Grammys could make history with Beyoncé, Bad Bunny wins

Will Beyoncé emerge from the Grammy Awards as its most decorated artist ever? That’s one of the main storylines heading into Sunday’s ceremony, where the superstar is the leading nominee and needs four wins to make history.

Several of music’s biggest names, including Beyoncé, are in the running for the night’s top honors – Harry Styles, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, ABBA and Lizzo are all among the nominees in for album of the year. Adele joins them in the record of the year competition.

Trevor Noah will host the telecast live from downtown Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS and Paramount+. The show will include performances by Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Sam Smith, Lizzo as well as special musical tributes to the late musicians Takeoff, Loretta Lynn and Christine McVie.

But with 91 Grammy categories, most of the awards are given out during the Recording Academy’s livestreamed Premiere Ceremony. It is during that show that Beyoncé could pass Hungarian-British composer Georg Solti as the artist with the most Grammys. (Solti won his record-breaking 31st Grammy in 1997.)

There could be many other firsts: If Bad Bunny wins album of the year for Un Verano Sin Ti, it would be the first time a Spanish-language album has taken home the top honor. Taylor Swift, whose latest album Midnights wasn’t eligible for this year’s Grammys, could win her first song of the year trophy for All Too Well. An Adele win for song of the year for her track Easy on Me would make her the most decorated artist in the category with three wins, the others coming for her megahits Hello and Rolling in the Deep.

This year’s Grammys have also introduced several new categories, including one for video game music composition. And several non-musicians, such as actor Viola Davis and Amanda Gorman, could take home trophies. A Davis win in the best audiobook, narration and storytelling recording category would make her an EGOT – an artist who’s won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award.

This year’s show marks a return to Los Angeles after the pandemic first delayed, then forced the Grammys to move to Las Vegas last year. Noah hosted the ceremony as well, which saw Jon Batiste take home album of the year.

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