 27.

Megan Thee Stallion brought class and glamour with an old-Hollywood-themed backdrop to her performance of Grammy-winning track “Savage,” rounded out with tap-dancing background dancers wearing bedazzled masks.

Contrast this with Cardi B’s futuristic, metallic energetic performance of her hit song, “Up.” Both women’s performances were great and unique in their own way.

OK, but the real performance though: “WAP.” I love Cardi. I love Meg. But whoa the Grammys is letting them perform “WAP”??? For those unfamiliar, WAP stands for … something I am not allowed to publish on SeattleTimes.com, but you can Google it. I am both delighted and surprised that we get this iconic live performance, even if the song has been edited into oblivion for the sake of FCC regulations. We love to see two queens perform together, especially with some crazy backdrop props including a giant high heel and a massive bed. Trevor Noah lost his mind immediately after, and I gotta say I agree.

I’m surprised that Beyoncé and Jay-Z showed up — they’ve ascended so high into iconicism that they seem too good for the Grammys. Seeing them for just one second on my TV gave me goose bumps. All hail the queen and king!

H.E.R. won the coveted Song of the Year gramophone for “I Can’t Breathe,” an honest, compelling track that was inspired by George Floyd’s death. The award marks the singer’s second win of the night after “Better Than I Imagined” won for best R&B song.

Host Trevor Noah introduced the next three performers — Mickey Guyton, Miranda Lambert and Maren Morris — by taking a moment to recognize the powerhouse women dominating the country music category this year. All three women brought their A-game, but Guyton’s performance really stood out. Her song, “Black Like Me,” which centers around Guyton’s experience of being a Black woman navigating life and a career in country music, was such an important moment in the show. Guyton is also the first Black country female artist to perform at the Grammys.

The Grammys of course had to dedicate a tribute to some of the big music artists we lost last year — Bill Withers, Eddie Van Halen, Mary Wilson and so many other talented musicians that I can’t list all here, but are deeply missed. On a lighter bright note, we got another performance from Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak in tribute to Little Richard, a soulful song from Lionel Richie in honor of Kenny Rogers and a lovely performance from (the Seattle area’s own) Brandi Carlile to remember John Prine. I’ve enjoyed the continued theme of the evening, showing artists supporting other artists.

Harry Styles! “Watermelon Sugar” is a great song, definitely deserving of a win. This marks the singer’s first Grammy! He accepted it wearing yet another boa, this time purple. Congrats, Harry!

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Quarantine album queen Taylor Swift delivered a lovely forest fairy tale performance of a few songs from both, yes both, of the albums she released in 2020. I’m glad collaborators Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner were able to join her. Hoping to see her again later for a win!

When I tell you reader, I screamed when I found out that Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak were teaming up to release new music … The crooning, soulful voice of Mars paired with Paak’s funky bars on their single “Leave the Door Open” is just *chef’s kiss*. Of course they brought maximum swag to their Grammys performance, with matching brown suits, and a sparkling ’70s-inspired aesthetic.

Pop queen Dua Lipa graced us with — what I think is — one of the best albums of last year, “Future Nostalgia.” And tonight she gave us a stunning performance of “Levitating,” with guest star DaBaby, and “Don’t Start Now.” She also snuck in TWO outfit changes! Lipa has come a long way from the days when her fans would comment, “I love her lack of energy, go girl give us nothing!” under videos of her performances.

He may be Bad Bunny, but he brings good vibes. The Puerto Rican rapper’s performance reminded me a bit of The Weeknd’s (who was snubbed tonight!!!) Super Bowl performance at times, but the stage made to look like an eye was very cool.

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I love Harry Styles as much as the next person, but he keeps putting his fingers in his mouth to whistle and it’s concerning. I’m guessing everyone present has been tested, but I would still take precaution! Oh the things the pandemic has made me see differently.

After a brief struggle to open the award envelope, Lizzo announced Megan Thee Stallion as best new artist! The “Savage” artist was stunned speechless, sitting wide-eyed and masked, before coming to the stage to accept her award. Megan is the first female rapper to win best new artist in more than 20 years (the last being Lauryn Hill in 1999).

For COVID-19 safety reasons, the Grammy Awards eliminated their typical large audience, meaning that we’re essentially watching a bunch of music artists in a giant warehouse performing for just each other. At first it seemed kind of odd — seeing Billie Eilish, who’s literally just about to perform, bobbing her head to Harry Styles singing — but it’s actually starting to grow on me. It’s nice to see these artists gathering together and supporting one another.

If you don’t know about Haim yet, you should. I wish I could effortlessly switch from playing the drums to playing the guitar while also singing, but not all of us are so lucky. They are nominated twice tonight.

Let’s give an award to whoever decided Harry Styles should open the Grammys. He performed his nominated hit “Watermelon Sugar” in a fabulous watermelon green feather boa. He was accompanied by a band clad in black leather. He danced and it was all we could hope for.

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Host Trevor Noah opens the Grammy Awards outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles, surrounded by masked audience members at socially distanced tables. Not gonna lie, it’s kind of weird, but I’m happy that they’ve figured out a way to do this safely.

For an updating list of every Grammy winner, see this post. Local artist Brandi Carlile has already scored one for best country song for “Crowded Table” with her group The Highwomen. Other winners so far include Billie Eilish for best song written for visual media for “No Time to Die” (from “No Time to Die”) and Fiona Apple for best alternative album for “Fetch the Bolt Cutters.”

Hello! My name is Yasmeen Wafai and I’m a news assistant for the features team over here at The Seattle Times. I’ll be filling out update cards along with one of my favorite colleagues and fellow Gen Z queen Amy Wong! I enjoy most types of music but my favorites are pop, hip-hop and indie. I am indeed a Swiftie so I am rooting for her to win at least one award, and I am looking forward to her performance. I’m also excited to see fruit king Harry Styles, everyone’s favorite bad guy Billie Eilish and the inventor of Hot Girl Summer, Megan Thee Stallion.

Hi everyone! Welcome to the Seattle Times live updates for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards; we’ll keep you posted on all of the biggest wins, snubs and performances of the evening. My name is Amy, I’m the Seattle Times features producer and occasional K-Pop connoisseur. I am of course looking forward to any mention of BTS tonight, as they deserve the world, and am hoping to see some wins for pop queen Dua Lipa. I am not looking forward to the fact that The Weeknd was nominated for zero awards, but whatever.

It was a slow start for Washington artists at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, until local folk-rock hero Brandi Carlile brought home the biggest prize she was up for.

Just when it looked like the Grammy’s nontelevised daytime ceremony — where most awards are doled out — would end with an 0-11 Washington shutout, Carlile won the best country song award with The Highwomen’s inclusivity anthem, “Crowded Table.”

“I am in complete shock,” an excited Carlile said, her glitchy audio feed a hallmark of the COVID-age awards ceremony. “And I’m so proud. … To everyone that voted for our band, we just wanted to see women in country music embraced, platformed … and we’re seeing that more and more. … What a complete astounding award. Oh my God!”