The Latest: Megan Thee Stallion wins best new artist Grammy
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on the Grammy Awards (all times local):
8:25
Megan Thee Stallion has won best new artist at the Grammy Awards.
The 26-year-old became just the fifth rapper to win the award, which she accepted in person on the outdoor stage Sunday night, tearing up before she even began talking.
The award was the first one handed out during the telecast, but Megan Thee Stallion had already won a Grammy earlier Sunday for “Savage,” her hit that features Beyoncé.
The song is also nominated for best rap song and record of the year.
She beat out fellow nominees Ingrid Andress, Phoebe Bridgers, Chika, Noah Cyrus, D Smoke, Doja Cat and Kaytranada.
Megan Thee Stallion had a monster musical year that also brought unwanted attention when she was shot in the foot. Rapper Tory Lanez has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the shooting.
“It’s been a hell of a year, but we made it,” she said.
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MORE ON THE GRAMMYS
— Queen Bey is close to sitting on her Grammys throne: The singer won her 26th Grammy on Sunday, almost matching, and on track to surpass, Alison Krauss’ 27-win record.
— Doja Cat went for neon feathers and a moto jacket-inspired leather dress zipped all the way down and DaBaby brightened up the Grammys in a bright mustard and green floral suit as music’s big night Sunday offered a luxe fashion moment for the stars.
— Kanye West, Fiona Apple, Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé along with her daughter, Blue Ivy, are among the early winners at the Grammy Awards.
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5:10 p.m.
Trevor Noah opened the pandemic-altered 63rd annual Grammy Awards on an outdoor stage in front of a sparse crowd outside the Los Angeles Convention Center, with the Grammy’s usual home, the Staples Center, as a backdrop.
“We have made the decision to socially distance from the Staples Center,” the host said. “This is not a Zoom background.”
Noah walked inside the Convention Center during his presentation, where the show’s performances, many of them pre-recorded, will be broadcast from.
On four stages that face one other in the audience-free room, he introduced Black Pumas, HAIM, Billie Eillish and Harry Styles, who began the night’s music with a rendition of his “Watermelon Sugar.”
The song is among the nominees for best pop vocal performance, one of three nominations for the ex-One Direction singer.
He performed with a full band wearing a black leather sports coat with no shirt underneath, and a green feather boa.
Eillish, who dominated last year’s Grammys, immediately followed with a performance of “Everything I Wanted.” The three sisters of HAIM played immediately after Eillish.
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4:50 p.m.
Jacob Collier says he recorded his Grammy-nominated album in the same North London home “where I learned to walk as a 1-year-old.”
Before Sunday’s Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Collier told The Associated Press that “Djesse Vol. 3,” which is nominated for album of the year, is the fourth he has recorded in his music room there.
Collier said: “I produced it by myself and I played the instruments on the album and I wrote the songs and arranged it and mixed it and stuff. But I mean, really it was just an experiment.”
He says the acclaim for the album and the nomination came “completely out of the blue” and it’s surreal to “be among these giants, these legends of the industry.
Collier’s fellow nominees in the category include Taylor Swift and Post Malone.
— Marcela Isaza at the Grammy Awards (@misaza)
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4:40 P.M.
Noah Cyrus says it’s “been a roller coaster of tears” to be nominated for best new artist at the Grammy Awards while dealing with the loss of her grandmother.
The 21-year-old Cyrus told The Associated Press before Sunday’s Grammy Awards that she had already been thinking of Loretta “Mammie” Finley, who died in August, when “someone said, ‘You look just like your grandma.’ And I started tearing up and it’s just been really emotional because I would have given anything to be with her, you know, or let her have her just be able to watch this on the TV. But I feel like I kind of have her with me.”
She said she has taken comfort and support from her family, which includes her father Billy Ray Cyrus and sister Miley Cyrus.
Wearing a wildly elaborate Schiaparelli cream-colored gown, Noah Cyrus says to make her own name she has had to “try to work with ten times more passion, more love” and to “be more driven.”
— Jonathan Landrum Jr. at the Grammy Awards (@MrLandrum31)
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4:30 p.m.
DaBaby says his Grammy performance will be “beautiful” despite performing in a “room full of nobody.”
DaBaby is among the performers who, because of the pandemic, pre-recorded a performance at the Los Angeles Convention Center with no audience that will air during Sunday night’s Grammy Awards telecast.
Decked out in a broad-brimmed, green-and-red fedora, yellow turtleneck and floral jacket in the run-up to the show, DaBaby told The Associated Press that “at the end of the day, we still have the ability to express ourselves through camera. So it’s no different than like a music video.”
He says he added a third verse with a special message to his performance of “Rockstar,” which is nominated for four Grammys, and could become just the second rap song to win record of the year.
DaBaby says he “feels like it’s going to touch everybody.”
— Marcela Isaza at the Grammy Awards (@misaza)
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3:15 p.m.
Brandi Carlile is excited to perform at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, even if there isn’t an audience. She says she’s really only performing for one person — the late singer-songwriter John Prine.
“I think that in the past performing in front of an audience is the only thing that matters to me,” Carlile tells The Associated Press. “But this time I’m just performing for John Prine. It’s just for John, and I know he’s there.”
Carlile spoke to the AP this week and addressed how different it feels to be playing live music again after a year of the pandemic. She says “it feels good to be dressed up and to be sparkling.”
She said that after being a performer for her entire adult life, the lockdown has given her a chance to stop. Even if she is ready to get back to rhythm of touring.
“I’m kind of a born entertainer, you know, that’s who I am. But I always wondered what would happen if I stopped for long enough to kind of look inward,” Carlile says. “I’m really happy with what did happen, but I’m ready to get back on the road again.”
— Jonathan Landrum Jr. at the Grammy Awards (@MrLandrum31)
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3 p.m.
Country star Mickey Guyton says her performance Sunday night on the Grammy Awards will be “a moment for Black people in country music.”
Guyton, a first-time nominee and first-time performer, is the first solo Black female artist to be nominated in a country category at the Grammys, following in the footsteps of the Pointer Sisters who have won a country Grammy Award.
“My life changed once I started running towards everything that made me different,” Guyton told The Associated Press during interviews backstage prior to the show. “They say country music is three chords and the truth. So I started writing my truth as a Black woman, singing country music and my experiences in my life. And one of those first songs was ‘Black Like Me.’”
She said that stepping on that stage is not only important to her, but all those communities that have felt marginalized in country music.
“I realize that not only am I walking through those doors as a Black woman, I need to hold the door open for many other Black, brown, LBGTQA plus artists that have the same dreams,” says Guyton.
— Jonathan Landrum Jr. at the Grammy Awards (@MrLandrum31)
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2:20 p.m.
Justin Bieber is a Grammy winner in the country genre for his “10,000 Hours” collaboration with Dan + Shay.
Dan + Shay accepted the best country duo/group performance Grammy virtually. Bieber did not appear during the Grammys Premiere Ceremony, where the majority of Sunday’s awards are bestowed.
It is Bieber’s second Grammy. He previously won for best dance recording for “Where Are U Now” with Diplo and Skrillex.
Dan + Shay have won two previous Grammys, for “Speechless” and “Tequila.”
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Late singer songwriter John Prine won two posthumous Grammys for best American roots song and best American roots performance for his last recorded song, “I Remember Everything,” a song about loss and memory.
Prine died last year at the age of 73 of complications due to COVID-19. His wife, Fiona Whelan, told reporters during a virtual press conference on Sunday that the song spoke to the importance of memories and really connected with people this past year.
“John had a way of pointing out the most simple everyday things that sometimes we overlook,” said Whelan.
Prine, a two-time Grammy winner who wrote songs like “Angel from Montgomery” and “Sam Stone,” also received a lifetime achievement award last year.
“I feel John’s presence today very strongly,” said Whelan.
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2 p.m.
Megan Thee Stallion has won a Grammy for “Savage,” her collaboration with Beyoncé.
She excitedly screamed for several seconds and rushed to compose herself while accepting the award virtually during the Grammys’ Premiere Ceremony.
She thanked God, her grandmother and her mother for pushing her, then turning her gratitude toward Queen Bey.
She said: “I still can’t even believe this,” as she struggled to keep her composure.
Megan Thee Stallion is among the performers on the main Grammys show that airs at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS.
The win brings Beyoncé one step closer to becoming the most decorated woman in Grammys history.
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1:35 p.m.
The late jazz pianist Chick Corea won two Grammys Sunday only about a month after his death.
Corea won the trophy for best improvised jazz solo and moments later won for best jazz instrumental album, which he shared with Christian McBride & Brian Blade. The wins for “All Blues” and “Trilogy 2” means Corea has a staggering 25 Grammys.
His widow, Gayle Moran, accepted both awards virtually. “His mission in life was to keep the music fires burning bright,” she said through tears.
Corea, who died at 79 on Feb. 9 of a rare form of cancer, was not the only artist who won a posthumous Grammy. John Prine also won two.
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1 p.m.
Billie Eilish and her producer brother, Finneas, have won a Grammy for their song “No Time to Die” from the pandemic-delayed James Bond film.
The pair appeared remotely to accept the song written for visual media honor and Eilish excitedly thanked actor Daniel Craig and “No Time to Die” director Cary Joji Fukunaga.
Eilish says “It was a dream to make this song, to work on this.” As for Finneas, he said: “I feel very lucky to be your brother.”
The award was announced during the Grammys’ Premiere Ceremony, which hands out the majority of the awards ahead of the main telecast at 8 p.m. Eastern.
“Jojo Rabbit” and the “Joker” soundtrack also won Grammys in the segment of the show that awarded music created for visual media.
“Jojo Rabbit” director Taika Waititi accepted the award virtually from what appeared to be a trailer. He said he was working on a film set. He joked, “I guess they’re just giving Grammys to anyone now. I’ll take it.”
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12:20 p.m.
Beyoncé — and her 9-year-old daughter Blue Ivy — have won the Grammy Award for best music video.
Blue Ivy is the second youngest winner of a Grammy behind Leah Peasell, who was 8 when The Peasall Sisters won album of the year at the 2002 show for their appearance on “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack.
Neither Beyoncé or Blue Ivy were on the virtual Premiere Ceremony where the award was announced.
The win brings Beyoncé a step closer to becoming the most decorated woman in Grammy history. Beyoncé won her 25th Grammy on Sunday, hours before the official awards show begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.
With 27 wins, Alison Krauss holds the title for most Grammys for a female artist.
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11 a.m.
It could be a night for the history books for Taylor Swift and Beyoncé at Sunday’s Grammy Awards.
Beyoncé has never won album of the year throughout her career — she’s not up for the honor this year because she didn’t release a project during the eligibility period — but she is the most nominated act.
Trevor Noah will host the show, which airs at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS and Paramount+. The Grammys were originally scheduled for Jan. 31 but were pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic.