NEW YORK (AP) – Queen Bey is close to sitting on her Grammy throne: The singer won her 26th Grammy on Sunday, almost matching, and on her way to breaking, Alison Krauss’ record of 27 wins.
Beyoncé, this year’s top nominee with nine nominations, won two honors during the pre-ceremony, including best rap performance for “Savage” with Megan Thee Stallion and best music video for “Brown Skin Girl”. She shares the latter with her daughter Blue Ivy Carter, who also lives a historic night: at the age of 9, she is the second youngest to ever win a Grammy.
Beyoncé’s other nominations, including song and album of the year, best R&B performance and best rap song, will be broadcast during the live show, which starts at 8pm.
Fiona Apple and Kaytranda were also winning doubles on Sunday. John Prine and Chick Corea both won posthumously.
Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Dan + Shay, James Taylor, HER, Beck, Brandi Carlile, Burna Boy, Tiffany Haddish and Rachel Maddow also won Grammy Awards.
While Beyoncé must have a historic night, history can repeat itself and she can be prevented from winning a major award – a common occurrence for R&B and rap artists throughout Grammy history. Of his 26 victories, only one went to one of the four great Grammys, song of the year. She lost album of the year three times and record of the year five times.
Jay-Z has never won a major award, and he and his wife join a list of mostly black artists who have restricted themselves to victories in the rap and R&B categories, including Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Eminem, Drake , Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige and more.
This year, The Weeknd was the one who was scorned. Despite having the biggest hit of 2020 with “Blinding Lights” and a best-selling multi-hit album, he didn’t win any nominations. He has won three Grammys so far – only in the R&B categories – but has promised to boycott the Grammys because he disagrees with the way the Recording Academy selects its winners.
Still, Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” could become the second hip-hop song to win the record of the year.
Taylor Swift can also make history and become the first woman to win the show’s top award, album of the year, three times. Her first surprise album of 2020 – the folk, alternative “folklore” adventure – is competing for the top prize, an award she won in 2010 for “Fearless,” her breakthrough that helped establish herself as a bona fide pop star, although she sang country music. She won again in 2016 for “1989”, her first full pop album that dominated the charts with an abundance of hits.
Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra and Paul Simon are some of the artists who have won the album of the year three times. Producers or engineers have also won the award three times, including Phil Ramone, Ryan Tedder, David Foster, Bob Ludwig, Serban Ghenea and others. The only person to win the award four times is master engineer Tom Coyne, who died in 2017.
Other women who could make history on Sunday include Megan Thee Stallion, who could also become the first female rapper to win the best rap song. The Houston rapper, along with D Smoke, Chika and Doja Cat, could also become the fifth rap-based act to win the best new artist. The competition includes Kaytranada – who won two honors during the pre-ceremony – Phoebe Bridgers, Noah Cyrus and Ingrid Andress, who could become only the fourth act of country music to win.
Grace Potter has the chance to be the first female artist to win the award for best rock album in more than two decades, and brother trio HAIM, the first female rock band nominated for album of the year.
Although 84 prizes are awarded – about 10 during the live broadcast – viewers are likely to be watching the performances.
About two dozen acts will hit the stage in downtown Los Angeles, including Swift, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, BTS, Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby, Dua Lipa, Post Malone, Chris Martin, Lil Baby, John Mayer, Maren Morris and Doja Cat.
Trevor Noah will present the show, which will air on CBS and Paramount +. The Grammy was originally scheduled for January 31, but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Artists competing with Swift for the album of the year include Coldplay, Post Malone, Dua Lipa, Jhené Aiko, HAIM, Black Pumas and Jacob Collier, who won a victory during the pre-ceremony.
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