Women make history at the 2021 Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards ceremony was canceled last January due to the health crisis. It was postponed until March 14 in a format that other awards around the world have followed, that is, with few people live, with remote presenters, no audience, and sections recorded or not televised. On a historic night, women stood up for the music industry-dominating in many important categories, two of which stood out: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Historic Women at the Grammys

The expectation for these two artists was high because by adding awards to their record, they became historic for the Grammys. According to the same awards, the top winner was the violinist and singer Alison Krauss, who in 42 nominations has achieved a total of 27 statuettes. For delivery 63 Beyoncé arrived with 24 statuettes in her possession and 9 nominations that put her on the path to surpass Krauss. The bet was fulfilled, Beyoncé won 4 awards to add 28 Grammys, with which she beat Alison Krauss. Beyoncé won in the categories of Best R&B Performance, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance, and Best Music Video.

For her part, Taylor Swift won the award for Best Album of the Year for Folklore. This made her the highest award-winning woman at the Grammy Awards. 2020 was a prolific year for the singer-songwriter, who released the albums Folklore and Evermore. It was thanks to the first one that she obtained the 6 Grammy nominations that led her to the top in that award. To close with a flourish, Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir won the award for Best Original Score for her score for the film The Joker, for which she also won an Oscar. At the Grammys, she was the only female nominee in a male-dominated category.

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Activism still has many struggles ahead

In addition to the awards at the Grammy Awards, we can always see fabulous performances of all genres, in the 63rd edition the presence of women stood out. We were able to see on-screen Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, rappers Doja Cat and Cardi B, country singers Brandi Carlile and Mickey Guyton, as well as Megan Thee Stallion who also had a victorious night by winning three statuettes.

Activism against racism was present at the ceremony at the hands of activist Tamika Mallory, who was with rapper Lil Baby during his interpretation of The Bigger Picture, taking advantage of the attention towards the ceremony and addressed the US president: "Biden, we demand justice, equity, policies and everything that includes freedom, "according to Infobae.

In the same way, Beyoncé dedicated these words when receiving the award for Best R&B Performance for Black Parade: "I wanted to elevate, encourage, celebrate all the beautiful black queens and kings who continue to inspire me and inspire the whole world." The issue Black Parade was created in the atmosphere of protests generated by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, according to information from the same newspaper. With the same theme, I Can't Breathe by HER won the award for Best Song of the Year.

Another of the relevant issues today is undoubtedly feminism, present of course at the Grammys. Megan Thee Stallion joined Cardi B to perform WAP, a theme that reflects on sexuality. But it was not only sexuality but also the unity between women and mutual support, as Billie Eilish shows, dedicated her award for Best Recording of the Year to Megan Thee Stallion: "You deserve this. You had a great year and I think you are unstoppable. You are a queen. Seriously, this is for her. Can we please applaud her? "

Latin American artists have a hard time getting out of Latino categories

Latinos have an increasing presence in the Grammy, having nominations in the categories dedicated to the region and in others that are not. The Mexican Natalia Lafourcade won the award for Best Mexican Regional Music Album, the composer is recognized for being multifaceted at the musical level, her career has developed mainly in pop, rock, and alternative music, although at times she has given space to the cumbia and the regional music of his country.

Fito Páez won the award for Best Latin or Alternative Rock Album, the Argentine is an old acquaintance in Latin America, who in his speech of thanks was visibly moved by the award. Also noteworthy is the Puerto Rican Bad Bunny, who won the award for Best Urban Latin Album or Pop for his album YHLQMDLG, and the Colombian group Niche, who won in the category of Best Tropical Latin Album for his album titled 40. Finally, in the field of classical music, it is also worth mentioning the Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who at the head of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, won the award for Best Orchestral Performance for his album Ives: Complete Symphonies.